Tuxedo PIA Server Connections Test

The PSSAMSRV application server process running within an application server domain is what Tuxedo refers to as a conversational server. This server process is capable of conversing with other servers by submitting requests to them, or receiving requests from them. It provides only one service, SqlAccess. This server is used to administer the process scheduler tables, and to allocate version numbers on PeopleSoft objects during development and upgrade. When a job is submitted, or when job and process scheduler statuses are updated in the process monitor, the SQL to perform those updates are submitted directly by PSSAMSRV.

By tracking connections to the PSSAMSRV application server process in a domain over time, an administrator can assess the typical load on the server process. Based on this assessment, the administrators can, if required, fine-tune the settings of the PSSAMSRV so as to enhance its request-handling capability. This is where the Tuxedo PIA Server Connections test helps. This test periodically reports the current connection load on the PSSAMSRV application server process. By using this test to monitor how the load on PSSAMSRV varies with time, administrators can gauge the typical load on the PSSAMSRV application server process and can accordingly figure out whether/not additional PSSAMSRV application server process instances will be required for handling the load. Additionally, administrators can use the detailed diagnosis of this test to know which two server processes are conversing using the conversational server process in the domain.

Target of the test : A Tuxedo Application Server

Agent deploying the test : An internal agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for the application server domain being monitored.

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter Description

Test period

How often should the test be executed

Host

The host for which the test is to be configured.

Port

The port number at which the specified Host listens to. By default, this will be 12345.

PSAdmin Home

To collect metrics from a Tuxedo application server, this test runs PeopleSoft Server Administration (PSADMIN) commands on the target server. The first step towards this is to launch the psadmin.exe. To enable the test to run the psadmin.exe, you need to configure the test with the full path to the directory in which the psadmin.exe resides. Therefore, in the PSAdmin Home text box, specify the location of the psadmin.exe. Typically, this will be the install directory of the Tuxedo application server. For instance, on Windows, your specification can be C:\ps\appsrv and on Unix, your specification can be: opt/ps/appsrv. 

Domain

An application server Domain is the collection of server processes, supporting processes, and resource managers that enable connections to the database. A single application server machine can support multiple application server domains running on it. A server process is executable code that receives incoming transaction requests. The server process carries out a request by making calls to a service. Using a managed Tuxedo application server, you can monitor only those server processes and transactions that pertain to a single domain. This is why, the eG agent needs to be explicitly configured with the application server Domain it needs to monitor. 

Detailed Diagnosis

To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server, choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

  • The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability
  • Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.
Measurements made by the test
Measurement Descriptions Measurement Unit Interpretation

No of connections

Indicates the number of conversational connections currently open on the Tuxedo server.

Number

This is a good indicator of the current workload of the PSSAMSRV application server process. To know the details of the current connections, use the detailed diagnosis of this test. This reveals the Originator group ID, the Original logical machine ID, Receiver group ID and logical machine ID, Data transmitted by originator and receiver, and service name. With the help of the detailed metrics, administrators can identify which originator-receiver pair is transmitting the maximum data.

If the value of this measure increases consistently, and the PSSAMSRV application server process appears to service requests slowly, it could be because enough server instances are not available to handle the heavy load.

It is mandatory that at least one instance of the PSSAMSRV application server process be started when a domain is booted. Depending upon the variations in the value of this measure over time, you may want to increase the number of instances to be started at boot time, so that the load is balanced and serviced quickly.