| name | system-health |
| description | Monitor IBM i system health including CPU, memory, disk, ASPs, system limits, and network status via SQL services. Use when user asks about: (1) CPU utilization or system status, (2) memory pool sizes or page faults, (3) disk capacity or ASP usage, (4) system limits approaching thresholds, (5) TCP/IP connections and network status, (6) system activity overview, (7) replacing WRKSYSSTS, WRKDSKSTS, WRKTCPSTS commands, or (8) any system health monitoring task. |
IBM i System Health Monitoring
Monitor system health including CPU, memory, disk, ASPs, system limits, and network status using SQL services from QSYS2.
Available Tools
The ibmi CLI is the primary tool for executing system health queries. Set SKILL_DIR to this skill's installed location (the directory containing this SKILL.md file):
ibmi tools --tools "$SKILL_DIR/tools/" --toolset system_health_default
ibmi tool get_system_status --tools "$SKILL_DIR/tools/"
ibmi sql "SELECT * FROM TABLE(QSYS2.SYSTEM_STATUS(RESET_STATISTICS => 'YES')) X"
Service Selection Guide
System Status & Activity
- QSYS2.SYSTEM_STATUS() -- Comprehensive system metrics: CPU, memory, jobs, partition info
- QSYS2.SYSTEM_ACTIVITY_INFO() -- Real-time CPU utilization rates
Memory
- QSYS2.MEMORY_POOL() -- Pool sizes, threads, paging rates, tuning parameters
Disk & Storage
- QSYS2.SYSDISKSTAT -- Disk unit capacity, usage, I/O stats per unit
- QSYS2.ASP_INFO -- ASP capacity, thresholds, balance status
System Limits
- QSYS2.SYSLIMITS -- System limits with current vs maximum values
- QSYS2.SYSLIMITS_BASIC -- Lightweight limits view
Network
- QSYS2.NETSTAT_INFO -- TCP/IP connections, addresses, ports, transfer counts
Key Capabilities
CPU Monitoring
- Overall Utilization -- Average, minimum, maximum CPU percentages
- Capacity Info -- Configured CPUs, current capacity, sharing attributes
- Elapsed Metrics -- CPU used during measurement interval
Memory Analysis
- Pool Status -- Current size, defined size, reserved, thread counts
- Page Faults -- Database and non-database fault rates per pool
- Thread Activity -- Active, ineligible, and maximum threads per pool
- Tuning -- Priority, min/max size, min/max faults settings
Disk & ASP Health
- Disk Units -- Capacity, percent used, type, protection, I/O busy %
- ASP Status -- Total/available capacity, threshold, balance status
- Protected vs Unprotected -- Breakdown of storage by protection type
System Limits
- Threshold Monitoring -- Find limits approaching maximum values
- Capacity Planning -- Current vs maximum with percentage used
- Category Filtering -- Filter by limit type and category
Network Status
- Active Connections -- Established TCP connections with addresses and ports
- Connection Counts -- Total remote connections excluding loopback
- Transfer Stats -- Bytes sent/received per connection
Common Use Cases
- System health check -- Quick overview of CPU, memory, jobs, and storage
- CPU troubleshooting -- Identify high CPU utilization periods
- Memory pressure -- Find pools with high page fault rates
- Disk capacity planning -- Monitor ASP usage and thresholds
- Limit monitoring -- Find system limits approaching maximum
- Network audit -- Review active TCP connections
- Performance baseline -- Capture system metrics for comparison
- IPL planning -- Check system status before maintenance windows
Quick Examples
System status overview
ibmi tool get_system_status --tools "$SKILL_DIR/tools/"
Memory pool health
ibmi tool get_memory_pools --tools "$SKILL_DIR/tools/"
Find limits above 80% used
ibmi tool get_system_limits --tools "$SKILL_DIR/tools/" --pct-threshold 80
ASP capacity check
SELECT ASP_NUMBER, TOTAL_CAPACITY, TOTAL_CAPACITY_AVAILABLE,
STORAGE_THRESHOLD_PERCENTAGE
FROM QSYS2.ASP_INFO
ORDER BY ASP_NUMBER;
Disk units by busy percentage
SELECT UNIT_NUMBER, ASP_NUMBER, PERCENT_USED, ELAPSED_PERCENT_BUSY
FROM QSYS2.SYSDISKSTAT
WHERE ELAPSED_PERCENT_BUSY > 0
ORDER BY ELAPSED_PERCENT_BUSY DESC
FETCH FIRST 10 ROWS ONLY;
Pre-built Tools
The tools/system-health.yaml file provides 8 ready-to-use tools:
| Tool | Description |
|---|
get_system_status | Comprehensive system status: CPU, memory, jobs, partition |
get_system_activity | Real-time CPU utilization rates |
get_memory_pools | Memory pool sizes, threads, and paging metrics |
list_disk_units | Disk unit capacity, usage, type, and I/O stats |
list_asp_info | ASP capacity, thresholds, and balance status |
get_system_limits | System limits with percentage used filtering |
get_tcp_connections | Established TCP/IP connections with transfer stats |
count_remote_connections | Count of remote connections excluding loopback |
ibmi tool <tool_name> --tools "$SKILL_DIR/tools/"
ibmi tool <tool_name> --tools "$SKILL_DIR/tools/" --dry-run
ibmi tools show <tool_name> --tools "$SKILL_DIR/tools/"
Reference Documentation
