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NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | CONFIGURATION FILE | OPTIONS | FILES | PCP ENVIRONMENT | DEBUGGING OPTIONS | SEE ALSO | COLOPHON |
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PCP2ZABBIX(1) General Commands Manual PCP2ZABBIX(1)
pcp2zabbix - pcp-to-zabbix metrics exporter
pcp2zabbix [-5CGHIjlLnrRvV?] [-4 action] [-8|-9 limit] [-a
archive] [-A align] [--archive-folio folio] [-b|-B space-scale]
[-c config] [--container container] [-D debug] [--daemonize] [-e
derived] [-E send-interval] [-g server] [-h host] [-i instances]
[-J rank] [-K spec] [-N predicate] [-O origin] [-p port] [-P|-0
precision] [-q|-Q count-scale] [-s samples] [-S starttime] [-t
interval] [-T endtime] [-x prefix] [-X hostname] [-y|-Y time-
scale] metricspec [...]
pcp2zabbix is a customizable performance metrics exporter tool
from PCP to Zabbix. Any available performance metric, live or
archived, system and/or application, can be selected for exporting
using either command line arguments or a configuration file.
pcp2zabbix is a close relative of pmrep(1). Refer to pmrep(1) for
the metricspec description accepted on pcp2zabbix command line.
See pmrep.conf(5) for description of the pcp2zabbix.conf
configuration file syntax. This page describes pcp2zabbix
specific options and configuration file differences with
pmrep.conf(5). pmrep(1) also lists some usage examples of which
most are applicable with pcp2zabbix as well.
Only the command line options listed on this page are supported,
other options available for pmrep(1) are not supported.
Options via environment values (see pmGetOptions(3)) override the
corresponding built-in default values (if any). Configuration
file options override the corresponding environment variables (if
any). Command line options override the corresponding
configuration file options (if any).
pcp2zabbix uses a configuration file with syntax described in
pmrep.conf(5). The following options are common with pmrep.conf:
version, source, speclocal, derived, header, globals, samples,
interval, type, type_prefer, ignore_incompat, names_change,
instances, live_filter, rank, limit_filter, limit_filter_force,
invert_filter, predicate, omit_flat, precision, precision_force,
count_scale, count_scale_force, space_scale, space_scale_force,
time_scale, time_scale_force. The rest of the pmrep.conf options
are recognized but ignored for compatibility.
pcp2zabbix specific options
zabbix_server (string)
Specify the destination Zabbix server hostname or IP address.
If a host is monitored by a proxy, proxy hostname or IP
address should be used instead. Corresponding command line
option is -g. Defaults to localhost.
zabbix_port (integer)
Specify the port number of server trapper running on the
server. Corresponding command line option is -p. Defaults to
10051.
zabbix_host (string)
Specify agent hostname as registered in Zabbix frontend. Host
IP address and DNS name will not work. Corresponding command
line option is -X. Defaults to the metrics source host.
zabbix_interval (string)
Indicates the interval to send metrics to the Zabbix server.
This can be longer than the reporting interval to minimize the
overhead when communicating with the server (as each send
creates a new connection). Follows the time syntax described
in PCPIntro(1). Corresponding command line option is -E.
Defaults to the reporting interval. Zabbix tools send at most
250 metrics at a time. Ignored when reading metrics from PCP
archives, in which case metrics will be sent roughly at 250
metric batches.
zabbix_prefix (string)
Specify the prefix for metrics sent to the Zabbix server.
Corresponding command line option is -x. Defaults to pcp..
zabbix_lld (boolean)
Specify whether to enable Zabbix low-level discovery.
Corresponding command line option is -l. Defaults to no.
The available command line options are:
-0 precision, --precision-force=precision
Like -P but this option will override per-metric
specifications.
-4 action, --names-change=action
Specify which action to take on receiving a metric names
change event during sampling. These events occur when a PMDA
discovers new metrics sometime after starting up, and informs
running client tools like pcp2zabbix. Valid values for
action are update (refresh metrics being sampled), ignore (do
nothing - the default behaviour) and abort (exit the program
if such an event occurs).
