RRDCREATE(1)                        rrdtool                       RRDCREATE(1)



NNAAMMEE
       rrdcreate - Set up a new Round Robin Database

SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS
       rrrrddttooooll ccrreeaattee _f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e [----ssttaarrtt|--bb _s_t_a_r_t _t_i_m_e] [----sstteepp|--ss _s_t_e_p]
       [----tteemmppllaattee|--tt _t_e_m_p_l_a_t_e_-_f_i_l_e] [----ssoouurrccee|--rr _s_o_u_r_c_e_-_f_i_l_e]
       [----nnoo--oovveerrwwrriittee|--OO] [----ddaaeemmoonn|--dd _a_d_d_r_e_s_s] [DDSS::_d_s_-_n_a_m_e[==_m_a_p_p_e_d_-_d_s_-
       _n_a_m_e[[[_s_o_u_r_c_e_-_i_n_d_e_x]]]]::_D_S_T::_d_s_t _a_r_g_u_m_e_n_t_s] [RRRRAA::_C_F::_c_f _a_r_g_u_m_e_n_t_s]

DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
       The create function of RRDtool lets you set up new Round Robin Database
       (RRRRDD) files.  The file is created at its final, full size and filled
       with _*_U_N_K_N_O_W_N_* data, unless one or more source RRRRDD files have been
       specified and they hold suitable data to "pre-fill" the new RRRRDD file.

   _f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e
       The name of the RRRRDD you want to create. RRRRDD files should end with the
       extension _._r_r_d. However, RRRRDDttooooll will accept any filename.

   ----ssttaarrtt||--bb _s_t_a_r_t _t_i_m_e ((ddeeffaauulltt:: nnooww -- 1100ss))
       Specifies the time in seconds since 1970-01-01 UTC when the first value
       should be added to the RRRRDD. RRRRDDttooooll will not accept any data timed
       before or at the time specified.

       See also AT-STYLE TIME SPECIFICATION section in the _r_r_d_f_e_t_c_h
       documentation for other ways to specify time.

       If one or more source files is used to pre-fill the new RRRRDD, the
       ----ssttaarrtt option may be omitted. In that case, the latest update time
       among all source files will be used as the last update time of the new
       RRRRDD file, effectively setting the start time.

   ----sstteepp||--ss _s_t_e_p ((ddeeffaauulltt:: 330000 sseeccoonnddss))
       Specifies the base interval in seconds with which data will be fed into
       the RRRRDD.  A scaling factor may be present as a suffix to the integer;
       see "STEP, HEARTBEAT, and Rows As Durations".

   ----nnoo--oovveerrwwrriittee||--OO
       Do not clobber an existing file of the same name.

   ----ddaaeemmoonn||--dd _a_d_d_r_e_s_s
       Address of the rrdcached daemon.  For a list of accepted formats, see
       the --ll option in the rrdcached manual.

        rrdtool create --daemon unix:/var/run/rrdcached.sock /var/lib/rrd/foo.rrd I<other options>

   [[----tteemmppllaattee||--tt _t_e_m_p_l_a_t_e_-_f_i_l_e]]
       Specifies a template RRRRDD file to take step, DS and RRA definitions
       from. This allows one to base the structure of a new file on some
       existing file. The data of the template file is NOT used for pre-
       filling, but it is possible to specify the same file as a source file
       (see below).

       Additional DS and RRA definitions are permitted, and will be added to
       those taken from the template.

   ----ssoouurrccee||--rr _s_o_u_r_c_e_-_f_i_l_e
       One or more source RRRRDD files may be named on the command line. Data
       from these source files will be used to prefill the created RRRRDD file.
       The output file and one source file may refer to the same file name.
       This will effectively replace the source file with the new RRRRDD file.
       While there is the danger to loose the source file because it gets
       replaced, there is no danger that the source and the new file may be
       "garbled" together at any point in time, because the new file will
       always be created as a temporary file first and will only be moved to
       its final destination once it has been written in its entirety.

       Prefilling is done by matching up DS names, RRAs and consolidation
       functions and choosing the best available data resolution when doing
       so. Prefilling may not be mathematically correct in all cases (eg. if
       resolutions have to change due to changed stepping of the target RRD
       and old and new resolutions do not match up with old/new bin boundaries
       in RRAs).

       In other words: A best effort is made to preserve data during
       prefilling.  Also, pre-filling of RRAs may only be possible for certain
       kinds of DS types. Prefilling may also have strange effects on Holt-
       Winters forecasting RRAs. In other words: there is no guarantee for
       data-correctness.

