Bug ID 680841: Reported Virtual Server CPU usage stats are slightly higher than actual

Last Modified: Apr 17, 2024

Affected Product(s):
BIG-IP LTM(all modules)

Known Affected Versions:
11.2.1, 11.4.0, 11.4.1, 11.5.0, 11.5.1, 11.5.2, 11.5.3, 11.5.4, 11.5.5, 11.5.6, 11.5.7, 11.5.8, 11.5.9, 11.5.10, 11.6.0, 11.6.1, 11.6.2, 11.6.3, 11.6.3.1, 11.6.3.2, 11.6.3.3, 11.6.3.4, 11.6.4, 11.6.5, 11.6.5.1, 11.6.5.2, 11.6.5.3, 12.0.0, 12.0.0 HF1, 12.1.0 HF1, 12.0.0 HF2, 12.1.0 HF2, 12.0.0 HF3, 12.0.0 HF4, 12.1.1 HF1, 12.1.1 HF2, 12.1.2 HF1, 12.1.2 HF2, 12.1.0, 12.1.1, 12.1.2, 12.1.3, 12.1.3.1, 12.1.3.2, 12.1.3.3, 12.1.3.4, 12.1.3.5, 12.1.3.6, 12.1.3.7, 12.1.4, 12.1.4.1, 12.1.5, 12.1.5.1, 12.1.5.2, 12.1.5.3, 12.1.6, 13.0.0, 13.0.0 HF1, 13.0.0 HF2, 13.0.0 HF3, 13.0.1, 13.1.0, 13.1.0.1, 13.1.0.2, 13.1.0.3, 13.1.0.4, 13.1.0.5, 13.1.0.6, 13.1.0.7, 13.1.0.8, 13.1.1, 13.1.1.2, 13.1.1.3, 13.1.1.4, 13.1.1.5, 13.1.3, 13.1.3.1, 13.1.3.2, 13.1.3.3, 13.1.3.4, 13.1.3.5, 13.1.3.6, 13.1.4, 13.1.4.1, 13.1.5, 13.1.5.1, 14.0.0, 14.0.0.1, 14.0.0.2, 14.0.0.3, 14.0.0.4, 14.0.0.5, 14.0.1, 14.0.1.1, 14.1.0, 14.1.0.1, 14.1.0.2, 14.1.0.3, 14.1.0.5, 14.1.0.6, 14.1.2, 14.1.2.1, 14.1.2.2, 14.1.2.3, 14.1.2.4, 14.1.2.5, 14.1.2.6, 14.1.2.7, 14.1.2.8, 14.1.3, 14.1.3.1, 14.1.4, 14.1.4.1, 14.1.4.2, 14.1.4.3, 14.1.4.4, 14.1.4.5, 14.1.4.6, 14.1.5, 14.1.5.1, 14.1.5.2, 14.1.5.3, 14.1.5.4, 14.1.5.6, 15.0.0, 15.0.1, 15.0.1.1, 15.0.1.2, 15.0.1.3, 15.0.1.4, 15.1.0, 15.1.0.1, 15.1.0.2, 15.1.0.3, 15.1.0.4, 15.1.0.5, 15.1.1, 15.1.2, 15.1.2.1, 15.1.3, 15.1.3.1, 15.1.4, 15.1.4.1, 15.1.5, 15.1.5.1, 15.1.6, 15.1.6.1, 15.1.7, 15.1.8, 15.1.8.1, 15.1.8.2, 15.1.9, 15.1.9.1, 15.1.10, 15.1.10.2, 15.1.10.3, 15.1.10.4, 16.0.0, 16.0.0.1, 16.0.1, 16.0.1.1, 16.0.1.2, 16.1.0, 16.1.1, 16.1.2, 16.1.2.1, 16.1.2.2, 16.1.3, 16.1.3.1, 16.1.3.2, 16.1.3.3, 16.1.3.4, 16.1.3.5, 16.1.4, 16.1.4.1, 16.1.4.2

Opened: Aug 29, 2017

Severity: 3-Major

Related Article: K67996855

Symptoms

The average CPU usage percentage reported per LTM Virtual Server is slightly higher than actual percentage of system CPU cycles used by each Virtual Server. The average CPU usage percentage per LTM Virtual Server is reported by the 'tmsh show ltm virtual' and 'tmctl virtual_server_cpu_stat' commands and in the GUI under Statistics :: Module Statistics : Local Traffic :: Virtual Servers. The average CPU usage values reported by these commands incorrectly include TMM Idle cycles in the calculations, which causes a slight over-reporting of average per-Virtual-Server CPU usage.

Impact

Each LTM Virtual Server may appear to be using a greater percentage of system CPU cycles than they actually use.

Conditions

This occurs when LTM Virtual Server CPU usage stats are observed via the 'tmsh show ltm virtual' or 'tmctl virtual_server_cpu_stat' commands or in the GUI under Statistics :: Module Statistics : Local Traffic :: Virtual Servers.

Workaround

Note: The values reported for 'tm_total_cycles' and 'tm_idle_cycles' represent a total value applied across the entire system: i.e., these are global values. The output from 'tmsh show ltm virtual', 'tmctl virtual_server_cpu_stat', or via the GUI report individual statistics for each virtual server. If you have multiple virtual servers, each with varying degrees of usage, you cannot use this workaround extract the per-virtual server information from a global stat. In the interest of extracting the information for a single virtual server, the following process might be useful. To determine the over-reporting value of the per-Virtual-Server CPU usage percentage ===================================== The instantaneous running count of TMM Idle cycles is displayed in the 'tm_idle_cycles' column displayed by the 'tmctl tmm_stat' command. You can compare this value to the 'tm_total_cycles' column to gain a general sense of the scale of the error. For a meaningful comparison of these values with the per-Virtual-Server CPU usage statistics (such as the 'avg_5sec' value reported by 'tmctl virtual_server_cpu_stat' or the 'Last 5 Seconds' value reported by 'tmsh show ltm virtual'), run the 'tmctl tmm_stat' command at intervals, such as every 5 seconds, and use the incremental changes in the 'tm_idle_cycles' and 'tm_total_cycles' values to estimate the degree to which the per-Virtual-Server CPU usage percentage is over-reported.

Fix Information

None

Behavior Change

Guides & references

K10134038: F5 Bug Tracker Filter Names and Tips