Gathering Data for Capacity Advisor

HP Capacity Advisor works best when using generous amounts of data to generate reports and create meaningful simulation scenarios. Though it is most efficient and effective to collect data on a regular schedule, you can also start an up-to-date data collection for reports and profile generation at any time. Collected data is kept on a managed system for 30 days and on the CMS for four years.

Impact of Data Collection on Managed System Performance

The data collection process is purposely designed to consume few resources on the managed systems from which data is being collected. This means you can feel free to collect data whenever you want. However, the data collection process can take a relatively long time to run to completion when collecting data from a large number of systems.

Collected Capacity Advisor data is not the same as VSE data. For a diagram of the Capacity Advisor data collection infrastructure, see Figure 2–1.

Data Collection Options

When preparing to collect data for use in scenarios or for obtaining historical activity reports, consider the following:

the list of servers from which you want to collect data;
whether you need to collect data for the first time, update a data collection, or import previously collected data into Capacity Advisor; and
when to collect data.

Deciding From Which Servers to Collect. Data collection via Capacity Advisor is limited to those systems recognized as servers within HP Systems Insight Manager (HP SIM). The list of all possible servers can be viewed by opening the All Systems view or the All Servers view in the HP SIM left navigation bar. The list of all possible servers that are licensed with VSE Management Software can be viewed by opening the All VSE Resources view in the HP SIM left navigation bar or by opening HP Virtualization Manager (ToolsVSE Management... on the HP SIM top menu bar).

You may also have servers in mind where data collection has been accomplished using software other than Capacity Advisor, such as HP OpenView Performance Agent or HP Performance Management Pack. See “Importing Data for Use in Capacity Advisor” for information.

How to Collect Data Using Capacity Advisor. Data collection functions are accessible from multiple locations:

the HP SIM Optimize and Tasks & Logs menus
the VSE Visualization tab (Tools menu)
the VSE Capacity Advisor tab (Tools menu)
using capcollect(1M), capovpaextract(1M), or cappmpextract(1M) on the command line of the managed server (see the “Command Reference” in this guide.)




	NOTE: Licensing and Data Collection. Typically, servers from which data are collected are licensed for Capacity Advisor and VSE Management Software. However, it is possible that not all servers in a data center or network are licensed to run VSE. One way to gather data from these servers for use in scenarios is to install the Utilization Provider (in the VSE agent depot) and license each server with the Capacity Advisor Extension Pack. For information on installing the Utilization Provider, see VSE Management: Download Agents and Providers (scroll down for instructions). For general information about licensing systems, see the VSE Management Software Version 4.0 Getting Started Guide . For discussion of using the Capacity Advisor Extension Pack to collect data for a systems consolidation effort, see “Data Collection and the Capacity Advisor Extension Pack”.

When to Collect Data. Data collection via Capacity Advisor can be controlled to occur at different times by doing one or more of the following actions:

use the automated nightly collection
schedule a collection to occur periodically or one time only
launch an immediate collection

First Data Collection (or the Automated Nightly Collection)

In general, the procedures for collecting data are similar: you must select the target system or systems, schedule the collection task for a later run or to run now, and start the task.

Upon installation of VSE Management Software (and Capacity Advisor in particular), Capacity Advisor is set to automatically collect data from all discovered managed nodes that are licensed to run Capacity Advisor and from managed nodes that have the Capacity Advisor Extension Pack license. The data collection is set to start at midnight on the CMS time clock. This is called the nightly data collection. It occurs automatically at this time unless and until it is disabled or rescheduled to a different time.




	For Large Numbers of Managed Nodes: Collecting data from a large number of managed nodes (>500 nodes) at once can consume all available memory on the CMS. To avoid running out of memory, consider scheduling data collection for two or more manageable blocks of nodes (<500 nodes each) to occur at different times.

The following procedure can be used to stop automatic collection on a large number of systems or to move the nightly collection time to a period more suitable to your network.

Prerequisites. To alter the automated nightly data collection:

You must be logged in to HP Systems Insight Manager as a privileged administrator user or root. (see “Accessing Capacity Advisor”).