       When "pre-filling" a RRRRDD file, the structure of the new file must be
       specified as usual using DS and RRA specifications as outlined below.
       Data will be taken from source files based on DS names and types and in
       the order the source files are specified in. Data sources with the same
       name from different source files will be combined to form a new data
       source. Generally, for any point in time the new RRRRDD file will cover
       after its creation, data from only one source file will have been used
       for pre-filling. However, data from multiple sources may be combined if
       it refers to different times or an earlier named source file holds
       unknown data for a time where a later one holds known data.

       If this automatic data selection is not desired, the DS syntax allows
       one to specify a mapping of target and source data sources for
       prefilling. This syntax allows one to rename data sources and to
       restrict prefilling for a DS to only use data from a single source
       file.

       Prefilling currently only works reliably for RRAs using one of the
       classic consolidation functions, that is one of: AVERAGE, MIN, MAX,
       LAST. It might also currently have problems with COMPUTE data sources.

       Note that the act of prefilling during ccrreeaattee is similar to a lot of
       the operations available via the ttuunnee command, but using ccrreeaattee syntax.

   DDSS::_d_s_-_n_a_m_e[[==_m_a_p_p_e_d_-_d_s_-_n_a_m_e[[[[_s_o_u_r_c_e_-_i_n_d_e_x]]]]]]::_D_S_T::_d_s_t _a_r_g_u_m_e_n_t_s
       A single RRRRDD can accept input from several data sources (DDSS), for
       example incoming and outgoing traffic on a specific communication line.
       With the DDSS configuration option you must define some basic properties
       of each data source you want to store in the RRRRDD.

       _d_s_-_n_a_m_e is the name you will use to reference this particular data
       source from an RRRRDD. A _d_s_-_n_a_m_e must be 1 to 19 characters long in the
       characters [a-zA-Z0-9_].

       _D_S_T defines the Data Source Type. The remaining arguments of a data
       source entry depend on the data source type. For GAUGE, COUNTER,
       DERIVE, DCOUNTER, DDERIVE and ABSOLUTE the format for a data source
       entry is:

       DDSS::_d_s_-_n_a_m_e::{_G_A_U_G_E _| _C_O_U_N_T_E_R _| _D_E_R_I_V_E _| _D_C_O_U_N_T_E_R _| _D_D_E_R_I_V_E _|
       _A_B_S_O_L_U_T_E}::_h_e_a_r_t_b_e_a_t::_m_i_n::_m_a_x

       For COMPUTE data sources, the format is:

       DDSS::_d_s_-_n_a_m_e::_C_O_M_P_U_T_E::_r_p_n_-_e_x_p_r_e_s_s_i_o_n

       In order to decide which data source type to use, review the
       definitions that follow. Also consult the section on "HOW TO MEASURE"
       for further insight.

       GGAAUUGGEE
           is for things like temperatures or number of people in a room or
           the value of a RedHat share.

       CCOOUUNNTTEERR
           is for continuous incrementing counters like the ifInOctets counter
           in a router. The CCOOUUNNTTEERR data source assumes that the counter never
           decreases, except when a counter overflows.  The update function
           takes the overflow into account.  The counter is stored as a per-
           second rate. When the counter overflows, RRDtool checks if the
           overflow happened at the 32bit or 64bit border and acts accordingly
           by adding an appropriate value to the result.

       DDCCOOUUNNTTEERR
           the same as CCOOUUNNTTEERR, but for quantities expressed as double-
           precision floating point number.  Could be used to track quantities
           that increment by non-integer numbers, i.e. number of seconds that
           some routine has taken to run, total weight processed by some
           technology equipment etc.  The only substantial difference is that
           DDCCOOUUNNTTEERR can either be upward counting or downward counting, but
           not both at the same time.  The current direction is detected
           automatically on the second non-undefined counter update and any
           further change in the direction is considered a reset.  The new
           direction is determined and locked in by the second update after
           reset and its difference to the value at reset.

       DDEERRIIVVEE
           will store the derivative of the line going from the last to the
           current value of the data source. This can be useful for gauges,
           for example, to measure the rate of people entering or leaving a
           room. Internally, derive works exactly like COUNTER but without
           overflow checks. So if your counter does not reset at 32 or 64 bit
           you might want to use DERIVE and combine it with a MIN value of 0.

       DDDDEERRIIVVEE
           the same as DDEERRIIVVEE, but for quantities expressed as double-
           precision floating point number.