-5, --ignore-unknown
Silently ignore any metric name that cannot be resolved. At
least one metric must be found for the tool to start.
-8 limit, --limit-filter=limit
Limit results to instances with values above/below limit. A
positive integer will include instances with values at or
above the limit in reporting. A negative integer will
include instances with values at or below the limit in
reporting. A value of zero performs no limit filtering.
This option will not override possible per-metric
specifications. See also -J and -N.
-9 limit, --limit-filter-force=limit
Like -8 but this option will override per-metric
specifications.
-a archive, --archive=archive
Performance metric values are retrieved from the set of
Performance Co-Pilot (PCP) archive files identified by the
archive argument, which is a comma-separated list of names,
each of which may be the base name of an archive or the name
of a directory containing one or more archives.
-A align, --align=align
Force the initial sample to be aligned on the boundary of a
natural time unit align. Refer to PCPIntro(1) for a complete
description of the syntax for align.
--archive-folio=folio
Read metric source archives from the PCP archive folio
created by tools like pmchart(1) or, less often, manually
with mkaf(1).
-b scale, --space-scale=scale
Unit/scale for space (byte) metrics, possible values include
bytes, Kbytes, KB, Mbytes, MB, and so forth. This option
will not override possible per-metric specifications. See
also pmParseUnitsStr(3).
-B scale, --space-scale-force=scale
Like -b but this option will override per-metric
specifications.
-c config, --config=config
Specify the config file or directory to use. In case config
is a directory all files in it ending .conf will be included.
The default is the first found of: ./pcp2zabbix.conf,
$HOME/.pcp2zabbix.conf, $HOME/pcp/pcp2zabbix.conf, and
$PCP_SYSCONF_DIR/pcp2zabbix.conf. For details, see the above
section and pmrep.conf(5).
--container=container
Fetch performance metrics from the specified container,
either local or remote (see -h).
-C, --check
Exit before reporting any values, but after parsing the
configuration and metrics and printing possible headers.
--daemonize
Daemonize on startup.
-e derived, --derived=derived
Specify derived performance metrics. If derived starts with
a slash (``/'') or with a dot (``.'') it will be interpreted
as a PCP derived metrics configuration file, otherwise it
will be interpreted as comma- or semicolon-separated derived
metric expressions. For complete description of derived
metrics and PCP derived metrics configuration files see
pmLoadDerivedConfig(3) and pmRegisterDerived(3).
Alternatively, using pmrep.conf(5) configuration syntax
allows defining derived metrics as part of metricsets.
In case of issues with derived metrics, review the
aforementioned manual pages in detail and ensure all the
required metrics are available, especially when using
archives. Use -Dderive to see additional debug information
about parsing derived metrics.
-E interval, --zabbix-interval=interval
Specify the interval to send metrics to the server. See
zabbix_interval description above for details.
-g server, --zabbix-server=server
Destination Zabbix server.
-G, --no-globals
Do not include global metrics in reporting (see
pmrep.conf(5)).
-h host, --host=host
Fetch performance metrics from pmcd(1) on host, rather than
from the default localhost.
-H, --no-header
Do not print any headers.
-i instances, --instances=instances
Retrieve and report only the specified metric instances. By
default all instances, present and future, are reported.
Refer to pmrep(1) for complete description of this option.
-I, --ignore-incompat
Ignore incompatible metrics. By default incompatible metrics
(that is, their type is unsupported or they cannot be scaled
as requested) will cause pcp2zabbix to terminate with an
error message. With this option all incompatible metrics are
silently omitted from reporting. This may be especially
useful when requesting non-leaf nodes of the PMNS tree for
reporting.
-l, --zabbix-lld
Add low-level discovery (LLD) metrics. This allows PCP
metric instance domains to be sent to Zabbix, so that
prototype items/triggers/graphs may be automatically
constructed by Zabbix. For each PCP metric with an instance
domain, the key pcp.discovery[pcp.met.ric] is sent periodi‐
cally. This symbol should be added to a discovery rule, and
will define the {#PCP.MET.RIC} LLD macro. This macro can in
turn be used to define prototype items/triggers/graphs. The
names are adjusted if -x was given to override the pcp. pre‐
fix.
