CPU Load Average

devUnix · 09-30-2013, 03:08 AM

Code:

echo -ne "Total Number of Processors: " ; grep -c processor /proc/cpuinfo ; uptime 


Total Number of Processors: 32
  09:01:10 up 232 days, 13:56, 8 users, load average: 5.10, 4.10, 3.89

The last 1 Minute's Load Avg. is: 15.9375%

Is that correct?

I mean, if the value looked 32, the CPU Load would be 100%.

I want to set an alert which is fired when the CPU Load is 90% or more. Based upon the above statistics, what should be the formula for this purpose? Am I correct in my calculation and understanding above?

syg00 · 09-30-2013, 04:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by devUnix

Code:

Total Number of Processors: 32
  09:01:10 up 232 days, 13:56, 8 users, load average: 5.10, 4.10, 3.89

The last 1 Minute's Load Avg. is: 15.9375%

Is that correct?

Nope. The 1 minute loadavg is 5.10 as reported - it's an average, not a percentage, and the number of CPUs (real or hiper-threaded) is not taken into consideration.

Quote:

I mean, if the value looked 32, the CPU Load would be 100%.

Nope.

Have a read of this - it's now getting quite old, but still mainly correct/relevant. What you are attempting to do can't be properly done using just the uptime numbers. "top" calculates CPU% for you, and /proc/stat has the runnable count which is probably a better metric.