           NNOOTTEE oonn CCOOUUNNTTEERR vvss DDEERRIIVVEE

           by Don Baarda <don.baarda@baesystems.com>

           If you cannot tolerate ever mistaking the occasional counter reset
           for a legitimate counter wrap, and would prefer "Unknowns" for all
           legitimate counter wraps and resets, always use DERIVE with min=0.
           Otherwise, using COUNTER with a suitable max will return correct
           values for all legitimate counter wraps, mark some counter resets
           as "Unknown", but can mistake some counter resets for a legitimate
           counter wrap.

           For a 5 minute step and 32-bit counter, the probability of
           mistaking a counter reset for a legitimate wrap is arguably about
           0.8% per 1Mbps of maximum bandwidth. Note that this equates to 80%
           for 100Mbps interfaces, so for high bandwidth interfaces and a
           32bit counter, DERIVE with min=0 is probably preferable. If you are
           using a 64bit counter, just about any max setting will eliminate
           the possibility of mistaking a reset for a counter wrap.

       AABBSSOOLLUUTTEE
           is for counters which get reset upon reading. This is used for fast
           counters which tend to overflow. So instead of reading them
           normally you reset them after every read to make sure you have a
           maximum time available before the next overflow. Another usage is
           for things you count like number of messages since the last update.

       CCOOMMPPUUTTEE
           is for storing the result of a formula applied to other data
           sources in the RRRRDD. This data source is not supplied a value on
           update, but rather its Primary Data Points (PDPs) are computed from
           the PDPs of the data sources according to the rpn-expression that
           defines the formula. Consolidation functions are then applied
           normally to the PDPs of the COMPUTE data source (that is the rpn-
           expression is only applied to generate PDPs). In database software,
           such data sets are referred to as "virtual" or "computed" columns.

       _h_e_a_r_t_b_e_a_t defines the maximum number of seconds that may pass between
       two updates of this data source before the value of the data source is
       assumed to be _*_U_N_K_N_O_W_N_*.

       _m_i_n and _m_a_x define the expected range values for data supplied by a
       data source. If _m_i_n and/or _m_a_x are specified any value outside the
       defined range will be regarded as _*_U_N_K_N_O_W_N_*. If you do not know or care
       about min and max, set them to U for unknown. Note that min and max
       always refer to the processed values of the DS. For a traffic-CCOOUUNNTTEERR
       type DS this would be the maximum and minimum data-rate expected from
       the device.

       _I_f _i_n_f_o_r_m_a_t_i_o_n _o_n _m_i_n_i_m_a_l_/_m_a_x_i_m_a_l _e_x_p_e_c_t_e_d _v_a_l_u_e_s _i_s _a_v_a_i_l_a_b_l_e_, _a_l_w_a_y_s
       _s_e_t _t_h_e _m_i_n _a_n_d_/_o_r _m_a_x _p_r_o_p_e_r_t_i_e_s_. _T_h_i_s _w_i_l_l _h_e_l_p _R_R_D_t_o_o_l _i_n _d_o_i_n_g _a
       _s_i_m_p_l_e _s_a_n_i_t_y _c_h_e_c_k _o_n _t_h_e _d_a_t_a _s_u_p_p_l_i_e_d _w_h_e_n _r_u_n_n_i_n_g _u_p_d_a_t_e_.

       _r_p_n_-_e_x_p_r_e_s_s_i_o_n defines the formula used to compute the PDPs of a
       COMPUTE data source from other data sources in the same <RRD>. It is
       similar to defining a CCDDEEFF argument for the graph command. Please refer
       to that manual page for a list and description of RPN operations
       supported. For COMPUTE data sources, the following RPN operations are
       not supported: COUNT, PREV, TIME, and LTIME. In addition, in defining
       the RPN expression, the COMPUTE data source may only refer to the names
       of data source listed previously in the create command. This is similar
       to the restriction that CCDDEEFFs must refer only to DDEEFFs and CCDDEEFFs
       previously defined in the same graph command.

       When pre-filling the new RRRRDD file using one or more source RRRRDDs, the DS
       specification may hold an optional mapping after the DS name. This
       takes the form of an equal sign followed by a mapped-to DS name and an
       optional source index enclosed in square brackets.

       For example, the DS

        DS:a=b[2]:GAUGE:120:0:U

       specifies that the DS named _a should be pre-filled from the DS named _b
       in the second listed source file (source indices are 1-based).

   RRRRAA::_C_F::_c_f _a_r_g_u_m_e_n_t_s
       The purpose of an RRRRDD is to store data in the round robin archives
       (RRRRAA). An archive consists of a number of data values or statistics for
       each of the defined data-sources (DDSS) and is defined with an RRRRAA line.