-j, --live-filter
Perform instance live filtering. This allows capturing all
named instances even if processes are restarted at some point
(unlike without live filtering). Performing live filtering
over a huge number of instances will add some internal over‐
head so a bit of user caution is advised. See also -n.
-J rank, --rank=rank
Limit results to highest/lowest ranked instances of set-val‐
ued metrics. A positive integer will include highest valued
instances in reporting. A negative integer will include low‐
est valued instances in reporting. A value of zero performs
no ranking. Ranking does not imply sorting, see -6. See al‐
so -8.
-K spec, --spec-local=spec
When fetching metrics from a local context (see -L), the -K
option may be used to control the DSO PMDAs that should be
made accessible. The spec argument conforms to the syntax
described in pmSpecLocalPMDA(3). More than one -K option may
be used.
-L, --local-PMDA
Use a local context to collect metrics from DSO PMDAs on the
local host without PMCD. See also -K.
-n, --invert-filter
Perform ranking before live filtering. By default instance
live filtering (when requested, see -j) happens before in‐
stance ranking (when requested, see -J). With this option
the logic is inverted and ranking happens before live filter‐
ing.
-N predicate, --predicate=predicate
Specify a comma-separated list of predicate filter reference
metrics. By default ranking (see -J) happens for each metric
individually. With predicates, ranking is done only for the
specified predicate metrics. When reporting, rest of the
metrics sharing the same instance domain (see PCPIntro(1)) as
the predicate will include only the highest/lowest ranking
instances of the corresponding predicate. Ranking does not
imply sorting, see -6.
So for example, using proc.memory.rss (resident memory size
of process) as the predicate metric together with proc.io.to‐
tal_bytes and mem.util.used as metrics to be reported, only
the processes using most/least (as per -J) memory will be in‐
cluded when reporting total bytes written by processes.
Since mem.util.used is a single-valued metric (thus not shar‐
ing the same instance domain as the process related metrics),
it will be reported as usual.
-O origin, --origin=origin
When reporting archived metrics, start reporting at origin
within the time window (see -S and -T). Refer to PCPIntro(1)
for a complete description of the syntax for origin.
-p port, --zabbix-port=port
Zabbix server port.
-P precision, --precision=precision
Use precision for numeric non-integer output values. The de‐
fault is to use 3 decimal places (when applicable). This op‐
tion will not override possible per-metric specifications.
-q scale, --count-scale=scale
Unit/scale for count metrics, possible values include count x
10^-1, count, count x 10, count x 10^2, and so forth from
10^-8 to 10^7. (These values are currently space-sensitive.)
This option will not override possible per-metric specifica‐
tions. See also pmParseUnitsStr(3).
-Q scale, --count-scale-force=scale
Like -q but this option will override per-metric specifica‐
tions.
-r, --raw
Output raw metric values, do not convert cumulative counters
to rates. This option will override possible per-metric
specifications.
-R, --raw-prefer
Like -r but this option will not override per-metric specifi‐
cations.
-s samples, --samples=samples
The argument samples defines the number of samples to be re‐
trieved and reported. If samples is 0 or -s is not speci‐
fied, pcp2zabbix will sample and report continuously (in real
time mode) or until the end of the set of PCP archives (in
archive mode). See also -T.
-S starttime, --start=starttime
When reporting archived metrics, the report will be restrict‐
ed to those records logged at or after starttime. Refer to
PCPIntro(1) for a complete description of the syntax for
starttime.
-t interval, --interval=interval
Set the reporting interval to something other than the de‐
fault 1 second. The interval argument follows the syntax de‐
scribed in PCPIntro(1), and in the simplest form may be an
unsigned integer (the implied units in this case are sec‐
onds). See also the -T option.
