This topic provides an overview of Advanced Management Console. Use this tool to view information about the Java applets and Java Web Start applications running in your enterprise, and create deployment rules and rule sets to manage the execution of these applications.
Advanced Management Console is available to enterprise customers as part of Oracle Java SE Advanced. See the "Deployment Rule Set" chapter in the Java Platform, Standard Edition Deployment Guide to get an understanding of what a deployment rule set is and how it is used.
This topic includes the following sections:
A deployment rule set is used in an enterprise for the following purposes:
Enable users to run Java applets and Java Web Start applications without seeing the security prompts that request permission to allow an application to run.
Enable administrators to automatically block applications that the enterprise does not want users to run.
Force the use of a specific JRE to run applications.
To help administrators create the rules needed for their enterprise, Advanced Management Console collects information about the applications being run, and provides a UI for creating the rules and rule sets needed. Rules can be created using the information about the applications being run. This method automatically generates any additional rules that are needed for multiple JAR files or extensions used by an application.
General rules that match multiple applications or applications that have not yet been identified as running in the enterprise can also be created. This method requires that you also create rules for any other JAR files or extensions that applications might use.
Advanced Management Console has the following components:
AMC UI
This component shows the information about applications running in the enterprise, and is used to manage rules and rule sets. In a typical installation, the AMC UI is run on one or more machines and connects to a remote AMC Collector.
AMC Collector
This component collects the information about applications running in the enterprise from Java Usage Tracker. The AMC Collector is typically run on a central server where it can receive application information over the network from the machines where the applications are being run.
AMC Database
This component stores all of the data used by Advanced Management Console. The AMC Database is located on the server with the AMC Collector.
For information about setting up Advanced Management Console, see Chapter 2, "Install and Configure Advanced Management Console."
A primary benefit of Advanced Management Console is the ability to learn what applications are being run in the enterprise and what JREs are being used. Additional information, such as the location of the application, vendor, permission level, number of JAR files and extensions, and number of times the application has been run is also provided. Information from Java Usage Tracker is collected by the AMC Collector and shown in the AMC UI.
Deployment rules can be created directly from this information. The AMC UI can also be used to determine what rules and rule sets an application matches.
See Chapter 3, "Application Usage Information" for more information.
A deployment rule set is used to manage the Java applets and Java Web Start applications that are run in an enterprise, and the JREs that are used to run them. A rule set contains the rules that are used to determine if an application is allowed to run without security prompts, if the application is automatically blocked, or if default processing is used.
Administrators need to create the rules and the rule sets needed for their enterprise. Advanced Management Console provides a UI to make this task easier.
Rules are the building blocks for rule sets. When an application is run, the information about the application is compared to the criteria in the rules. When a match is found, the action that is set for the rule determines the action taken for the application. The application title, location, and certificate hash value are used to match an application to a rule.
The AMC UI enables you to create, edit, and delete rules, add rules to rule sets, and identify the applications that match a rule. The validity of each rule is checked as the rule is created to ensure that it meets the requirements of the Deployment Rule Set feature.
See Chapter 4, "Manage Rules" for more information.
A rule set contains the rules that are used to determine the action taken for applications that are run in an enterprise. Applications are matched against the rules in the rule set and the first rule matched is used.
The AMC UI enables you to create, edit, and delete rules sets, and identify the applications that are matched by the rules in a rule set. You can also import existing rule sets. Multiple rule sets can be managed in Advanced Management Console, which enables you to create rule sets for specific purposes, or customize rule sets for the different groups in your enterprise. When a rule set is ready for use, it can be exported to create the DeploymentRuleSet.jar file that is installed on the machines where applications are run.
See Chapter 5, "Manage Rule Sets" for more information.