       When data is entered into an RRRRDD, it is first fit into time slots of
       the length defined with the --ss option, thus becoming a _p_r_i_m_a_r_y _d_a_t_a
       _p_o_i_n_t.

       The data is also processed with the consolidation function (_C_F) of the
       archive. There are several consolidation functions that consolidate
       primary data points via an aggregate function: AAVVEERRAAGGEE, MMIINN, MMAAXX, LLAASSTT.

       AVERAGE
           the average of the data points is stored.

       MIN the smallest of the data points is stored.

       MAX the largest of the data points is stored.

       LAST
           the last data points is used.

       Note that data aggregation inevitably leads to loss of precision and
       information. The trick is to pick the aggregate function such that the
       _i_n_t_e_r_e_s_t_i_n_g properties of your data is kept across the aggregation
       process.

       The format of RRRRAA line for these consolidation functions is:

       RRRRAA::{_A_V_E_R_A_G_E _| _M_I_N _| _M_A_X _| _L_A_S_T}::_x_f_f::_s_t_e_p_s::_r_o_w_s

       _x_f_f The xfiles factor defines what part of a consolidation interval may
       be made up from _*_U_N_K_N_O_W_N_* data while the consolidated value is still
       regarded as known. It is given as the ratio of allowed _*_U_N_K_N_O_W_N_* PDPs
       to the number of PDPs in the interval. Thus, it ranges from 0 to 1
       (exclusive).

       _s_t_e_p_s defines how many of these _p_r_i_m_a_r_y _d_a_t_a _p_o_i_n_t_s are used to build a
       _c_o_n_s_o_l_i_d_a_t_e_d _d_a_t_a _p_o_i_n_t which then goes into the archive.  See also
       "STEP, HEARTBEAT, and Rows As Durations".

       _r_o_w_s defines how many generations of data values are kept in an RRRRAA.
       Obviously, this has to be greater than zero.  See also "STEP,
       HEARTBEAT, and Rows As Durations".

AAbbeerrrraanntt BBeehhaavviioorr DDeetteeccttiioonn wwiitthh HHoolltt--WWiinntteerrss FFoorreeccaassttiinngg
       In addition to the aggregate functions, there are a set of specialized
       functions that enable RRRRDDttooooll to provide data smoothing (via the Holt-
       Winters forecasting algorithm), confidence bands, and the flagging
       aberrant behavior in the data source time series:

       ·   RRRRAA::_H_W_P_R_E_D_I_C_T::_r_o_w_s::_a_l_p_h_a::_b_e_t_a::_s_e_a_s_o_n_a_l _p_e_r_i_o_d[::_r_r_a_-_n_u_m]

       ·   RRRRAA::_M_H_W_P_R_E_D_I_C_T::_r_o_w_s::_a_l_p_h_a::_b_e_t_a::_s_e_a_s_o_n_a_l _p_e_r_i_o_d[::_r_r_a_-_n_u_m]

       ·   RRRRAA::_S_E_A_S_O_N_A_L::_s_e_a_s_o_n_a_l _p_e_r_i_o_d::_g_a_m_m_a::_r_r_a_-
           _n_u_m[::ssmmooootthhiinngg--wwiinnddooww==_f_r_a_c_t_i_o_n]

       ·   RRRRAA::_D_E_V_S_E_A_S_O_N_A_L::_s_e_a_s_o_n_a_l _p_e_r_i_o_d::_g_a_m_m_a::_r_r_a_-
           _n_u_m[::ssmmooootthhiinngg--wwiinnddooww==_f_r_a_c_t_i_o_n]

       ·   RRRRAA::_D_E_V_P_R_E_D_I_C_T::_r_o_w_s::_r_r_a_-_n_u_m

       ·   RRRRAA::_F_A_I_L_U_R_E_S::_r_o_w_s::_t_h_r_e_s_h_o_l_d::_w_i_n_d_o_w _l_e_n_g_t_h::_r_r_a_-_n_u_m

       These RRRRAAss differ from the true consolidation functions in several
       ways.  First, each of the RRRRAAs is updated once for every primary data
       point.  Second, these RRRRAAss are interdependent. To generate real-time
       confidence bounds, a matched set of SEASONAL, DEVSEASONAL, DEVPREDICT,
       and either HWPREDICT or MHWPREDICT must exist. Generating smoothed
       values of the primary data points requires a SEASONAL RRRRAA and either an
       HWPREDICT or MHWPREDICT RRRRAA. Aberrant behavior detection requires
       FAILURES, DEVSEASONAL, SEASONAL, and either HWPREDICT or MHWPREDICT.