Procedure 5-2 To Alter the Automated Nightly Data Collection

Select Tasks & LogsView All Scheduled Tasks... from the HP SIM menu bar.
From the list of current tasks, select Collect ALL Capacity Advisor Data Nightly....
If you would like to modify the timing, click Edit.
The Task Confirmation screen is displayed.
Click Schedule.
Select Periodically from the list labeled When would you like this task to run?.
In the area labeled Refine Schedule:, set the time of your choice.
Click Done.
The Task Results screen is displayed. The data collection will start when the system clock reaches the time that you have set.
Or, if you would like to turn off the nightly collection, click the Disable this task check box and Done. If you now want to schedule a regular data collection for one or more blocks of machines, see “Scheduling a Data Collection”.

Interpreting Task Results

Once the Status field shows Complete, the collection task is complete. An Exit code of 0 means complete success. Positive values indicate partial or complete failure. For a complete explanation of the error codes, see capcollect(1M) or the HP Capacity Advisor Version 4.0 User's Guide.

The results of the task are presented in the Stdout and Stderr tab windows. The messages on the Stdout tab include indications of any errors that occur. Be sure to click both tabs for a complete understanding of what happened. See also: “Troubleshooting and Capacity Advisor Messages” for additional information to help you troubleshoot data collection errors.

Error Notification on the Standard Out Tab

While error messages are sent to the Stderr tab, the fact that errors have occurred is indicated on the Stdout tab. The messages sent to the Stdout tab are explained below. .

All utilization data collected for whole-OS workload "system-name"

All utilization data collected for workload "workload-name" on "system-name".

All physical CPU utilization data collected for HPVM "vm-name" from HPVM Host "vm-host-name".

Data collection succeeded on the system. No need to check the Stderr tab if this is the only type of notification.

Some utilization data collected for "system-name"

Although data collection was not entirely successful, some utilization data was collected. Check the Stderr tab for details of the problem.

Warning: message text.

A condition was detected while collecting that may affect the “usefulness” of the data collected. Check the Stderr tab for details of the problem.

NN Warnings issued.

Appears at the end of output on the Stdout tab.

Warnings were issued. Check the Stderr tab for details.

Collection failed on NN systems.

Appears at the end of output on the Stdout tab.

No data was collected from one or more systems. Check the Stderr tab. For each of the failed systems, there will be one or more messages, including the host name.

As you review and analyze the resulting data collection, you may notice discrepancies. See “Possible Sources of Discrepancies in Collected Data” for information.

Scheduling a Data Collection

As conditions evolve over time or to manage data collection for large numbers of servers, you can schedule one or more periodic data collections in addition to, or in place of, the automated nightly collection.

Prerequisites. To create a collection schedule:

You must be logged in to HP Systems Insight Manager (see “Accessing Capacity Advisor”).

Procedure 5-3 To Collect Data on Selected Systems

Select OptimizeCapacity AdvisorCollect Capacity Advisor Data... from the HP SIM menu bar.
The Collect Capacity Advisor Data wizard starts.
Click the word - select - in the drop-down list below the title Add targets by selecting from:.
A list of filters is presented.
Select an appropriate filter from the list. All Systems will list all the available systems, while other choices will constrain the selection list to subclasses of systems. The choice All VSE Resources restricts the list to those likely to be licensed for data collection.
Click the check boxes beside the systems for which you wish to collect data. If needed, expand the plus sign controls beside classes of systems to display specific systems. (For additional help on selecting targets, see the HP Systems Insight Manager Technical Reference Guide on “Creating a Task”.)
Click Apply.
The Verify Target Systems screen of the wizard displays the resulting list of target systems.
If you wish to collect data on more targets, click Add Targets and repeat the preceding two steps.
If you wish to remove any targets from the list:
1. Click the check boxes by the targets you wish to remove.
  Check marks appear in the check boxes.
2. Click Remove Targets.
  The targets with check marks in the check boxes disappear from the list.
Once the list has the correct set of targets, click Next.
The Task Confirmation screen of the wizard is displayed.
To start a one-time collection immediately, click Run Now.
The Task Results screen is displayed. See “Interpreting Task Results”.
To schedule the timing for a periodic collection, click Schedule.
The Schedule Task screen is displayed.
Select Periodically from the list labeled When would you like this task to run?.
In the area labeled Refine Schedule:, set the time of your choice.
Click Done.
The Task Results screen is displayed. The data collection will start when the system clock reaches the time that you have set.

