Db2 Agents Test

An agent is a process or thread that carries out the requests made by a client application. Each connected application is served by exactly 1 coordinator agent and possibly, a set of subordinator agents or subagents. Subagents are used for parallel SQL processing in partitioned databases and on SMP machines.

For partitioned database environments and environments with intra-partition parallelism enabled, each partition (that is, each database server or node) has its own pool of agents from which subagents are drawn. Because of this pool, subagents do not have to be created and destroyed each time one is needed or has finished its work. The subagents can remain as associated agents in the pool and be used by the database manager for new requests from the application they are associated with.

The Db2 Agents test monitors how effectively the agent pool has been utilized.

Target of the test : A DB2 database server

Agent deploying the test : An internal agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for every DB2 database server being monitored

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter Description

Test period

How often should the test be executed

Host

The IP address of the DB2 server

Port
  • The port number through which the DB2 server communicates. The default port is 50000.
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    User

    Specify the name of the user who is authorized to access the target database server and collect the required metrics in this text box. You can create a separate user on the OS hosting the DB2 server for this purpose. The steps for the same are detailed in the Creating a Special User for Monitoring DB2 Server topic.

    Password

    Enter the password of the specified USER in the PASSWORD text box.

    Confirm Password

    Confirm the Password by retyping it in the Confirm Password text box.

    Database

    Specify the name of the database on the monitored DB2 server to be used by this test.

    Include DB

    Specify a comma-separated list of databases that you wish to monitor in the Include DB text box.

    Exclude DB

    Specify a comma-separated list of databases that need to be excluded from monitoring in the Exclude DB text box.

    SSL

    If the target database server is SSL-enabled, then set the SSL flag to Yes. If not, then set the SSL flag to No.

    Trust Store File Name

    This parameter is applicable only if the target DB2 UDB database is SSL-enabled, if not, set this parameter to none. Specify the file name of the client-side SSL truststore that contains the server certificate required for establishing an SSL connection. The truststore is used to verify the identity of the server and enable a secure communication channel.

    By default, the truststore file should be placed in:<EG_INSTALL_DIR>/jre/lib/security/mytruststore.jks

    Here, mytruststore.jks is the Truststore file name. You may change this to any valid file name. By default, none is specified against this text box.

    Trust Store Password

    This parameter is applicable only if the target DB2 UDB database is SSL-enabled, if not, set this parameter to none. If a Truststore File name is provided, then, in this text box, provide the password that is used to obtain the associated certificate details from the Truststore File. By default, this parameter is set to none.

    Confirm Password

    Confirm the Password by retyping it in the Confirm Password text box.
    Measurements made by the test
    Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

    Total agents:

    Indicates the total number of agents currently registered in the database manager instance that is being monitored (Sum of coordinator agents and subagents).

    Number

    This measure can be used to evaluate the setting for MAXAGENTS configuration parameter.

    Idle agents :

    Indicates the number of agents in the agent pool that are currently unassigned to an application and are, therefore, “idle”.

    Number

    Having idle agents available to service requests for agents can improve performance. So you can use this measure to help set the NUM_POOLAGENTS configuration parameter.

    Agents waiting on token:

    Indicates the percentage of agents waiting for a token so they can execute a transaction in the database manager.

    Percent

    You can use this element to help evaluate your setting for the MAXCAGENTS configuration parameter. Each application has a dedicated coordinator agent to process database requests within the database manager. Each agent has to get a token before it can execute a transaction. The maximum number of agents that can execute database manager transactions is limited by the configuration parameter MAXCAGENTS.

    Agents creation ratio:

    Indicates the ratio of number of agents assigned directly from agent pool to the total number of agents used to service requests.

    Percent

    A high percentage indicates the effectiveness of the agent pool. A consistent low value indicates that the number of agents in the agent pool are not adequate to service requests. You might want to consider increasing the NUM_POOLAGENTS setting in this case.

    Stolen Agents:

    Indicates the number of times that agents are stolen from an application. Agents are stolen when an idle agent associated with an application is reassigned to work on a different application.

    Number

    If this value is high, consider increasing the NUM_POOLAGENTS configuration parameter.