CPU C/P States - Xen Test
Processor performance states (P-states) and processor operating states (C-states) are the capability of a processor to switch between different supported operating frequencies and voltages to modulate power consumption. The CPU switches to any of the n-number of P and C states based on the tasks it performs. The number of P and C states are defined specific to the processors. When the CPU is in P-states, the CPU can operate at different voltage and/or frequency levels to modulate power consumption. The C states are the idle states, in contrast to P-states, during which the CPU will not perform any operation. Knowing the time spent by the CPU in each state, administrators can determine how long the CPU was in operating state? and how long the CPU was idle?. If the CPU is found to be in the high power consumption or idle state for prolonged duration, it will directly impact the performance of the target server. Therefore, it becomes inevitable for administrators to continuously monitor these states and find out the issues, if any. This can be easily achieved using the CPU C/P States - Xen test.
This test auto-discovers the states defined for the CPU, and reports the time duration spent by the CPU in each state.
Target of the test : A Citrix Hypervisor host
Agent deploying the test : An internal/remote agent
Outputs of the test : One set of results for each state of the CPU of the target Citrix Hypervisor host.
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
|
Test period |
How often should the test be executed. |
|
Host |
The host for which the test is to be configured. |
|
Xen User, Xen Password and Confirm Password |
To enable the eG agent to connect to the XenServer API for collecting statistics of interest, this test should login to the target hypervisor as a root user. Provide the name of the root user in the Xen User text box. Root user privileges are mandatory when monitoring a XenServer 5.5 (or below). However, if you are monitoring XenServer 5.6 (or above) and you prefer not to expose the credentials of the root user, then, you have the option of configuring a user with pool-admin privileges as the Xen User. If you do not want to expose the credentials of a root/pool-admin user, then you can configure the tests with the credentials of a Xen User with Read-only privileges to the XenServer. However, if this is done, then the Xen Uptime test will not run, and the Xen CPU and Xen Memory tests will not be able to report metrics for the control domain descriptor. To avoid such an outcome, do the following before attempting to configure the eG tests with a Xen User who has Read-only privileges to the Citrix Hypervisor:
Once this is done, you can configure the eG tests with the credentials of a Xen User with Read-only privileges. The password of the specified Xen User needs to be mentioned in the Xen Password text box. Then, confirm the Xen Password by retyping it in the Confirm Password text box. |
| SSL |
By default, the Citrix Hypervisor is not SSL-enabled. This indicates that by default, the eG agent communicates with the target hypervisor using HTTP. Accordingly, the SSL flag is set to No by default. If you configure the target hypervisor to use SSL, then make sure that the SSL flag is set to Yes, so that the eG agent communicates with the target hypervisor using HTTPS. Note that a default SSL certificate comes bundled with every Citrix Hypervisor installation. If you want the eG agent to use this default certificate for communicating with an SSL-enabled Citrix Hypervisor, then no additional configuration is required. However, if you do not want to use the default certificate, then you can generate a self-signed certificate for use by the target hypervisor. In such a case, you need to explicitly follow the broad steps given below to enable the eG agent to communicate with the target hypervisor via HTTPS:
For a detailed discussion on each of these steps, refer to the Troubleshooting section of this document. |
|
Webport |
By default, in most virtualized environments, the target hypervisor listens on port 80 (if not SSL-enabled) or on port 443 (if SSL-enabled). This implies that while monitoring an SSL-enabled Citrix hypervisor, the eG agent, by default, connects to port 443 of the server to pull out metrics, and while monitoring a non-SSL-enabled Citrix hypervisor, the eG agent connects to port 80. Accordingly, the webport parameter is set to 80 or 443 depending upon the status of the ssl flag. In some environments however, the default ports 80 or 443 might not apply. In such a case, against the webport parameter, you can specify the exact port at which the target hypervisor in your environment listens so that the eG agent communicates with that port. |
| Measurement | Description | Measurement Unit | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Time spent on this state |
Indicates the percentage of time that the CPU was spent in this state. |
Percentage |
