Win32 perf_counter[*] usage inconsistent.

[azilber]

Hi All,

This is seriously bugging the hell out of me. perf_counter usage in 1.1beta2 Win32 agent seems to be inconsistent.

Example:
In the frontend PHP interface, setting this up works (from doc/README):
perf_counter[\Paging File(_Total)\% Usage]

Setting up ANY other perfomance monitor attribute, does not. I have to resort to modifying zabbix_agentd.conf like so:
PerfCounter = MemPages,"\Memory\Pages/sec",30
PerfCounter = PDtotDiskQueueLength,"\PhysicalDisk(_Total)\Avg. Disk Queue Length",30
PerfCounter = FileDataOps,"\System\File Data Operations/sec",30
PerfCounter = FileReadOps,"\System\File Read Operations/sec",30
PerfCounter = FileWriteOps,"\System\File Write Operations/sec",30
PerfCounter = ProcTotInt,"\Processor(_Total)\Interrupts/sec",30
PerfCounter = ObjEvents,"\Objects\Events",30
PerfCounter = ObjSem,"\Objects\Semaphores",30
PerfCounter = ObjThreads,"\Objects\Threads",30
PerfCounter = DTCACT,"\Distributed Transaction Coordinator\Active Transactions",30
PerfCounter = DTCTS,"\Distributed Transaction Coordinator\Transactions/sec",30
PerfCounter = PhysDiskTotTran,"\PhysicalDisk(_Total)\Disk Transfers/sec",30

It seems that none of these can be setup through the web interface. This of course makes using a Template nearly impossible if the conf files aren't synced up across machines.

WHY is the usage inconsistent through the web interface? Where some work and some don't??

-Alex

[cameronsto]

I'm getting the same results. Some items work through the web interface, while others seem to just return 0.

-cameron

[azilber]

You're right Cameron, the items seem to get tracked, but I get a 0 through the web interface. When those same items are put in zabbix_agentd.conf, then they work properly. It makes no sense, and is definitelly a big bug.

-Alex :(

---

I've now submitted this as a bug:
http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=1350346&group_id=23494&atid=378683
Bug #1350346 on sourceforge.net/projects/zabbix

[navtek007]

Has anyone found a fix for this bug yet?

Thanks.

[azilber]

Has anyone found a fix for this bug yet?

Thanks.

But I just got the company I work for to purchase their Silver support, so I'm going to make this a sticking point if it doesn't get fixed. I'm hoping by the time we get a release candidate this will be fixed. I can't imagine they'd release with this bug.

[navtek007]

did u end up finding a fix for this? it is too much work to go to each server and edit the agentd.conf file. Alex any update on getting this bug fixed..

thanks.

[djinn_fr22]

I am as well really interrested to know if there is a solution thru the web interface.

Thank you.

[Alexei]

Please try ZABBIX Win32/64 agent v 1.1.5.

[djinn_fr22]

Thank you for your answer.
I upgraded to version 1.1.5.

I have always the same problem on a windows 2000 server (service pack4)

the key: perf_counter[\System\Threads] works

But the key perf_counter[\Memory\Pages/sec] doesn't work.

If I had this line in zabbix_agentd.conf
PerfCounter = MemPages,"\Memory\Pages/sec",30

Then it works, but I have to deploy the new version of zabbix_agentd.conf to all servers, rather adding an item in a template.

On a windows XP professionnal (service pack 2), it works well.

I found also another bug.
The lenght of the textarea "Key", when you create an item is too short.
I tried to add:
perf_counter[\Network Interface(HP NC7782 Gigabit Server Adapter)\Bytes Received/sec], but after validating the form is only show 64 characters:

perf_counter[\Network Interface(HP NC7782 Gigabit Server Adapter

Once again, thank you for your help.

[navtek007]

I have also posted a question about this issue

http://www.zabbix.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5054

Basically i beleive that the perf_counter item doesn't like counters with "%", "." "/", spaces seem to be ok. there is an alternative out there that some people use with nagios called wincheck_counter.

wincheck_counter -C "PhysicalDisk" -P "% Idle Time" -I "_Total" -f "%f"

However we need wild cards enable for the windows agent so we can add a userparameter

wincheck_counter -C $1 -P $2 -I $3 -f "%f"

Then from the web interface I was hoping we can add a parameter like the following

wincheck_counter "PhysicalDisk" "% Idle Time" "_Total"

Obviosuly it would be easier if we could just fix the agent however this could be a workaround if wild cards could work in 1.1.5.

What are your thoughts Alexei?

Thanks.

[Markus]

I did some major investigations into the differences between perf_counter and PerfCounter, the full results are attached. The agent used was 1.1.5 installed on WindowsXP running inside a VMware machine. I used the 'typeperf -qx' command (available with the latest Windows OS) to generate a list of all performance counters which are available.

It seems that with the perf_counter method one can generally expect that performance counters which calculate either percentage or per second values will not(!) work. There are some exceptions though:

\LogicalDisk(C:)\% Free Space - 61.355849
\LogicalDisk(_Total)\% Free Space - 61.355849
\Memory\% Committed Bytes In Use - 23.953959
\Paging File(\??\C:\pagefile.sys)\% Usage - 13.486735
\Paging File(_Total)\% Usage - 13.486735
\Paging File(\??\C:\pagefile.sys)\% Usage Peak - 13.505046
\Paging File(_Total)\% Usage Peak - 13.505046
\System\% Registry Quota In Use - 2.571957
\ProcessorPerformance(ACPI\GenuineIntel_-_x86_Family_6_Model_13\_0_0)\% of Maximum Frequency - 100.000000

\Distributed Transaction Coordinator\Transactions/sec - 0.000000
\Distributed Transaction Coordinator\Committed Transactions/sec - 0.000000
\Distributed Transaction Coordinator\Aborted Transactions/sec - 0.000000

When I use the PerfCounter method in zabbix_agentd.conf I get a lot more values.

NOTE: ZabbixW32.exe crashes on certain PerfCounter configurations. I suspect this to happen when the performance counter path (=name) is too long.

Attached files:

ZabbixW32-perf_counter-output.zip
ZabbixW32-PerfCounter-output.zip