hyptop - Display hypervisor performance data

6.10 LPAR mode z/VM guest

Use the hyptop command to obtain a dynamic real-time view of a hypervisor environment on IBM Z®.

It works with both the z/VM® hypervisor and the LPAR hypervisor, Processor Resource/Systems Manager (PR/SM). Depending on the available data, it shows, for example, CPU and memory information about LPARs or z/VM guest virtual machines.

System names provided by hyptop are either LPAR names as shown on the SE or HMC, or z/VM guest IDs that identify z/VM guest virtual machines.

The hyptop command provides two main windows:
  • A list of systems that the hypervisor is currently running (sys_list).
  • One system in more detail (sys).

You can run hyptop in interactive mode (default) or in batch mode with the -b option.

Before you begin: The following things are required to run hyptop:
  • The debugfs file system must be mounted.
  • The Linux® kernel must have the required support to provide the performance data. Check that <debugfs mount point>/s390_hypfs is available after you mount debugfs.
  • The hyptop user must have read permission for the required debugfs files:
    • z/VM: <debugfs mount point>/s390_hypfs/diag_2fc
    • z/VM: <debugfs mount point>/s390_hypfs/diag_0c
      (Required only for management time data, identifiers m and M. )
    • LPAR: <debugfs mount point>/s390_hypfs/diag_204
  • You can always monitor the guest operating system where hyptop is running. To monitor any other operating system instances running on the same hypervisor as hyptop, you will need additional permissions:
    • For z/VM: The guest virtual machine must be assigned privilege class B.
    • For LPAR: On the HMC or SE security menu of the LPAR activation profile, select the Global performance data control check box.

hyptop syntax

Read syntax diagramSkip visual syntax diagramhyptop-wsys_list-wsys-s,<system>-f,<field>:<unit>-S <field>-t,CPIFLUN-b-d <seconds>-m <factor>-n <iterations>
Where:
-w <window name> or --window=<window name>
selects the window to display, either sys or sys_list. Use the options --sys, --fields, and --sort to modify the current window. The last window that is specified with the --window option is used as the start window. The default window is sys_list.
-s <system> or --sys=<system>
selects systems for the current window. If you specify this option, only the selected systems are shown in the window. For the sys window, you can specify only one system. <system> can be an LPAR name as shown on the SE or HMC, or it can be a z/VM guest ID that identifies a z/VM guest virtual machine. Enter hyptop without any options to display the names of all available systems.
-f <field>[:<unit>] or --fields=<field>[:<unit>]
selects fields and units in the current window. The <field> variable is a one letter unique identifier for a field (for example "c" for CPU time). The <unit> variable specifies the unit that is used for the field (for example "us" for microseconds). See Available fields and units for definitions. If the --fields option is specified, only the selected fields are shown.
Note: If your field specification includes the number sign (#), enclose the specification in double quotation marks. Otherwise, the command shell might interpret the number sign and all characters that follow as a comment.
-S <field> or --sort=<field>
selects the field that is used to sort the data in the current window. To reverse the sort order, specify the option twice. See Available fields and units for definitions.
-t <type> or --cpu_types=<type>
selects CPU types that are used for dispatch time calculations. See CPU types for definitions.
-b or --batch_mode
uses batch mode. Batch mode can be useful for sending output from hyptop to another program, a file, or a line mode terminal. In this mode no user input is accepted.
-d <seconds> or --delay=<seconds>
specifies the delay between screen updates.
-m <factor> or --smt_factor=<factor>
specifies a workload dependent SMT speedup factor.

For IBM z15, the default value is 1.3. If the workload benefits from SMT, it makes sense to specify a higher value. If the workload does not benefit from SMT, specifying lower values results in more accurate reports of real CPU SMT utilization field for LPARs. The specified value must be a positive number.

Example ranges to select a sensible value from:
  • For IBM z13: [0.8, 1.3]
  • For IBM z15: [1.1, 1.5]
-n <iterations> or --iterations=<iterations>
specifies the maximum number of screen updates before the program ends.
-h or --help
prints usage information, then exits. To view the man page, enter man hyptop.
-v or --version
displays the version of hyptop, then exits.