JMX-Based Administration

To serve customers who need a standard programmatic means to monitor and access the broker, Message Queue also supports the Java Management Extensions (JMX) architecture, which allows a Java application to manage broker resources programmatically.

• Resources include everything that you can manipulate using the Command utility (imqcmd) and the Message Queue Admin Console: the broker, connection services, connections, destinations, durable subscribers, transactions, and so on.

• Management includes the ability to dynamically configure and monitor resources, and the ability to obtain notifications about state changes and error conditions.

The JMX specification defines an architecture for the instrumentation and programmatic management of distributed resources. This architecture is based on the notion of a managed bean, or MBean: a Java object, similar to a JavaBean, representing a resource to be managed. Message Queue MBeans are associated with individual resources such as connection services, connections, or destinations, or with whole categories of resources, such as the set of all destinations on a broker. There are separate configuration MBeans and monitor MBeans for setting a resource’s configuration properties and monitoring its runtime state.

Java applications access MBeans through remote method invocation (RMI) protocols. The MBeans are hosted by an MBean server in the broker, which functions as an MBean container. The MBean server is accessed by means of a RMI connector, which is used to obtain an MBean server connection, which, in turn, provides access to the individual MBeans.

The JMX specification defines an architecture that enables the programmatic management of any distributed resource. This architecture is defined by design patterns, APIs, and various services.

JMX-based administration provides dynamic, fine grained, programmatic access to the broker. You can use this kind of administration in a number of ways.

• You can include JMX code in your JMS client application to monitor application performance and, based on the results, to reconfigure the Message Queue resources you use to improve performance.

• You can write JMX client applications that monitor the broker to identify use patterns and performance problems, and you can use the JMX API to reconfigure the broker to optimize performance.

• You can write a JMX client application to automate regular maintenance tasks, rolling upgrades, and so on.

• You can write a JMX client application that constitutes your own version of the Command utility (imqcmd), and you can use it instead of imqcmd.

• You can use the standard Java Monitoring and Management Console (jconsole) that provides standard web browser access to the broker's MBeans.

JMX is the Java standard for building management applications and is widely used for managing Java EE infrastructure. If your Message Queue client is a part of a larger Java EE deployment, JMX support allows you to use a standard programmatic management framework throughout your Java EE application. Message Queue is based on the JMX 1.2 specification, which is part of JDK 1.5.

To manage a Message Queue broker using the JMX architecture, see Sun Java System Message Queue 4.3 Developer’s Guide for JMX Clients. For information on JMX infrastructure and configuring the broker's JMX support, see Appendix D, JMX Support, in Sun Java System Message Queue 4.3 Administration Guide.