Introduction and Roadmap

To integrate third-party management systems with the WebLogic Server management system, WebLogic Server provides standards-based interfaces that are fully compliant with the Java Management Extensions (JMX) specification. Software vendors can use these interfaces to monitor WebLogic Server MBeans, to change the configuration of a WebLogic Server domain, and to and monitor the distribution (activation) of those changes to all server instances in the domain. While JMX clients can perform all WebLogic Server management functions without using BEA’s proprietary classes, BEA recommends that remote JMX clients use WebLogic Server protocols (such as T3) to connect to WebLogic Server instances.

This document describes creating JMX clients that monitor and modify WebLogic Server resources.

The following sections describe the contents and organization of this guide—Developing Custom Management Utilities with JMX.

Document Scope and Audience

This document is a resource for software vendors who develop JMX-compatible management systems. It also contains information that is useful for business analysts and system architects who are evaluating WebLogic Server® or considering the use of JMX for a particular application.

It is assumed that the reader is familiar with J2EE and general application management concepts. This document emphasizes a hands-on approach to developing a limited but useful set of JMX management services. For information on applying JMX to a broader set of management problems, refer to the JMX specification or other documents listed in Related Documentation.

Guide to this Document

This chapter, Introduction and Roadmap, introduces the organization of this guide.
Understanding WebLogic Server MBeans, describes the JMX services that you use to monitor and manage WebLogic Server MBeans and introduces the data model that organizes WebLogic Server MBeans.
Overview of WebLogic Server Subsystem MBeans, introduces the MBeans that can be used to monitor and manage various subsystems of WebLogic Server.
Accessing WebLogic Server MBeans with JMX, provides instructions and examples for accessing WebLogic Server MBeans from a JMX client.
Managing a Domain’s Configuration with JMX, provides instructions and examples for managing a WebLogic Server domain’s configuration through JMX.
Using Notifications and Monitor MBeans, describes working with notifications and listeners to listen for changes in WebLogic Server MBean attributes.
Configuring WebLogic Server JMX Services, describes how to specify which JMX services are available in a domain.

Related Documentation

For guidelines on developing other types of management services for WebLogic Server applications, see the following documents:

Using WebLogic Logging Services for Application Logging describes WebLogic support for internationalization and localization of log messages, and shows you how to use the templates and tools provided with WebLogic Server to create or edit message catalogs that are locale-specific.
Configuring and Using the WebLogic Diagnostic Framework describes how system administrators can collect application monitoring data that has not been exposed through JMX, logging, or other management facilities.

For guidelines on developing and tuning WebLogic Server applications, see the following documents:

Developing WebLogic Server Applications is a guide to developing WebLogic Server applications.
Developing Manageable Applications with JMX describes how to create and register custom MBeans.

New and Changed JMX Features in This Release

To secure the WebLogic Server MBeans that have been registered in an MBean server, WebLogic Server provides a default set of security roles and policies. Prior to this release, you could not modify the default policies for WebLogic Server MBeans. As of this release, you can use the WebLogic Server Administration Console to change the default access permissions. For example, you can create roles for specific applications and allow only specific roles to access the MBean instances that are associated with specific applications. See Configure JMX Policies in the Administration Console Online Help.

You can also create custom roles and policies based on XACML 2.0 and use WebLogic Scripting Tool to add them to your security realm. See Using XACML Documents to Secure WebLogic Resources in Securing WebLogic Server Resource with Roles and Policies.

Changes to JMX Features in the WebLogic Server 9.0 Release

WebLogic Server 9.0 introduced several important changes to the WebLogic Server JMX implementation. See Introduction and Roadmap in Developing Custom Management Utilities with JMX for WebLogic Server 9.0.