NetData configs for some applications

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MikeG.6.5
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NetData configs for some applications

Post by MikeG.6.5 »

NetData is neat! It allows you to see what applications are sucking down your NAS's resources, and how to speed things up. I'm loving it!

But the default configurations don't cover a lot of apps people might run on them, for instance Plex Media Server, PlexPy, uTorrent, etc. These all get lumped into the "other" category, so trying to figure out what processes are taking up the CPU can be hard to do.

If you are running WinSCP on a PC, you can easily edit the configuration files to get some of these "other" apps broken out to discreet entries and it makes things a bit easier to see the congestion caused by them. The configuration files can be found here: /volume1/.@plugins/AppCentral/netdata/etc/netdata/apps_groups.conf and if you double-click in WinSCP it opens an editing window.

This is a text file, that basically contains possible names for applications that could be running. These are the ones I have found so far:

Code: Select all

ffmpg: ffmpeg
Plex: "Plex Media Serv"
uTorrent: *utserver
DLC: *dlc-daemon
Sonarr: *NzbDrone
HX-Engine: *hx-engine*
SABnzb: *SABnzbd*
PlexRequests: *meteor*
PlexPy: *PlexPy.py*
Calibre: *calibre*

#EDIT 5/2/16
PlexTranscode: "*Plex New Transcoder*"
#EDIT 6/30/16
PlexScanner: "*Plex Media Scanner*"
#EDIT 8/25/16
PHTheater: "*plexhometheater*"
PlexRequests: "*PlexRequests.exe*"
#edit 9/27/16
Extract: "*7z*"
CouchPotato: "*CouchPotato.py*"
MediaPlayer: "*plexmediaplayer*"
#edit 11/21/16
Headphones: "*Headphones.py*"
#edit 6/26/17
PlexRequests: "*Ombi.exe*"
Open the file, copy the text text above into it at the end and save. Go to App Central and stop and then restart NetData and these apps should start showing up as they become active. (You see this info scrolled down to Applications and it will show you CPU used, open files, memory usage, etc.) If you have had NEtData opened already, just refresh the page and you should see the new apps added.

As others play with this reporting app, it might be nice to include their pet app stings for NetData in this thread, so we all can use it.

FWIW, I just tested Plex Media Server using NetData to test the reporting for me. Direct Playing an SD TV show from my library and I used under 5% of one kernel of the 4 available on the i3 in the 7004T. The most used was handshaking the media to the player at just under 22% prior to actually starting the playback. During playback I had just under 1% for the whole viewing of the show. Memory usage for this open TV show was under 150MB.

So then I opened an HD movie while the SD TV show was playing, to see how this impacted memory and CPU. Unfortunately, this caused the CPU to overheat, and I wasn't able to test it. Seems there is a problem with the latest beat of the ADM, which wasn't there in the previous version...

Edited this to include the Plex New Transcoder entry on 5/2/16. (Many thanks to the dev of the original app for sorting this out for us!)

Edited: To include further applications to see what's eating up "kernel" time.
itdaboyz
Posts: 141
Joined: Tue Oct 14, 2014 7:21 pm

Re: NetData configs for some applications

Post by itdaboyz »

Nice !
Does it use the PID or is this something else ?
MikeG.6.5
Posts: 917
Joined: Fri May 15, 2015 1:56 am

Re: NetData configs for some applications

Post by MikeG.6.5 »

from the app itself it says it walks through the /proc file system and builds a process tree and groups them all together. Here's the text in the front of the default config file:

Code: Select all

# This config allows grouping processes together, so that several processes
# will be reported together.
#
# Only groups in this file are reported. All other processes will be reported
# as 'other'.
#
# For each process given, its whole process tree will be grouped, not just
# the process matched. The plugin will include both parents and childs.
#
# The format is:
#
# group_name: process1 process2 process3 ...
#
# The process names are the same to the ones returned by: ps -e
# or /proc/PID/stat
#
# To add process names with spaces, enclose them in quotes (single or double)
# example: 'Plex Media Serv' "my other process"
#
# Wildcard support:
# You can add an asterisk (*) at the beginning and/or the end of a process name:
#  *name    suffix mode: will search for processes ending with 'name' (/proc/PID/stat)
#   name*   prefix mode: will search for processes beginning with 'name' (/proc/PID/stat)
#  *name*   substring mode: will search for 'name' in the whole command line (/proc/PID/cmdline)
#
# If you enter even just one *name* (substring), apps.plugin will process
# /proc/PID/cmdline for all processes, on every iteration.
#
# To add process names with single quotes, enclose them in double quotes
# example: "process with this ' single quote"
#
# To add process names with double quotes, enclose them in single quotes:
# example: 'process with this " double quote'
#
# If a group name starts with a -, the dimension will be hidden (cpu chart only)
#
# If any process name starts with a +, debugging will be enabled for it
# (debugging produces a lot of output - do not enable it in production systems)
#
# You can add any number of groups you like. Only the ones found running will
# affect the charts generated. However, producing charts with hundreds of
# dimensions may slow down your web browser.
So it's doing something like a ps, which then sorts for the strings in that config file, grouping them together to get results. I tried to get the app to show actual data on the Plex New Transcoder, but since it's a child spawned from Plex Media Server, it's still reported as a Plex process instead of it's own process. This is somewhat disconcerting, I would have preferred it repot the New Transcoder separate from the actual server software, but that's not to be....

As far as the temps go with 2.6.0B4F2. As soon as I rolled back to B313, the high temp alarms stopped, even though the CPU was running just as hot as before. It seems there is a problem with how the temp warning is calculated. Even though the temps were the same, and the fan speeds the same, one reported errors, the other did not. 88C shouldn't cause a high temp situation on an i3, but it does with B4F2. That tells me the beta isn't quite ready for primetime, yet....
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father.mande
Posts: 1810
Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2015 2:55 am
Location: La Rochelle (France)

Re: NetData configs for some applications

Post by father.mande »

Hi Mike,

Thanks for this help ...
Just a not important question ... I see in your file :

Code: Select all

HX-Engine: *hs-engine*
as I know (or I have made a mistake somewhere ... ) I don't use hs-engine word ... only hx-engine or perhaps (base is common) hd-engine

I have just installed NetData and not worked with it (no enough free time ... ) BUT i am interested to put some information (like referring this post) to improve the control of my APKG.

Thanks ... but absolutely NOT a priority ... just a remarks ...

Philippe.
AS6602T / AS5202T /AS5002T / AS1002T / FS6706T
MikeG.6.5
Posts: 917
Joined: Fri May 15, 2015 1:56 am

Re: NetData configs for some applications

Post by MikeG.6.5 »

Typo and has now been corrected.... :)

Thanks for pointing this out.
itdaboyz
Posts: 141
Joined: Tue Oct 14, 2014 7:21 pm

Re: NetData configs for some applications

Post by itdaboyz »

Ok thanks Mike, I'm going to try this. :)
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