3.3. Tools for Viewing MBeans

Because the product follows the JMX standard, you can choose whichever tool you prefer. Pick the one that fits your purpose.

Tool	When to use it	What it needs
JConsole	For a quick look at a value. Included with the JDK, so nothing to install	JDK
VisualVM	To view heap and threads alongside the values	Separate install (unbundled from JDK 9 onward)
hawtio	To view from a web browser. Convenient for remote servers	Jolokia must be deployed
jmxterm	To extract values from the command line in a script	Separate install
Prometheus JMX Exporter	To collect values continuously and keep them as graphs	Agent configuration
WAS administration console	If a product console such as WebLogic or JEUS has a JMX browser, use that	None

For continuous monitoring, we recommend a collecting tool such as Prometheus JMX Exporter; for a one-time look, JConsole.

Viewing With JConsole

On a machine with the JDK installed, run the following, select the WAS process from the list, and expand com.opennaru.khan.session on the MBeans tab.

jconsole

For a remote server, the WAS startup options need JMX remote access settings.

-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.port=9999
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.authenticate=false
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.ssl=false

Opening it without authentication lets anyone connect. In production, turn on authentication and SSL, or restrict access with a firewall.

Viewing From a Browser (hawtio Example)

This is how to view a remote server's MBeans from a web browser. The screens below were captured with hawtio, but the values and operations you see are the same whichever tool you use.

Jolokia must be deployed on the server side. Jolokia is a bridge that exposes JMX over HTTP, and browser-based tools read MBeans through it.

Once that is ready, connect from the browser by entering the server address and connection details. For JBoss, use the server's IP address, the HTTP port, and a management console account.

Checking That Jolokia Is Deployed

If you cannot connect, first check whether Jolokia is deployed. For JBoss, standalone-ha.xml must contain the following.

<deployments>
    ...
    <deployment name="jolokia-war-1.2.0.war" runtime-name="jolokia-war-1.2.0.war">
        <content sha1="ea788aa20046173561f736ae738113c4d8ff6133"/>
    </deployment>
    ...
</deployments>

If it is not configured, configure it as follows using jolokia-1.2.0.war.

<deployments>
    ...
    <deployment name="jolokia-war-1.2.0.war" runtime-name="jolokia-war-1.2.0.war">
        <fs-archive path="/svc/test/domains/app/jolokia-war-1.2.0.war"/>
    </deployment>
    ...
</deployments>