Install autobench with Homebrew, MacPorts, zypper

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• autobench
• autobench_admin
• autobenchd
• bench2graph
• crfile
• sesslog

Project history

The README identifies Julian T. J. Midgley as author and gives a 2001-2003 copyright range with the original homepage at xenoclast.org. The ChangeLog starts in March 2001 with the first Autobench files and records a series of releases through 2.1.2 in May 2004.

Autobench 2.0.0, released in October 2002, added the distributed pieces: `autobench_admin`, `autobenchd`, and their man pages. Later releases added httperf option pass-through, fixed benchmark and graphing bugs, and moved maintenance to GNU Arch before the later GitHub repository appeared.

The GitHub repository under `menavaur/Autobench` was created in March 2012 and includes the source tree, Debian packaging files, man pages, config template, and a 2012 ChangeLog entry under the author's `menavaur.org` address. The original homepage now returns 404, so repository confidence is medium rather than absolute.

Adoption history

Autobench was Debianized in October 2002 according to the ChangeLog and Debian changelog. Homebrew currently packages version 2.1.2 using a MacPorts-hosted distfile, and the input package-manager facts also list MacPorts and zypper packaging.

Its adoption is mostly historical and systems-oriented. It belongs to the era when httperf, gnuplot, web-server bakeoffs, and tabular benchmark output were common Unix toolchain pieces; current Homebrew analytics show only tiny install numbers.

How it is used

In non-distributed mode, `autobench` runs httperf repeatedly against one or two hosts, ramping requested connection rates from low to high values and writing CSV or TSV output. The active user config is `$HOME/.autobench.conf`, copied from a system config on first run.

In distributed mode, `autobench_admin` coordinates multiple `autobenchd` clients to reduce the chance that the benchmark clients themselves become the bottleneck. `bench2graph` turns TSV results into gnuplot graphs, `sesslog` converts NCSA-format access logs into httperf session logs, and `crfile` creates random test files.

Why package nerds care

Autobench is a compact specimen of old-school Unix benchmarking packaging: Perl/shell/C utilities, man pages, a dotfile config, Debian packaging metadata, and dependency on external CLI tools such as httperf and gnuplot.

For package nerds, the interesting bit is preservation. The original project site is gone, the formula points at a MacPorts distfile, and the surviving source-control URL is a GitHub import/mirror that still carries the author's history and packaging files.

Timeline

• 2001-03: First Autobench files recorded in the ChangeLog.
• 2001-06: 1.1.0 and 1.1.1 released.
• 2002-10: Debian packaging added; 2.0.0 released with distributed benchmarking components.
• 2003-11: 2.1.1 released with additional httperf option handling.
• 2004-05: 2.1.2 released and maintenance moved to GNU Arch.
• 2012-03: GitHub repository created with later status-count reporting entry.

Related projects

• Autobench is directly tied to httperf and gnuplot. Its helper tools also relate to NCSA Common/Combined Log Format workloads, Debian packaging, MacPorts distfiles, and historical GNU Arch source control.

Sources

• https://api.github.com/repos/menavaur/Autobench
• https://formulae.brew.sh/api/formula/autobench.json
• https://github.com/menavaur/Autobench#readme
• https://github.com/menavaur/Autobench/blob/master/ChangeLog
• https://github.com/menavaur/Autobench/blob/master/autobench.1
• https://github.com/menavaur/Autobench/blob/master/autobench.conf
• https://github.com/menavaur/Autobench/blob/master/debian/changelog
• source_facts.package-manager