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HTML rendering created 2025-09-06 by Michael Kerrisk, author of The Linux Programming Interface. For details of in-depth Linux/UNIX system programming training courses that I teach, look here. Hosting by jambit GmbH. |
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NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | OPTIONS | ENVIRONMENT | EXAMPLES | BUGS | FILES | AUTHOR | SEE ALSO | COLOPHON |
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SADF(1) Linux User's Manual SADF(1)
sadf - Display data collected by sar in multiple formats.
sadf [ -C ] [ -c | -d | -g | -j | -l | -p | -r | -x ] [ -H ] [ -h
] [ -T | -t | -U ] [ -V ] [ -O opts [,...] ] [ -P { cpu_list | ALL
} ] [ -s [ start_time ] ] ] [ -e [ end_time ] ] ] [ --dev=dev_list
] [ --fs=fs_list ] [ --iface=iface_list] [ --int=int_list ] [ --
sar_options ] [ interval [ count ] ] [ datafile | -[0-9]+ ]
The sadf command is used for displaying the contents of data files
created by the sar(1) command. But unlike sar, sadf can write its
data in many different formats (CSV, XML, etc.) The default
format is one that can easily be handled by pattern processing
commands like awk (see option -p). The sadf command can also be
used to draw graphs for the various activities collected by sar
and display them as SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) graphics in
your web browser (see option -g).
The sadf command extracts and writes to standard output records
saved in the datafile file. This file must have been created by a
version of sar which is compatible with that of sadf. If datafile
is omitted, sadf uses the standard system activity daily data
file. It is also possible to enter -1, -2 etc. as an argument to
sadf to display data of that days ago. For example, -1 will point
at the standard system activity file of yesterday.
The standard system activity daily data file is named saDD or
saYYYYMMDD, where YYYY stands for the current year, MM for the
current month and DD for the current day. sadf will look for the
most recent of saDD and saYYYYMMDD, and use it. By default it is
located in the /var/log/sa directory. Yet it is possible to
specify an alternate location for it: If datafile is a directory
(instead of a plain file) then it will be considered as the
directory where the standard system activity daily data file is
located.
The interval and count parameters are used to tell sadf to select
count records at interval seconds apart. If the count parameter is
not set, then all the records saved in the data file will be
displayed.
All the activity flags of sar may be entered on the command line
to indicate which activities are to be reported. Before specifying
them, put a pair of dashes (--) on the command line in order not
to confuse the flags with those of sadf. Not specifying any flags
selects only CPU activity.
-C Tell sadf to display comments present in file.
-c Convert an old system activity binary datafile (version
9.1.6 and later) to current up-to-date format. Use the
following syntax:
sadf -c old_datafile > new_datafile
Conversion can be controlled using option -O (see below).
-d Print the contents of the data file in a format that can
easily be ingested by a relational database system. The
output consists of fields separated by a semicolon. Each
record contains the hostname of the host where the file was
created, the interval value (or -1 if not applicable), the
timestamp in a form easily acceptable by most databases,
and additional semicolon separated data fields as specified
by sar_options command line options. Note that timestamp
output can be controlled by options -T, -t and -U.
--dev=dev_list
Specify the block devices for which statistics are to be
displayed by sadf. dev_list is a list of comma-separated
device names. Useful with option -d from sar.
-e [ hh:mm[:ss] ]
-e [ seconds_since_the_epoch ]
Set the ending time of the report. The default ending time
is 18:00:00. Hours must be given in 24-hour format, or as
the number of seconds since the epoch (given as a 10 digit
number).
--fs=fs_list
Specify the filesystems for which statistics are to be
displayed by sadf. fs_list is a list of comma-separated
filesystem names or mountpoints. Useful with option -F from
sar.
-g Print the contents of the data file in SVG (Scalable Vector
Graphics) format. This option enables you to display some
fancy graphs in your web browser. Use the following
syntax:
sadf -g your_datafile [ -- sar_options ] > output.svg
and open the resulting SVG file in your favorite web
browser. Output can be controlled using option -O (see
below).
