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Foglight for Apache 5.7.0 - User Guide

Monitoring Apache Web Servers

Foglight for Apache enables you to quickly determine the status of each of your monitored Apache web servers by providing a visual overview of key access and traffic metrics. The Apache Web Server, also known as the Apache Httpd Server, is an open-source project hosted by the Apache Foundation. Through its server status (mod_status) and server information (mod_info) pages, the Apache web server provides a wealth of performance statistics, which Foglight for Apache displays in easy to use Foglight for Apache dashboards.
The Apache Web Server Monitoring dashboard provides summary views of all monitored web servers as well as individual web server views. These views help you quickly compare web server performance, determine worker utilization and traffic levels, and view any alarms that have occurred.
 
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NOTE: In order for the Apache agent to monitor your web server, the server must have mod_info and mod_status enabled. For more information, see Configuring Apache Web Servers for Monitoring .
To open the Apache Web Server Monitoring dashboard:
•
On the navigation panel, under Dashboards, click Apache.
Figure 1. Apache Web Server Monitoring Dashboard
The Summary – All Apache Web Servers view provides charts and lists that identify the top three web servers for four key metrics (from left to right):
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Requests per second
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Worker utilization
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Bytes per request
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Bytes per second
If any alarms have been generated on the web servers, a summary of the alarms appears in the Alarms table.
Use this view to determine if any web servers have experienced a recent, unexpected spike or drop in activity, or a dramatic change in worker availability.

Investigating Worker Utilization

The Summary – All Apache Web Servers view displays a comparison of the three servers that are experiencing the highest worker load in the Top 3 Worker Utilization chart. Use this view to compare web server worker performance and track trends over time. If you identify a server that is of particular interest, you can drill down for more information.
To investigate worker utilization for an individual web server:
1
On the Apache Web Server Monitoring dashboard, click the name of the web server in the list on the left side.
The Summary – WebServerName view appears.
Figure 2. Summary - WebServerName View
This view is divided into three sections: Workers, Web Server Information, and Performance.
2
Review the worker utilization information. For best performance, there should be enough idle workers to handle peak web site traffic. This information can help web server administrators tune the server’s performance.
 
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TIP: For more information, review the Apache documentation about MaxClients.
3
Review the web server access and traffic trends. The spinners provide color-coded information about the state of the flow of server access (requests per second) and server traffic (bytes per second). When the number of requests or bytes per second hits a threshold value, the color of the spinner changes to reflect the status (green, yellow, or red).
a
Click the spinner to open a graph of the metric with the baseline information.
Figure 3. Metric Graph with Baseline Information
If you detect a problematic pattern, you can take a deeper look at the web server’s worker performance and investigate the web sites hosted on that server.
4
On the Summary – WebServerName view, click Explore.
The Web Server Details view opens.
Figure 4. Web Server Details View
Use the two tabs in this view to gain a better understanding of worker utilization, performance, and individual web site characteristics.
 
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TIP: For more information, see Web Server Details View.
5
On the Performance tab:
a
Examine the workers status breakdown. Use the check boxes to the left of the chart to select the worker states to compare over time. By default, all states except Waiting for connections and Open slot with no current process are included.
b
Examine the server’s performance in the Performance charts and health status bars.
c
Examine and compare the web sites with the highest connection counts (Top 5 Busy Web Sites).
6
Click the Web Sites tab.
The Web Sites tab lists key metrics for each web site hosted on the Apache web server that you are examining. It provides the following information: Web Site name and port, Site Bindings, and Connection Count, Client Count, and Traffic as both numeric values and sparklines that show recent trends.
Use this tab to determine if the issues affecting the server are related to a single web site’s performance or to all sites.

Monitoring Web Server Status with Rules and Alarms

Foglight for Apache includes several rules designed to generate alarms when key metrics enter certain threshold states. Combined with IntelliProfile baseline information, these rules allow you to measure performance in degrees of deviation from the baseline.
To view the rules and alarm thresholds for Foglight for Apache:
1
On the navigation panel, click Administration.
2
On the Administration dashboard, under Rules and Notifications, click Rules.
3
On the Rule Management dashboard, use the drop-down list to select the rules specific to Foglight for Apache (Apache-UI).
For more information about IntelliProfile baselines and thresholds, see “Exploring the IntelliProfile dashboard” in the Foglight for Apache Administration and Configuration Help.
For more information about managing rules in Foglight for Apache, see “Configuring Rules and Metric Calculations to Discover Bottlenecks” in the Foglight for Apache Administration and Configuration Help.

Finding Quick Answers with FAQts

You can access instant answers to questions relating to your web servers, such as during which time periods peak traffic occurs, or which web servers have the most traffic. These frequently asked questions appear on the FAQts tab, or alternatively in the FAQts mini-viewer, located in the bottom-left corner of the Apache Web Server Monitoring dashboard.
To check the answer to a question:
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In the mini-viewer, click Show Me. A popup opens, displaying the answer and allowing you to drill down for deeper or related information.
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On the FAQts tab, click a question in the Questions column. The answer appears to the right.
 
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TIP: Some of the questions allow you to specify the number of results you want returned (for example, Top # Apache web servers with the highest requests per second).
Figure 5. FAQts Tab
 
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