{{tag>software C}}

====== ZeST ======

ZeST is a dinky curses based disk stressing utility. It's not very good.

{{ :zest-screenshot.png?direct |}}

====== Download ======

{{:zest-0.1b.tar.bz2|}}

====== Readme ======
<html><pre>
	
	\\\\\\\\\\\\\
	 ZeST   
	/////////////

	This is a pretty straight forward program for those experienced 
	with the command line and text-based interfaces.
	
	
	\\\\\\\\\\\\\
	 Compiling & Installing
	/////////////

	You have GCC right? Well you should. You should also have curses.
	Actually, any C compiler on a POSIX system should work just fine.
	I didn't code anything too weird into ZeST thus making it portable
	between all POSIX compatibile systems (except cygwin, damnit).
	
	To compile and install all you have to do is
	
	make
	make install
	
	Actually, that's not true. All you have to do to compile and 
	install is run make install. There is a man page that is 
	included and added to your man pages when you install. Aren't
	I thoughtful?
	
	
	\\\\\\\\\\\\\
	 Uninstalling
	/////////////

	This might blow your mind, but there it goes. In the directory
	where you unpacked the tar ball. Running
	
	make uninstall
	
	will remove ZeST from your system. I'll leave you to collect
	the remnants of your deflagrated mind.


	\\\\\\\\\\\\\
	 Running
	/////////////
	
	Really not all that much to running. Arrow keys (up and down) 
	scroll through the process on the screen if you ran more 
	processes than you have screen lines. Page Up and Page Down jump 
	15 lines rather than one. Press Q to prompt for quitting.


	\\\\\\\\\\\\\
	 Bugs and Requests
	/////////////

	I'm sure there are many. I know of a few already actually. If 
	you actually are using my program and need some fixes done or 
	have some feature requests email me at zashi (at) vay8 (dot) net

</pre></html>


====== Man Page ======

===== NAME =====

       ZeST - Zashi's excellent Stress Tool -or- Zero error System Tester

===== SYNOPSIS =====

       zest < -p <proccess> -b <bytes>[t|g|m|k] -t <runtime>[d|h|m] -d
       <directory> [ -d <directory> [ -d <directory> [...] ]] [-a] [-u]| -V |
       -h >

===== DESCRIPTION =====

       ZeST is a commandline and curses UI based multiplatform disk stressing
       tool.

       ZeST forks processes and each writes data to the specified directory
       (the filename used depends on the process's PID). After the user
       specified amount of bytes has been written, ZeST verifies

       The arguments -p, -b, -t, and -d are required to run stress.

       ·   -p   Number of processes to run.

       ·   -b   Bytes to write per proccess. Can use byte suffixes

           See the notes section for details.

       ·   -t   Time for each process to run. Can use time suffixes

           See the notes section for details.

       ·   -d   Directory to write data to. Do not specify the same

           directory twice. This argument can be used more than once.

       ·   -a   Automatic aka `don't Ask'. Launch the stress without

           pausing for confirmation. Best reserved for scripts.

       ·   -u   Unlink data files when finished.

       ·   -h   Help screen.

       ·   -V   Version info.

===== RETURN VALUE =====

       ZeST will return an exit value depending upon the circumstances of the
       program quitting.

       ·   0 = Normal Exit

       ·   1 = FIFO error.

           Problem with the fifo. Check to see if there's a file named
           /tmp/zest-fifo and change its permissions (to RW for user running
           zest) or remove it.

       ·   2 = Command line error.

           Bad parameters entered. Make sure your entering valid values and
           all required paramters.

       ·   3 = User Aborted.

            Test cancelled by the user. This does not include ZeST receiving a SIGTERM.

       ·   4 = Data File error.

            Problem with the data file. More likely to happen if exit on error is enabled.

===== EXAMPLES =====

       This would run 85 processes each writing 512 Megabytes to the paths
       /disk1 and /disk2 for 1 day and will delete the test files upon
       completion.

       zest -p 85 -b 512m -d /disk1 -d /disk2 -t 1d -u

       This runs 1 process writing 1 Terabyte to /mnt/storage for 2days

       zest -p1 -b1t -d/mnt/storage -t48h

===== NOTES =====

       Here are some caveats and functionality quirks.

       ·   Specifying multiple directories does nnoott increase the number of
           processes running. Instead of writing one file in one directory,
           each process writes its data file to all directories.

       ·   Leaving off a unit specifier results in the smallest unit possible
           being used. For -t this is seconds. For -b this is bytes.

===== BUGS =====

       Probably.

===== AUTHOR =====

       ZeST was written entirely from scratch by Matthew "Zashi" Hiles.