jbconsole - The Console Program

The jbconsole console displays monitorable properties from any ORB server.

SYNOPSIS

jbconsole
  or jbconsole -host <hostname> -port <portnumber>
  or jbconsole -config <configfile> [-refresh <refresh>] [-title <title>]
where options include:
    -host <hostname>      host name or IP address of the server
    -port <portnumber>    port number used by the server process
    -config <configfile> name of the config file
    -refresh <refresh>    refresh rate in seconds (default is 30 seconds)
    -title <title>        title to be displayed on the console frame window

The console program can be invoked in three modes:

In the first mode, the program first displays a dialog where host/port information or a configuration file can be specified. If host/port is entered, the program then displays a second dialog where the monitorable properties from the specified server can be selected. The selected properties must be saved into a configuration file that the console will subsequently display.

In the second mode, the program queries the specified server for the list of available properties and generates data that can be placed in a configuration file.

In the third mode, the program reads a configuration file and displays a graph for each property specified in the file.

DESCRIPTION

The jbconsole utility allows you to graphically monitor various properties of the Object Request Broker, Java Messaging Service, and Java Transaction Service. The properties to be monitored are specified in a configuration file. The properties can be logically grouped in different tabs. Each tab contains multiple cells, each cell displaying one property. Multiple servers can be monitored from the same console.

The following picture shows the console window. In this example the properties are organized into two tabs: one for each server in a JMS cluster. Within each tab properties from the differenet components on the server are displayed. Each cell displays the property name and the host:port information. A small green or red circle at the upper right corner indicates whether communication is established with the process being monitored.

CONFIGURATION FILE

The console program requires a configuration file to provide information about the host and port of the process to be monitored and the specific properties that should be displayed. The configuration file consists of several lines with the following keyword=value pairs separated by a ";" or a new line.

host=<hostname> OR host=<ip-address>
port=<portnumber>
tab=<tabname>
product=<| ORB | JMS | JTS> (product= represents the common server process for all Messaging Platform components)
property=<propertyname>
delta=<YES | NO> (if delta=YES the Rate of change / second is calculated rather than the absolute value)

The following rules are used when reading the config file:

The host, port, or product information persist till the next time they are specified.
Only one property can be specified per line (i.e. Multiple property names cannot be specified on the same line).
Each occurrence of delta is only valid for the property specified on the same line as it.
If delta is not specified for a property it is assumed to be NO.

The following is an example of a config file:

# Console configuration file for host = localhost and port = 9090 
# Generated on Sun Nov 18 17:08:54 PST 2001 

# Properties for product : Common 

host=localhost 
port=9090 
tab=Common 
product= 
#property=UpTime;delta=NO 
property=TotalMemory;delta=NO 
property=FreeMemory;delta=NO 
property=FreeMemoryPercent;delta=NO 

# Properties for product : ORB 

tab=ORB 
product=ORB 
property=LocatesReceived;delta=YES 
#property=LocatesSent;delta=YES 
property=RequestsReceived;delta=YES 
#property=RequestsSent;delta=YES 
property=InComingConnections;delta=NO 
#property=InComingSSLConnections;delta=NO 
property=PlainIDLObjects;delta=NO 
property=OutGoingConnections;delta=NO 
#property=OutGoingSSLConnections;delta=NO 
property=MulticastRequestsReceived;delta=NO 
#property=MulticastRequestsSent;delta=NO 
property=PlainRMIObjects;delta=NO 
property=Threads;delta=NO

The easiest way to create an initial config file is to run the console program with the -host and -port parameters. The program will print out information on all the available properties. The output can be redirected to a file and then modified as necessary. You can also start with one of the example config files provided and make any necessary changes.

PROPERTIES

Below is a list of properties supported by the Messaging Platform products and a sample property file. Note that the sample files must be edited before they can be used:

Common Properties

A list of monitorable properties that are exposed by any server process.

ORB Properties

A list of monitorable properties that are exposed by the ORB. Look here for an example.

JMS Properties

A list of monitorable properties that are exposed by the JMS server. Look here for an example.

JTS Properties

A list of monitorable properties that are exposed by the transaction manager. Look here for an example.

OPTIONS

-host <hostname>

Used to specify the host of the server where properties should be retrieved from. Both hostname and IP address can be used.

-port <portnumber>

Used to specify the port of the server where properties should be retrieved from.

-config <configfile>

The name of a configuration file that contains information according to the format specified above.

-refresh <refresh>

The refresh rate for the console, i.e. the rate at which property values are re-fetched from the server and the GUI updated. If not specified, the default value is 30 seconds.

-title <refresh>

The title of the console window.

EXAMPLES

To run the console in GUI mode:
```
   jbconsole
```
To output available properties on the server running at localhost:53506:
```
   jbconsole -host localhost -port 53506
```

To start the console with an existing configuration file:

   jbconsole -config cluster.cfg -refresh 10 -title Cluster