LoadAVG

loadavg : lightweight load, memory & transfer monitoring
Current version: 1.2 released 24 September 2008

loadavg main display (larger version)

loadavg is a simple and lightweight method of monitoring load, memory usage and transfer throughput on a Linux server. Every method of monitoring has an impact on the system being monitored — loadavg is designed to keep that impact as low as possible. It generates HTML & CSS charts, thereby shifting much of the work from the server to the client — your web browser.

While designed for use on a Linux Virtuozzo or OpenVZ VPS (Virtual Private Server), loadavg also works fine on a dedicated server.

Please note that on Virtuozzo v. 3 and OpenVZ servers the small beanc helper app is required to access VPS status information. The helper app is not required for Virtuozzo v. 2.6 servers.

loadavg consists of two scripts:

• logger.php simply reads a few files in /proc and writes out a line of data to a log file. It takes very little CPU time and memory.
• index.php reads through that logfile and produces HTML output for each line. This HTML is then compressed and transmitted to you. Again, that takes very little server CPU and memory.

Perhaps the most intensive part of the whole operation is the decompression and rendering of the HTML, which is done by the web browser on your workstation.

Requirements

• Linux;
• PHP: loadavg was initially developed with v. 4.3.10 and should run fine with later releases;
• The beanc helper app if running on a Virtuozzo v. 3 or OpenVZ server;
• PHP safe mode off. Safe mode disables the ability to run programs outside the script directory (reference).

Acknowledgements
Big thanks to David Eshelman for his contributions to loadavg — including code improvements and user support.
And thanks to ‘orange’ for troubleshooting & fixing the ‘/proc/net/dev byte counter reset’ issue.

Terms & Conditions

• This script is Open Source software released under the GPL and Copyright Silversoft Solutions;
• This script is provided to you for use free of charge;
• You are permitted to modify the script for your own use;
• You may redistribute the script as you see fit provided you submit all updates back to the project

Liability:

• The author assumes no liability for damage or loss that might be associated with the use of this script.

Bug Reports & Feedback
Bug reports and general comments are always welcome. Please address them to support@silversoft.com.