-H Display only the header of the report (when applicable). If
no format has been specified, then the header data
(metadata) of the data file are displayed.
-h When used in conjunction with option -d, all activities
will be displayed horizontally on a single line.
--iface=iface_list
Specify the network interfaces for which statistics are to
be displayed by sadf. iface_list is a list of comma-
separated interface names. Useful with options -n DEV and
-n EDEV from sar.
--int=int_list
Specify the interrupts names for which statistics are to be
displayed by sadf. int_list is a list of comma-separated
values or range of values (e.g., 0-16,35,40-). Useful with
option -I from sar.
-j Print the contents of the data file in JSON (JavaScript
Object Notation) format. Timestamps can be controlled by
options -T and -t.
-l Export the contents of the data file to a PCP (Performance
Co-Pilot) archive. The name of the archive can be
specified using the keyword pcparchive= with option -O.
-O opts[,...]
Use the specified options to control the output of sadf.
The following options are used to control SVG output
displayed by sadf -g:
autoscale
Draw all the graphs of a given view as large as
possible based on current view's scale. To do this,
a factor (10, 100, 1000...) is used to enlarge the
graph drawing. This option may be interesting when
several graphs are drawn on the same view, some with
only very small values, and others with high ones,
the latter making the former hardly visible.
bwcol Use a black and white palette to draw the graphs.
customcol
Use a customizable color palette instead of the
default one to draw the graphs. See environment
variable S_COLORS_PALETTE below to know how to
customize that palette.
debug Add helpful comments in SVG output file.
height=value
Set SVG canvas height to value.
oneday Display graphs data over a period of 24 hours. Note
that hours are still printed in UTC by default: You
should use option -T to print them in local time and
get a time window starting from midnight.
packed Group all views from the same activity (and for the
same device) on the same row.
showidle
Also display %idle state in graphs for CPU
statistics.
showinfo
Display additional information (such as the date and
the host name) on each view.
showtoc
Add a table of contents at the beginning of the SVG
output, consisting of links pointing at the first
graph of each activity.
skipempty
Do not display views where all graphs have only zero
values.
The following option may be used when converting an old
system activity binary datafile to current up-to-date
format:
hz=value
Specify the number of ticks per second for the
machine where the old datafile has been created.
The following option may be used when data are exported to
a PCP archive:
pcparchive=name
Specify the name of the PCP archive to create.
The following option is used to control raw output
displayed by sadf -r:
debug Display additional information, mainly useful for
debugging purpose.
-P { cpu_list | ALL }
Tell sadf that processor dependent statistics are to be
reported only for the specified processor or processors.
cpu_list is a list of comma-separated values or range of
values (e.g., 0,2,4-7,12-). Note that processor 0 is the
first processor, and processor all is the global average
among all processors. Specifying the ALL keyword reports
statistics for each individual processor, and globally for
all processors.
-p Print the contents of the data file in a format that can
easily be handled by pattern processing commands like awk.
The output consists of fields separated by a tab. Each
record contains the hostname of the host where the file was
created, the interval value (or -1 if not applicable), the
timestamp, the device name (or - if not applicable), the
field name and its value. Note that timestamp output can
be controlled by options -T, -t and -U.
-r Print the raw contents of the data file. With this format,
the values for all the counters are displayed as read from
the kernel, which means e.g., that no average values are
calculated over the elapsed time interval. Output can be
controlled using option -O (see above).
-s [ hh:mm[:ss] ]
-s [ seconds_since_the_epoch ]
Set the starting time of the data, causing the sadf command
to extract records time-tagged at, or following, the time
specified. The default starting time is 08:00:00. Hours
must be given in 24-hour format, or as the number of
seconds since the epoch (given as a 10 digit number).
-T Display timestamp in local time instead of UTC (Coordinated
Universal Time).
-t Display timestamp in the original local time of the data
file creator instead of UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).
-U Display timestamp (UTC - Coordinated Universal Time) in
seconds from the epoch.