See “Interpreting Task Results” for more information about the Task Results screen.

Modifying a Collection Schedule

As collection needs change over time, you can modify an existing schedule for better results.

Prerequisites. To modify a collection schedule:

You must be logged in to HP Systems Insight Manager (see “Accessing Capacity Advisor”).
You must be the creator of the collection schedule that you want to modify, or a privileged administrator user.

Procedure 5-4 To Modify a Collection Schedule

Select Tasks & LogsView All Scheduled Tasks...from the HP SIM menu bar.
The All Scheduled Tasks screen displays a list of the tasks that have been associated with your current user ID.
Click the radio button beside the task you wish to reschedule.
Click Edit.
The Task Confirmation screen of the Collect Capacity Advisor All wizard displays.
Click Schedule.
The Schedule Task screen of the wizard displays.
Modify the Schedule Task screen of the Collect Capacity Advisor Data All wizard.
Click Done.
The All Scheduled Tasks screen displays.

Removing a Collection Schedule

As your collection needs change over time, you might need to remove a collection schedule.

Prerequisites. To remove a collection schedule:

You must be logged in to HP Systems Insight Manager (see “Accessing Capacity Advisor”).
You must be the creator of the collection schedule that you want to modify, or a privileged administrator user.

Procedure 5-5 To Remove a Collection Schedule

Select Tasks & LogsView All Scheduled Tasks... from the HP SIM menu bar.
The All Scheduled Tasks screen displays a list of the tasks associated with your current user ID.
Click the radio button beside the task that you wish to delete.
Click Delete.
A confirmation screen displays.
Click OK on the confirmation screen.
The task is removed from the list. If this is the last task in the list, the message “There are no available tasks to display.” replaces the list of tasks.

Updating Collected Data

At times, such as when you are generating reports and developing or refining scenarios, you may want to trigger data collection so that your work is based on the most up-to-date data. You may want to do one of the following actions:

Update the collected data on all available systems ( see “Updating Collected Data on All Systems”).
Update the collected data from some systems (see “Updating Collected Data on Selected Systems”).
Update the collected data presented in a Profile Viewer report (see “Updating Data Displayed in a Profile Viewer”).

Updating Collected Data on All Systems

You may want to update data for all systems at one time.

Prerequisites. To update collected data on all systems:

You must be logged in to HP Systems Insight Manager (see “Accessing Capacity Advisor”).

Procedure 5-6 To Update Collected Data on All Systems

Select OptimizeCapacity AdvisorCollect Capacity Advisor Data ALL... from the HP SIM menu bar.
This starts the wizard for collecting data from all systems licensed for Capacity Advisor.
Click Run Now.
See “Interpreting Task Results” for more information about the Task Results screen.

Updating Collected Data on Selected Systems

At times, you might want to collect data on selected systems. In this case, follow the same procedure as for “Scheduling a Data Collection”, steps 1–9.

Updating Data Displayed in a Profile Viewer

To update the data in a Profile Viewer display:

You must be in a Profile Viewer (see “Using the Profile Viewer”).

Procedure 5-7 To Update Data that a Profile Viewer is Displaying

Click the Collect Capacity Advisor Data... link.
A busy indicator appears over the grayed out screen. When the busy indicator disappears, you can see the refreshed data display.
NOTE: If the data collection fails, the output from stdout and stderr of the command are shown at the top of the screen.

Possible Sources of Discrepancies in Collected Data

Several possibilities exist to explain discrepancies that may appear in the data or that may affect data collection. Check these possibilities to understand what actions you can take to correct the discrepancy.

No Data Collected for a Managed Node

If you do not obtain data on systems from which you expect to collect data, use the license scan to help you discover if a lack of licensing for Capacity Advisor may be the problem.

To learn about VSE Management Software licenses, including those for Capacity Advisor, review “Activating Licenses” in VSE Management Software Version 4.0 Getting Started Guideprior to starting a license scan. Also see “Data Collection and the Capacity Advisor Extension Pack”.

