[ man7.org ](../../../index.html) > Linux > [ man-pages ](../index.html) |  [ Linux/UNIX system programming training ](http://man7.org/training/)  
---|---  
  
* * *

#  pcp(1) — Linux manual page

NAME  |  SYNOPSIS  |  DESCRIPTION  |  COMMAND MODE  |  SUMMARY MODE  |  SUMMARY MODE OPTIONS  |  DIAGNOSTICS  |  FILES  |  PCP ENVIRONMENT  |  SEE ALSO  |  COLOPHON   
---  
|  
      
    
    _PCP_(1)                   General Commands Manual                  _PCP_(1)
    

##  NAME  top

    
    
           **pcp** , **pcp-summary** - run a command or summarize an installation
    

##  SYNOPSIS  top

    
    
           **pcp**[pcp options...]  _pcp-command_ [command options...]
           **pcp**[**-LPV?**]  [**-a** _archive_] [**-h** _host_] [**-O** _origin_] [**-n** _pmnsfile_]
    

##  DESCRIPTION  top

    
    
           The **pcp** command is used in one of two modes.  By default, it
           summarizes the Performance Co-Pilot (PCP) installation on the
           local host.  This mode can also be used to summarize the
           installation from a remote _host_ , or a historical installation
           from a set of PCP _archives_.  This mode indirectly invokes the
           **pcp-summary** _command_ (in the absence of any other requested
           command).
    
           Alternatively, a _command_ can be passed to **pcp** to run, again
           possibly in the context of a remote _host_ or set of historical
           _archives_.
    

##  COMMAND MODE  top

    
    
           When **pcp** is invoked with a command to run, it will search for the
           named _command_ in **$PCP_BINADM_DIR** and also **$HOME/.pcp/bin**(these
           are usually scripts, and are installed with a "pcp-" prefix).
           This mode of operation allows system performance tools to be
           implemented using [PMAPI(3)](../man3/PMAPI.3.html) services, while still preserving all
           of their usual command line options.  These options are thus
           (indirectly) augmented with the standard PCP option set, as
           described in [PCPIntro(1)](../man1/PCPIntro.1.html).
    
           This provides a convenient mechanism for obtaining retrospective
           or remote monitoring capabilities while preserving the behaviour
           of the system tools.
    
           For example, the [pcp-free(1)](../man1/pcp-free.1.html) utility can be invoked as follows,
           for recorded data from host _munch_ :
    
           $ pcp -a $PCP_LOG_DIR/pmlogger/_munch_ /20140317 -O 11:35:50am **free -m**
                        total       used       free     shared    buffers     cached
           Mem:         23960      14554       9406          0        176       2137
           -/+ buffers/cache:      12240      11720
           Swap         12047          0      12047
    
           A complete list of the available and installed tools is provided
           along with the [pcp(1)](../man1/pcp.1.html) usage message, but some examples include:
           [pcp-free(1)](../man1/pcp-free.1.html), [pcp-uptime(1)](../man1/pcp-uptime.1.html) and [pcp-numastat(1)](../man1/pcp-numastat.1.html).
    

##  SUMMARY MODE  top

    
    
           The summary report includes: the OS version, a summary of the
           hardware inventory, the local timezone, the PCP software version,
           the state of the [pmcd(1)](../man1/pmcd.1.html) process and associated Performance
           Metrics Domain Agents (PMDAs), as well as information about any
           PCP archivers ([pmlogger(1)](../man1/pmlogger.1.html)) and PCP inference engines ([pmie(1)](../man1/pmie.1.html))
           that are running.
    
           All of the displayed values are performance _metric_ values and
           further information for each can be obtained using the command:
    
              $ pminfo -dtT _metric_
    
           The complete set of _metric_ s required by **pcp** to produce its output
           is contained in **$PCP_VAR