       The predicted, or smoothed, values are stored in the HWPREDICT or
       MHWPREDICT RRRRAA. HWPREDICT and MHWPREDICT are actually two variations on
       the Holt-Winters method. They are interchangeable. Both attempt to
       decompose data into three components: a baseline, a trend, and a
       seasonal coefficient.  HWPREDICT adds its seasonal coefficient to the
       baseline to form a prediction, whereas MHWPREDICT multiplies its
       seasonal coefficient by the baseline to form a prediction. The
       difference is noticeable when the baseline changes significantly in the
       course of a season; HWPREDICT will predict the seasonality to stay
       constant as the baseline changes, but MHWPREDICT will predict the
       seasonality to grow or shrink in proportion to the baseline. The proper
       choice of method depends on the thing being modeled. For simplicity,
       the rest of this discussion will refer to HWPREDICT, but MHWPREDICT may
       be substituted in its place.

       The predicted deviations are stored in DEVPREDICT (think a standard
       deviation which can be scaled to yield a confidence band). The FAILURES
       RRRRAA stores binary indicators. A 1 marks the indexed observation as
       failure; that is, the number of confidence bounds violations in the
       preceding window of observations met or exceeded a specified threshold.
       An example of using these RRRRAAss to graph confidence bounds and failures
       appears in rrdgraph.

       The SEASONAL and DEVSEASONAL RRRRAAss store the seasonal coefficients for
       the Holt-Winters forecasting algorithm and the seasonal deviations,
       respectively.  There is one entry per observation time point in the
       seasonal cycle. For example, if primary data points are generated every
       five minutes and the seasonal cycle is 1 day, both SEASONAL and
       DEVSEASONAL will have 288 rows.

       In order to simplify the creation for the novice user, in addition to
       supporting explicit creation of the HWPREDICT, SEASONAL, DEVPREDICT,
       DEVSEASONAL, and FAILURES RRRRAAss, the RRRRDDttooooll create command supports
       implicit creation of the other four when HWPREDICT is specified alone
       and the final argument _r_r_a_-_n_u_m is omitted.

       _r_o_w_s specifies the length of the RRRRAA prior to wrap around. Remember
       that there is a one-to-one correspondence between primary data points
       and entries in these RRAs. For the HWPREDICT CF, _r_o_w_s should be larger
       than the _s_e_a_s_o_n_a_l _p_e_r_i_o_d. If the DEVPREDICT RRRRAA is implicitly created,
       the default number of rows is the same as the HWPREDICT _r_o_w_s argument.
       If the FAILURES RRRRAA is implicitly created, _r_o_w_s will be set to the
       _s_e_a_s_o_n_a_l _p_e_r_i_o_d argument of the HWPREDICT RRRRAA. Of course, the RRRRDDttooooll
       _r_e_s_i_z_e command is available if these defaults are not sufficient and
       the creator wishes to avoid explicit creations of the other specialized
       function RRRRAAss.

       _s_e_a_s_o_n_a_l _p_e_r_i_o_d specifies the number of primary data points in a
       seasonal cycle. If SEASONAL and DEVSEASONAL are implicitly created,
       this argument for those RRRRAAss is set automatically to the value
       specified by HWPREDICT. If they are explicitly created, the creator
       should verify that all three _s_e_a_s_o_n_a_l _p_e_r_i_o_d arguments agree.

       _a_l_p_h_a is the adaption parameter of the intercept (or baseline)
       coefficient in the Holt-Winters forecasting algorithm. See rrdtool for
       a description of this algorithm. _a_l_p_h_a must lie between 0 and 1. A
       value closer to 1 means that more recent observations carry greater
       weight in predicting the baseline component of the forecast. A value
       closer to 0 means that past history carries greater weight in
       predicting the baseline component.

       _b_e_t_a is the adaption parameter of the slope (or linear trend)
       coefficient in the Holt-Winters forecasting algorithm. _b_e_t_a must lie
       between 0 and 1 and plays the same role as _a_l_p_h_a with respect to the
       predicted linear trend.

