FreeBSD Accounting: Install and Configure System Activity Reporter (SAR)

To install and configure the System Activity Reporter (SAR) in FreeBSD, follow these steps:

1. Install the sysutils/sysstat package. SAR is included in the sysutils/sysstat package, which you can install using the pkg command:

pkg install sysutils/sysstat

This will install the sysstat package and all of its dependencies.

2. Enable the sysstat service. To enable the sysstat service to start automatically when the system is booted, use the sysrc command:

sysrc sysstat_enable=YES

3. Start the sysstat service. To start the sysstat service, use the service command:

service sysstat start

4. Configure sar to collect data. By default, sar is configured to collect data every 10 minutes. You can change the collection interval by modifying the SYSSTAT_FREQ variable in the /etc/rc.conf file. For example, to set the collection interval to 15 minutes, add the following line to the /etc/rc.conf file:

SYSSTAT_FREQ=15

5. View the collected data. To view the collected data, use the sar command. For example, to view the CPU utilization data, run the following command:

sar -u

This will display the CPU utilization data collected by sar.

You can use the sar command with various options to view different types of data, such as memory usage, disk activity, and network traffic. Consult the sar man page for a complete list of options.

After completing these steps, SAR will be installed and configured on your FreeBSD system. SAR will collect data at the specified interval and allow you to view the collected data using the sar command.