To start the license scan:

Select Deploy License Manager... from the HP SIM menu bar.
Follow the progression for designating the systems for which you want to review licensing.

Should you decide to modify the current licensing, consult the “Activating Licenses” section of the VSE Management Software Version 4.0 Getting Started Guide for information on how to assign licenses to servers.

Data Timestamp Appears to be Incorrect

For best accuracy in providing simulation solutions and historic reporting of actual system resource use, it is assumed that the time clocks of managed nodes are synchronized with the time clock of the central management server. If, on gathering or collecting data, the date stamp on your data is not current, the time or time zone on a managed node may be set incorrectly in relation to the CMS. For instructions on correcting this, see “Data May Appear to be Old When it is Not”.

Dynamic Memory in HP Integrity Virtual Machines

A dynamic memory feature is available in HP Integrity VMs. This allows the memory allocated to each virtual machine to be changed without rebooting the virtual machine. Capacity Advisor is aware of this feature and records both the memory allocated to each virtual machine, as well as how much of this memory is in use for each five-minute interval. Both of these values are correct when the virtual machines are using the dynamic memory feature.

When a virtual machine is running HP-UX 11.23, most built-in commands such as top and sar will not be aware of the dynamic memory feature and can show memory sizes that are different from what is recorded by Capacity Advisor. For example, if a virtual machine is initially booted with 16 GB of memory, and is then re-sized to 4 GB, the built-in commands will not know about the change and will show 16 GB for physical RAM. Capacity Advisor, however, will show that the available memory for the VM is 4 GB. Also, when a virtual machine is sized less than its maximum size, some built-in commands will show the kernel using more memory than it is actually using.

Data Collection and the Capacity Advisor Extension Pack

HP provides the Capacity Advisor Extension Pack specifically to address the need to understand resource utilization on servers that are targeted for consolidation onto other systems. Such servers often will not be running VSE Management Software. Yet, being able to use Capacity Advisor's planning facilities can greatly reduce the amount of time needed to plan a consolidation effort.

The Capacity Advisor Extension Pack provides you with an additional, limited license to obtain data from these types of servers for use in Capacity Advisor scenarios. For six months from the time the license is locked into its assignment to a server, you can collect data to use in your consolidation planning scenarios within Capacity Advisor.

Assigning the Extension Pack License to a Server

This help topic focuses on applying and using the Capacity Advisor Extension Pack. For an overall discussion of licensing for Capacity Advisor and other VSE Management Software, see the VSE Management Software Version 4.0 Getting Started Guide.

The HP SIM License Manager

The HP SIM License Manager allows you to view the available and applied licenses for all products in the HP SIM License Manager database. You can use License Manager to add Capacity Advisor Extension Pack licenses to the database and to assign them to managed servers known to HP SIM. For instructions on how to add the Extension Pack licenses to HP SIM, see the VSE Management Software Version 4.0 Getting Started Guide.

To use HP SIM License Manager, you must have administrative rights on the CMS and you must be authorized for the All Tools toolbox on the managed systems that you want to license.

Procedure 5-8 Use License Manager to View and Assign Licenses

From the HP SIM menu, select DeployLicense Manager.... License Manager displays the Product License Information screen.
Select Capacity Advisor Extension Pack from the displayed list. To see all of the servers that are currently licensed for that product, click Licensed System(s)....
To view the number of available Extension Pack licenses, select Capacity Advisor Extension Pack and click Manage Licenses....

The number of available licenses and the number of assigned licenses are displayed.




	NOTE: Available licenses are those that have been added to the pool of licenses, but that have not been assigned to a particular server. Assigned licenses are licenses from the pool that are assigned to particular servers. Generally, assigned licenses can be unassigned, returning them to the pool of available licenses. However, this ability to release an assigned license for use on a different server is limited. Once a user of Capacity Advisor takes an action that obtains or uses data from the licensed server, that license assignment becomes permanent for the duration of the license (a used license). Until then, the license can be unassigned.

Click Assign Licenses to begin selecting the target systems.