       _g_a_m_m_a is the adaption parameter of the seasonal coefficients in the
       Holt-Winters forecasting algorithm (HWPREDICT) or the adaption
       parameter in the exponential smoothing update of the seasonal
       deviations. It must lie between 0 and 1. If the SEASONAL and
       DEVSEASONAL RRRRAAss are created implicitly, they will both have the same
       value for _g_a_m_m_a: the value specified for the HWPREDICT _a_l_p_h_a argument.
       Note that because there is one seasonal coefficient (or deviation) for
       each time point during the seasonal cycle, the adaptation rate is much
       slower than the baseline. Each seasonal coefficient is only updated (or
       adapts) when the observed value occurs at the offset in the seasonal
       cycle corresponding to that coefficient.

       If SEASONAL and DEVSEASONAL RRRRAAss are created explicitly, _g_a_m_m_a need not
       be the same for both. Note that _g_a_m_m_a can also be changed via the
       RRRRDDttooooll _t_u_n_e command.

       _s_m_o_o_t_h_i_n_g_-_w_i_n_d_o_w specifies the fraction of a season that should be
       averaged around each point. By default, the value of _s_m_o_o_t_h_i_n_g_-_w_i_n_d_o_w
       is 0.05, which means each value in SEASONAL and DEVSEASONAL will be
       occasionally replaced by averaging it with its (_s_e_a_s_o_n_a_l _p_e_r_i_o_d*0.05)
       nearest neighbors.  Setting _s_m_o_o_t_h_i_n_g_-_w_i_n_d_o_w to zero will disable the
       running-average smoother altogether.

       _r_r_a_-_n_u_m provides the links between related RRRRAAss. If HWPREDICT is
       specified alone and the other RRRRAAss are created implicitly, then there
       is no need to worry about this argument. If RRRRAAss are created
       explicitly, then carefully pay attention to this argument. For each RRRRAA
       which includes this argument, there is a dependency between that RRRRAA
       and another RRRRAA. The _r_r_a_-_n_u_m argument is the 1-based index in the order
       of RRRRAA creation (that is, the order they appear in the _c_r_e_a_t_e command).
       The dependent RRRRAA for each RRRRAA requiring the _r_r_a_-_n_u_m argument is listed
       here:

       ·   HWPREDICT _r_r_a_-_n_u_m is the index of the SEASONAL RRRRAA.

       ·   SEASONAL _r_r_a_-_n_u_m is the index of the HWPREDICT RRRRAA.

       ·   DEVPREDICT _r_r_a_-_n_u_m is the index of the DEVSEASONAL RRRRAA.

       ·   DEVSEASONAL _r_r_a_-_n_u_m is the index of the HWPREDICT RRRRAA.

       ·   FAILURES _r_r_a_-_n_u_m is the index of the DEVSEASONAL RRRRAA.

       _t_h_r_e_s_h_o_l_d is the minimum number of violations (observed values outside
       the confidence bounds) within a window that constitutes a failure. If
       the FAILURES RRRRAA is implicitly created, the default value is 7.

       _w_i_n_d_o_w _l_e_n_g_t_h is the number of time points in the window. Specify an
       integer greater than or equal to the threshold and less than or equal
       to 28.  The time interval this window represents depends on the
       interval between primary data points. If the FAILURES RRRRAA is implicitly
       created, the default value is 9.

SSTTEEPP,, HHEEAARRTTBBEEAATT,, aanndd RRoowwss AAss DDuurraattiioonnss
       Traditionally RRDtool specified PDP intervals in seconds, and most
       other values as either seconds or PDP counts.  This made the
       specification for databases rather opaque; for example

        rrdtool create power.rrd \
          --start now-2h --step 1 \
          DS:watts:GAUGE:300:0:24000 \
          RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:1:864000 \
          RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:60:129600 \
          RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:3600:13392 \
          RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:86400:3660

       creates a database of power values collected once per second, with a
       five minute (300 second) heartbeat, and four RRRRAAs: ten days of one
       second, 90 days of one minute, 18 months of one hour, and ten years of
       one day averages.

       Step, heartbeat, and PDP counts and rows may also be specified as
       durations, which are positive integers with a single-character suffix
       that specifies a scaling factor.  See "rrd_scaled_duration" in librrd
       for scale factors of the supported suffixes: "s" (seconds), "m"
       (minutes), "h" (hours), "d" (days), "w" (weeks), "M" (months), and "y"
       (years).

       Scaled step and heartbeat values (which are natively durations in
       seconds) are used directly, while consolidation function row arguments
       are divided by their step to produce the number of rows.