-T endtime, --finish=endtime
When reporting archived metrics, the report will be restrict‐
ed to those records logged before or at endtime. Refer to
PCPIntro(1) for a complete description of the syntax for end‐
time.
When used to define the runtime before pcp2zabbix will exit,
if no samples is given (see -s) then the number of reported
samples depends on interval (see -t). If samples is given
then interval will be adjusted to allow reporting of samples
during runtime. In case all of -T, -s, and -t are given,
endtime determines the actual time pcp2zabbix will run.
-v, --omit-flat
Report only set-valued metrics with instances (e.g.
disk.dev.read) and omit single-valued ``flat'' metrics with‐
out instances (e.g. kernel.all.sysfork). See -i and -I.
-V, --version
Display version number and exit.
-x prefix, --zabbix-prefix=prefix
Metrics prefix for measurements sent to the server.
-X hostname, --zabbix-host=hostname
Agent hostname as registered in Zabbix frontend.
-y scale, --time-scale=scale
Unit/scale for time metrics, possible values include nanosec,
ns, microsec, us, millisec, ms, and so forth up to hour, hr.
This option will not override possible per-metric specifica‐
tions. See also pmParseUnitsStr(3).
-Y scale, --time-scale-force=scale
Like -y but this option will override per-metric specifica‐
tions.
-?, --help
Display usage message and exit.
pcp2zabbix.conf
pcp2zabbix configuration file (see -c)
$PCP_SYSCONF_DIR/pmrep/*.conf
system provided default pmrep configuration files
Environment variables with the prefix PCP_ are used to parameter‐
ize the file and directory names used by PCP. On each installa‐
tion, the file /etc/pcp.conf contains the local values for these
variables. The $PCP_CONF variable may be used to specify an al‐
ternative configuration file, as described in pcp.conf(5).
For environment variables affecting PCP tools, see
pmGetOptions(3).
Of particular note, PCP_DISCRETE_ONCE can be set to ensure that
discrete metric values are reported only once, unless they change
at some point.
The -D or --debug option enables the output of additional diagnos‐
tics on stderr to help triage problems, although the information
is sometimes cryptic and primarily intended to provide guidance
for developers rather end-users. debug is a comma separated list
of debugging options; use pmdbg(1) with the -l option to obtain a
list of the available debugging options and their meaning.
PCPIntro(1), mkaf(1), pcp(1), pcp2elasticsearch(1),
pcp2graphite(1), pcp2influxdb(1), pcp2json(1), pcp2spark(1),
pcp2xlsx(1), pcp2xml(1), pmcd(1), pminfo(1), pmrep(1),
pmGetOptions(3), pmLoadDerivedConfig(3), pmParseUnitsStr(3),
pmRegisterDerived(3), pmSpecLocalPMDA(3), zbxpcp(3),
LOGARCHIVE(5), pcp.conf(5), pmrep.conf(5) and PMNS(5).
This page is part of the PCP (Performance Co-Pilot) project. In‐
formation about the project can be found at ⟨http://www.pcp.io/⟩.
If you have a bug report for this manual page, send it to
pcp@groups.io. This page was obtained from the project's upstream
Git repository ⟨https://github.com/performancecopilot/pcp.git⟩ on
2025-08-11. (At that time, the date of the most recent commit
that was found in the repository was 2025-08-11.) If you discover
any rendering problems in this HTML version of the page, or you
believe there is a better or more up-to-date source for the page,
or you have corrections or improvements to the information in this
COLOPHON (which is not part of the original manual page), send a
mail to man-pages@man7.org
Performance Co-Pilot PCP PCP2ZABBIX(1)
Pages that refer to this page: pcp2elasticsearch(1), pcp2graphite(1), pcp2influxdb(1), pcp2json(1), pcp2openmetrics(1), pcp2spark(1), pcp2template(1), pcp2xlsx(1), pcp2xml(1), pmrep(1)
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HTML rendering created 2025-09-06 by Michael Kerrisk, author of The Linux Programming Interface. For details of in-depth Linux/UNIX system programming training courses that I teach, look here. Hosting by jambit GmbH. |
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