Overview of PATROL history
The PATROL Agent records the values of each parameter and stores them in a proprietary parameter history database. This database remains open while the agent is running. If the agent does not shut down properly, the database may be corrupted. PATROL provides a utility that enables you to extract information from the database about a parameter based on its class, instance, and time period. It also provides a utility for repairing corrupted history databases.
Contents of PATROL Agent history database
The PATROL Agent History database records the following information for each data point:
Information stored in history database
Structure of PATROL Agent history datase
PATROL stores history information in a history database that consists of three separate files as follows:
- Index file: points to the location of the data in the database
- History text file: contains annotations that a user has added to a data point
- History data file: contains data points
The history database stores information in a binary format. To view the information, you must use the PATROL Console or run the dump_hist utility.
Location of PATROL Agent history database
The PATROL Agent provides environment variables that enable you to determine where the agent creates the history database. You can designate a location in or out of the PATROL directory structure or on another host within the network. In addition, you can establish a location by port number. This feature allows you to accommodate a host with multiple agents by directing each agent running on a unique port number to write to a different history database.
Custom location of PATROL Agent history database
The environment variables that you can use to specify the location of an Agent's history database are as follows:
- PATROL_HISTORY
- PATROL_HISTORY_<PORT>
- PATROL_VIRTUALNAME
For information about how to use these environment variables, see Variables for PATROL cluster-specific environment .
Default location of PATROL Agent history database
The following table indicates the file name and path of files that compose the history database.
Location of history files
File description | File name and path for UNIX |
File name and path for Windows |
Index file | PATROL_HOME/log/history/<hostName> / <port_num>/dir |
PATROL_HOME\log\history\<hostName> \ <port_num>\dir |
History text file | PATROL_HOME/log/history/<hostName> / <port_num>/param.hist |
PATROL_HOME\log\history\<hostName> \ <port_num>\param.hist |
History data file | PATROL_HOME/log/history/<hostName> / <port_num>/annotate.dat |
PATROL_HOME\log\history\<hostName> \ <port_num>\annotate.dat |