       With this feature the same specification as above can be written as:

        rrdtool create power.rrd \
          --start now-2h --step 1s \
          DS:watts:GAUGE:5m:0:24000 \
          RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:1s:10d \
          RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:1m:90d \
          RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:1h:18M \
          RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:1d:10y

TThhee HHEEAARRTTBBEEAATT aanndd tthhee SSTTEEPP
       Here is an explanation by Don Baarda on the inner workings of RRDtool.
       It may help you to sort out why all this *UNKNOWN* data is popping up
       in your databases:

       RRDtool gets fed samples/updates at arbitrary times. From these it
       builds Primary Data Points (PDPs) on every "step" interval. The PDPs
       are then accumulated into the RRAs.

       The "heartbeat" defines the maximum acceptable interval between
       samples/updates. If the interval between samples is less than
       "heartbeat", then an average rate is calculated and applied for that
       interval. If the interval between samples is longer than "heartbeat",
       then that entire interval is considered "unknown". Note that there are
       other things that can make a sample interval "unknown", such as the
       rate exceeding limits, or a sample that was explicitly marked as
       unknown.

       The known rates during a PDP's "step" interval are used to calculate an
       average rate for that PDP. If the total "unknown" time accounts for
       more than hhaallff the "step", the entire PDP is marked as "unknown". This
       means that a mixture of known and "unknown" sample times in a single
       PDP "step" may or may not add up to enough "known" time to warrant a
       known PDP.

       The "heartbeat" can be short (unusual) or long (typical) relative to
       the "step" interval between PDPs. A short "heartbeat" means you require
       multiple samples per PDP, and if you don't get them mark the PDP
       unknown. A long heartbeat can span multiple "steps", which means it is
       acceptable to have multiple PDPs calculated from a single sample. An
       extreme example of this might be a "step" of 5 minutes and a
       "heartbeat" of one day, in which case a single sample every day will
       result in all the PDPs for that entire day period being set to the same
       average rate. _-_- _D_o_n _B_a_a_r_d_a _<_d_o_n_._b_a_a_r_d_a_@_b_a_e_s_y_s_t_e_m_s_._c_o_m_>

              time|
              axis|
        begin__|00|
               |01|
              u|02|----* sample1, restart "hb"-timer
              u|03|   /
              u|04|  /
              u|05| /
              u|06|/     "hbt" expired
              u|07|
               |08|----* sample2, restart "hb"
               |09|   /
               |10|  /
              u|11|----* sample3, restart "hb"
              u|12|   /
              u|13|  /
        step1_u|14| /
              u|15|/     "swt" expired
              u|16|
               |17|----* sample4, restart "hb", create "pdp" for step1 =
               |18|   /  = unknown due to 10 "u" labled secs > 0.5 * step
               |19|  /
               |20| /
               |21|----* sample5, restart "hb"
               |22|   /
               |23|  /
               |24|----* sample6, restart "hb"
               |25|   /
               |26|  /
               |27|----* sample7, restart "hb"
        step2__|28|   /
               |22|  /
               |23|----* sample8, restart "hb", create "pdp" for step1, create "cdp"
               |24|   /
               |25|  /

       graphics by _v_l_a_d_i_m_i_r_._l_a_v_r_o_v_@_d_e_s_y_._d_e.

HHOOWW TTOO MMEEAASSUURREE
       Here are a few hints on how to measure:

       Temperature
           Usually you have some type of meter you can read to get the
           temperature.  The temperature is not really connected with a time.
           The only connection is that the temperature reading happened at a
           certain time. You can use the GGAAUUGGEE data source type for this.
           RRDtool will then record your reading together with the time.

       Mail Messages
           Assume you have a method to count the number of messages
           transported by your mail server in a certain amount of time, giving
           you data like '5 messages in the last 65 seconds'. If you look at
           the count of 5 like an AABBSSOOLLUUTTEE data type you can simply update the
           RRD with the number 5 and the end time of your monitoring period.
           RRDtool will then record the number of messages per second. If at
           some later stage you want to know the number of messages
           transported in a day, you can get the average messages per second
           from RRDtool for the day in question and multiply this number with
           the number of seconds in a day. Because all math is run with
           Doubles, the precision should be acceptable.

       It's always a Rate
           RRDtool stores rates in amount/second for COUNTER, DERIVE,
           DCOUNTER, DDERIVE and ABSOLUTE data.  When you plot the data, you
           will get on the y axis amount/second which you might be tempted to
           convert to an absolute amount by multiplying by the delta-time
           between the points. RRDtool plots continuous data, and as such is
           not appropriate for plotting absolute amounts as for example "total
           bytes" sent and received in a router. What you probably want is
           plot rates that you can scale to bytes/hour, for example, or plot
           absolute amounts with another tool that draws bar-plots, where the
           delta-time is clear on the plot for each point (such that when you
           read the graph you see for example GB on the y axis, days on the x
           axis and one bar for each day).

