Reset Load Averages?

Question

I'm doing some load testing on a new dedicated web server, and after a certain amount of strain is put on the server I have to wait a minute for the one-minute load average to climb back down so that my testing remains fairly accurate.

Is there any way to set the load averages back to 0, or whatever they are normally at, without rebooting?

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 21 '13 at 00:13

3

There is not. It's a rolling average.

answered Jun 21 '13 at 00:13

bahamat

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Technically, ["the kernel can't actually keep a rolling average"](http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/8895/why-isnt-a-straightforward-1-5-15-minute-moving-average-used-in-linux-load-calc). Thanks for the input though. I'll see if anyone else has any ideas before I possibly accept this. – ITS Alaska Jun 21 '13 at 00:40

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 21 '13 at 00:12

0

I don't know of any possibility to influence the kernel load counters but if you are willing to do some coding then you can do without them. You could simply read the absolute values from /proc/stat and do your own calculation. Which you can reset whenever you want.

answered Jun 21 '13 at 00:12

Hauke Laging

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or they could force `sadc` to collect and examine the values in `sar -p` – Bratchley Jun 21 '13 at 00:19
The command/files might be different for my exact flavor. I'll do some research and see if this approach will work though. – ITS Alaska Jun 21 '13 at 00:42

Reset Load Averages?

2 Answers2