-V Print version number then exit.
-x Print the contents of the data file in XML format.
Timestamps can be controlled by options -T and -t. The
corresponding DTD (Document Type Definition) and XML Schema
are included in the sysstat source package. They are also
available at https://sysstat.github.io/ .
The sadf command takes into account the following environment
variables:
S_COLORS_PALETTE
Specify the colors used by sadf -g to render the SVG
output. This environment variable is taken into account
only when the custom color palette has been selected with
the option customcol (see option -O). Its value is a
colon-separated list of capabilities associated with six-
digit, three-byte hexadecimal numbers (hex triplets)
representing colors that defaults to
0=000000:1=1a1aff:2=1affb2:3=b21aff:
4=1ab2ff:5=ff1a1a:6=ffb31a:7=b2ff1a:
8=efefef:9=000000:A=1a1aff:B=1affb2:
C=b21aff:D=1ab2ff:E=ff1a1a:F=ffb31a:
G=bebebe:H=000000:I=000000:K=ffffff:
L=000000:T=000000:W=000000:X=000000
Capabilities consisting of a hexadecimal digit (0 through
F) are used to specify the first sixteen colors in the
palette (these colors are used to draw the graphs), e.g.,
3=ffffff would indicate that the third color in the palette
is white (0xffffff).
Other capabilities are:
G= Specify the color used to draw the grid lines.
H= Specify the color used to display the report header.
I= Specify the color used to display additional
information (e.g., date, hostname...)
K= Specify the color used for the graphs background.
L= Specify the default color (which is for example used
to display the table of contents).
T= Specify the color used to display the graphs title.
W= Specify the color used to display warning and error
messages.
X= Specify the color used to draw the axes and display
the graduations.
S_TIME_DEF_TIME
If this variable exists and its value is UTC then sadf will
use UTC time instead of local time to determine the current
daily data file located in the /var/log/sa directory.
sadf -d /var/log/sa/sa21 -- -r -n DEV
Extract memory and network statistics from system activity
file sa21, and display them in a format that can be
ingested by a database.
sadf -p -P 1
Extract CPU statistics for processor 1 (the second
processor) from current daily data file, and display them
in a format that can easily be handled by a pattern
processing command.
SVG output (as created by option -g) is fully compliant with SVG
1.1 standard. Graphics have been successfully displayed in
various web browsers, including Firefox, Chrome and Opera. Yet SVG
rendering is broken on Microsoft browsers (tested on Internet
Explorer 11 and Edge 13.1): So please don't use them.
/var/log/sa/saDD
/var/log/sa/saYYYYMMDD
The standard system activity daily data files and their
default location. YYYY stands for the current year, MM for
the current month and DD for the current day.
Sebastien Godard (sysstat <at> orange.fr)
sar(1), sadc(8), sa1(8), sa2(8), sysstat(5)
https://github.com/sysstat/sysstat
https://sysstat.github.io/
This page is part of the sysstat (sysstat performance monitoring
tools) project. Information about the project can be found at
⟨http://sebastien.godard.pagesperso-orange.fr/⟩. If you have a bug
report for this manual page, send it to sysstat-AT-orange.fr.
This page was obtained from the project's upstream Git repository
⟨https://github.com/sysstat/sysstat.git⟩ on 2025-08-11. (At that
time, the date of the most recent commit that was found in the
repository was 2025-08-04.) If you discover any rendering
problems in this HTML version of the page, or you believe there is
a better or more up-to-date source for the page, or you have
corrections or improvements to the information in this COLOPHON
(which is not part of the original manual page), send a mail to
[email protected]
Linux AUGUST 2023 SADF(1)
Pages that refer to this page: pmrep(1), sar(1), sar2pcp(1), pmrep.conf(5), sa1(8), sa2(8), sadc(8)
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HTML rendering created 2025-09-06 by Michael Kerrisk, author of The Linux Programming Interface. For details of in-depth Linux/UNIX system programming training courses that I teach, look here. Hosting by jambit GmbH. |
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