EEXXAAMMPPLLEE
        rrdtool create temperature.rrd --step 300 \
         DS:temp:GAUGE:600:-273:5000 \
         RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:1:1200 \
         RRA:MIN:0.5:12:2400 \
         RRA:MAX:0.5:12:2400 \
         RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:12:2400

       This sets up an RRRRDD called _t_e_m_p_e_r_a_t_u_r_e_._r_r_d which accepts one
       temperature value every 300 seconds. If no new data is supplied for
       more than 600 seconds, the temperature becomes _*_U_N_K_N_O_W_N_*.  The minimum
       acceptable value is -273 and the maximum is 5'000.

       A few archive areas are also defined. The first stores the temperatures
       supplied for 100 hours (1'200 * 300 seconds = 100 hours). The second
       RRA stores the minimum temperature recorded over every hour (12 * 300
       seconds = 1 hour), for 100 days (2'400 hours). The third and the fourth
       RRA's do the same for the maximum and average temperature,
       respectively.

EEXXAAMMPPLLEE 22
        rrdtool create monitor.rrd --step 300        \
          DS:ifOutOctets:COUNTER:1800:0:4294967295   \
          RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:1:2016                     \
          RRA:HWPREDICT:1440:0.1:0.0035:288

       This example is a monitor of a router interface. The first RRRRAA tracks
       the traffic flow in octets; the second RRRRAA generates the specialized
       functions RRRRAAss for aberrant behavior detection. Note that the _r_r_a_-_n_u_m
       argument of HWPREDICT is missing, so the other RRRRAAss will implicitly be
       created with default parameter values. In this example, the forecasting
       algorithm baseline adapts quickly; in fact the most recent one hour of
       observations (each at 5 minute intervals) accounts for 75% of the
       baseline prediction. The linear trend forecast adapts much more slowly.
       Observations made during the last day (at 288 observations per day)
       account for only 65% of the predicted linear trend. Note: these
       computations rely on an exponential smoothing formula described in the
       LISA 2000 paper.

       The seasonal cycle is one day (288 data points at 300 second
       intervals), and the seasonal adaption parameter will be set to 0.1. The
       RRD file will store 5 days (1'440 data points) of forecasts and
       deviation predictions before wrap around. The file will store 1 day (a
       seasonal cycle) of 0-1 indicators in the FAILURES RRRRAA.

       The same RRD file and RRRRAAss are created with the following command,
       which explicitly creates all specialized function RRRRAAss using "STEP,
       HEARTBEAT, and Rows As Durations".

        rrdtool create monitor.rrd --step 5m \
          DS:ifOutOctets:COUNTER:30m:0:4294967295 \
          RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:1:2016 \
          RRA:HWPREDICT:5d:0.1:0.0035:1d:3 \
          RRA:SEASONAL:1d:0.1:2 \
          RRA:DEVSEASONAL:1d:0.1:2 \
          RRA:DEVPREDICT:5d:5 \
          RRA:FAILURES:1d:7:9:5

       Of course, explicit creation need not replicate implicit create, a
       number of arguments could be changed.

EEXXAAMMPPLLEE 33
        rrdtool create proxy.rrd --step 300 \
          DS:Requests:DERIVE:1800:0:U  \
          DS:Duration:DERIVE:1800:0:U  \
          DS:AvgReqDur:COMPUTE:Duration,Requests,0,EQ,1,Requests,IF,/ \
          RRA:AVERAGE:0.5:1:2016

       This example is monitoring the average request duration during each 300
       sec interval for requests processed by a web proxy during the interval.
       In this case, the proxy exposes two counters, the number of requests
       processed since boot and the total cumulative duration of all processed
       requests. Clearly these counters both have some rollover point, but
       using the DERIVE data source also handles the reset that occurs when
       the web proxy is stopped and restarted.

       In the RRRRDD, the first data source stores the requests per second rate
       during the interval. The second data source stores the total duration
       of all requests processed during the interval divided by 300. The
       COMPUTE data source divides each PDP of the AccumDuration by the
       corresponding PDP of TotalRequests and stores the average request
       duration. The remainder of the RPN expression handles the divide by
       zero case.

AAUUTTHHOORRSS
       Tobias Oetiker <tobi@oetiker.ch>, Peter Stamfest <peter@stamfest.at>



1.5.999                           2015-11-10                      RRDCREATE(1)