Using Capacity Advisor with Extension Pack Server Data

As Extension Pack servers are not licensed for VSE Management Software, you must use HP SIM Optimize menu options for Capacity Advisor to collect and manipulate this data.

The available Optimize menu options allow you to do the following actions:

view a utilization profile
collect data
import data
view and create scenarios
create utilization and scenario comparison reports

Viewing the Licensed Servers in HP SIM

Another implication of this limited extension pack license is that servers with this license are not visible in the Visualization tab of HP Virtualization Manager. To see these servers in a list, look for “All Servers” selections and links within HP SIM task screens and a few Capacity Advisor screens. The “All Servers” list allows you to view and select servers licensed with the Extension Pack for inclusion in scenarios or for creating reports.

Importing Data for Use in Capacity Advisor

To import system utilization data, the system must be discovered by HP SIM.

For systems that you know are running HP OpenView Performance Agent (OVPA), you can verify discovery by clicking “All Systems” or “All Servers” in the HP SIM left navigation bar.

If the system has not been discovered, you can add it manually. (From the HP SIM menu bar, select OptionsDiscovery.... You must be a privileged Administrator user or root to see this option.) For help on adding a system manually, see the “Discovery and Identification” topic in the HP Systems Insight Manager Technical Reference Guide. After you add a system, verify that the system appears in “All Systems” view.

For systems running HP Performance Management Pack (PMP), select OptimizeList PMP Systems to see the list of discovered servers running PMP.

Once you verify that the system of interest has been discovered by HP Systems Insight Manager, you can import system utilization data into Capacity Advisor.

From the HP SIM Optimize Menu — Import HP OVPA Data

Prerequisites. To import OVPA-collected data for selected systems:

You must be logged in to HP Systems Insight Manager (see “Accessing Capacity Advisor”).
The system(s) must be discovered by HP SIM.

Procedure 5-9 Import HP OVPA Data Into Capacity Advisor

Click OptimizeCapacity AdvisorImport OVPA System Data....
Select the target system(s).
The Verify Targets screen displays.
Verify the target system(s).
You have the opportunity to add or remove systems here. When done, click Next.
The Specify Parameters screen displays.
Specify the begin and end dates desired to define the extent of the collection to import.
For example:
[-b 20071101 -e 20071231]
If no date range is given, all data up to 30 days is imported.
Optionally, specify [-p] if the import is for a non-VSE workload.
Click Run Now.
After a short time, the Task Results screen displays.

For tasks where you select Run Now, a few moments will pass and then you see the Task Results screen. For general help on interpreting the information in this screen, see the HP Systems Insight Manager Technical Reference Guide on “Viewing Task Results”.

The Task Results screen shows a “Running” check box with a Start time: until the task completes. When data import finishes, you see an End time: displayed, with standard out (stdout) and standard error (stderr) information displayed on tabbed panes in this screen. Check both tabs for relevant information.

From the HP SIM Optimize Menu — Import HP PMP Data

Prerequisites. To import PMP-collected data for selected systems:

You must be logged in to HP Systems Insight Manager (see “Accessing Capacity Advisor”).
The system(s) must be discovered by HP SIM.

Procedure 5-10 Import HP PMP Data Into Capacity Advisor

Click OptimizeCapacity AdvisorImport PMP System Data....
Select the target system(s).
The Verify Targets screen displays.
Verify the target system(s).
You have the opportunity to add or remove systems here. When done, click Next.
The Specify Parameters screen displays.
Specify the begin and end dates desired to define the extent of the collection to import.
For example:
[-b 20071101 -e 20071231]
If no date range is given, all available data is imported.
Optionally, specify [-p] when the import is for a non-VSE workload.
Optionally, specify [-o] when you want the new data to overwrite existing data for the system within the Capacity Advisor database.
Click Run Now.
After a short time, the Task Results screen displays.

From the Command Line

Add user login information to the SSH settings for your specific system on the System Protocol Settings screen (OptionsProtocol SettingsSystem Protocol Settings).
From the command line on the CMS, and logged in as root, execute the capopvaextract or cappmpextract command, giving the fully qualified host name as the first argument. (See the corresponding man pages in the “Command Reference” for more information.)
For example:
# capovpaextract node12.company.com