Monitoring IBM WebSphere Application Servers

With Silk Performer the following IBM WebSphere Application Servers can be monitored:

IBM WebSphere Application Server Advanced Edition 3.5
IBM WebSphere Application Server Advanced Edition 4.0
IBM WebSphere Application Server 4.x via Performance Servlet
IBM WebSphere Application Server 5.0 via Performance Servlet

Monitoring IBM WebSphere Application Servers 3.5 has been tested under NT, Win2000 and Ret Hat Linux platforms. Monitoring IBM WebSphere Application Servers 4.0 has been tested under NT and Win2000.

To Monitor IBM WebSphere Application Server 3.5

Start Performance Explorer and click the Monitor Server button in the workflow bar. Select the Select from predefined Data Sources radio button. Do not use the Have Data Sources detected radio button as the Data Source detection module does not detect IBM WebSphere Application Servers.
Select Application Servers/IBM WebSphere Application Server/IBM WebSphere Application Server 3.5 and connect to the host running the Application Server. Performance Explorer connects to a daemon or service named IBM WS AdminServer. This service is runs by default unless the Standard Edition of IBM WebSphere Application Server 3.5 is used.

Once the connection to the server is established (this may take 3 to 5 seconds), the dialog shows the root nodes of the WebSphere Administrative domain. Such a domain administers several hosts where each host may run as many applications as needed. Select performance counters and click the Add button to add them to the monitoring template.

Typical performance measures for WebSphere Application Servers 3.5:

Runtime Module: Contains performance counters related to the Java Virtual Machine
Thread Pool: Answers questions like how many threads are currently active or how many threads were created, this includes idle and active threads.
Bean Data: Specific performance information about deployed EJBs. For example how many beans were created or the response time of method invocations.
Transaction Data: Contains everything about transactions like how many transactions are currently in progress or the average time it takes to execute one transaction.
Connection Manager:Contains performance counters for JDBC connections.
Servlet Engine: Contains performance counters giving an idea how deployed servlets and JSPs perform.

To Monitor IBM WebSphere Application Server 4.0

Start Performance Explorer and click the Monitor Server button on the workflow bar. Select theSelect from predefined Data Sources radio button. Do not use the Have Data Sources detected radio button as the Data Source detection module does not detect IBM WebSphere Application Servers.
Select Application Servers/IBM WebSphere Application Servers/IBM WebSphere Application Server 4.0 and connect to the host where the application server is running. Once the connection to the server is established the dialog shows the root nodes of the WebSphere Administrative domain. Such a domain administers several hosts where each host may be running as many applications as needed. Select performance counters and click the Add button to add them to the monitoring template.

Performance Explorer connects to a daemon or service named IBM AdminService. This service runs by default unless the Standard Edition of IBM WebSphere Application Server 4.0 is used.

To Monitor IBM WebSphere Application Server 4.x via Performance Servlet

Open the WebSphere Administrative Console.
Expand and right-click the Enterprise Applications node.
Select Install Enterprise Application from the context menu.
A dialog displays. Browse to the perfservlet application that is delivered by default with the WebSphere package. The application to be installed is named perfServletApp.ear and is usually located under WebSphere\AppServer\installableApps\perfServletApp.ear. Browse to the package and open it.
Click Next repeatedly until you can select the host. Select default_host and Click Next.
Select the server the perfservlet application is to be installed (for example, Default Server(yourhost)) and click Finish. Now the package is deployed. If everything has been set up correct, a message box will appears, confirming a successful installation.
Right click the installed perfservlet application and select Start from the context menu.
By default monitoring is turned off for WebSphere application servers. You may enable and change the granularity of performance measures to be retrieved from your WebSphere installation. To do this open the IBM Resource Analyzer tool.
Expand the root node and select the server where the perfservlet application is installed. Right-click the node and select Monitoring Settings from the context menu.
You may select from the following granularity options: Maximum, High, Medium, Low, and None.
To double check whether the perfservlet application is returning valid performance information, open an XML compatible Internet browser and verify the following URL: http://yourhost/wasPerfTool/servlet/perfservlet.
Now that your WebSphere installation is configured for monitoring, start Performance Explorer and click the Monitor Server button on the workflow bar. Select the Select from predefined Data Sources radio button. Do not use the Have Data Sources detected radio button as the Data Source detection module does not detect IBM WebSphere Application Servers.
Select Application Servers/IBM WebSphere Application Servers/IBM WebSphere Application Server 4.x (PerfServlet) and connect to the host that is running the application server.

Typical performance measures for WebSphere Application Servers 4.x:

BeanModule: Specific data about deployed EJBs. For example how many beans were created.
ConnectionPoolModule:This module contains performance counters about JDBC connections like how many JDBC connetions are currently in the pool.
JvmRuntimeModule:Java Virtual Machine specific performance counters.
ServletSessionModule: This module contains performance counters about servlet sessions. For example how many sessions are active or the average session live time.
TransactionModule: This module contains performance counters giving information how many transactions are in progress or the average time it takes to execute one transaction.
WebApplicationModule: Provides information about deployed servlets and JSPs. For example the average time it takes the servlet to process requests.

To Monitor IBM WebSphere Application Server 5.0 via Performance Servlet

Open the Administrative Console.
Expand Applications and click Install New Application.
Install the perfservlet application. To do this, click the browse button and search for a file called PerfServletApp.ear. It is usually under WebSphere\AppServer\installableApps\PerfServletApp.ear. Press Next.
The wizard guides you through the installation. Check the Generate Default Binding check box. Type in the virtual host name (for example default_host). Click Next.
The next step is called AppDeployment Options. Accept the settings and click Next.
Map virtual hosts for web modules: Check the WebModule and perfservlet checkboxes. Select the virtual host (or example, default_host) and click Next.
Map modules to application servers: Check the Module and perfservlet checkboxes. Click Next.
Map security roles to users/groups: Allow all roles by checking all check boxes. Click Next.
Summary: Click Finish.
The perfservlet application is now deployed, but it is not yet running. Click the Save to Master configuration link and save your settings.
Expand the Applications node and click Enterprise Applications. From the list, check the perfservlet application and click Start.
Monitoring is disabled by default with WebSphere 5.0. To enable monitoring expand the Servers node and select Application Servers.
Click the server where monitoring has to be enabled (for example, server1). Under Additional Properties click the Performance Monitoring Service link. Check the Startup checkbox so that monitoring will always enabled on startup. Also specify the specification level (the granularity of performance measures to be retrieved).
Click OK and save your settings to the master configuration.
To verify that the perfservlet application was successfully deployed, open an XML-compatible Internet browser and type in the following URL http://yourHost[:port]/wasPerfTool/servlet/perfservlet.
Assuming that everything has been successfully deployed, open Performance Explorer.
Click the Monitor Server button on the workflow bar. Select the Select from predefined Data Sources radio button. Do not use the Have Data Sources detected radio button as the Data Source detection module does not detect IBM WebSphere Application Servers.
Select Application Servers/IBM WebSphere Application Servers/IBM WebSphere Application Server 5.0 (PerfServlet) and connect to the host that is running the application server.

Typical performance measures for WebSphere Application Servers 5.0:

BeanModule: Specific data about deployed EJBs. For example how many beans were created.
ConnectionPoolModule: This module contains performance counters about JDBC connections like how many JDBC connetions are currently in the pool.
JvmRuntimeModule: Java Virtual Machine specific performance counters.
ServletSessionModule: This module contains performance counters about servlet sessions. For example how many sessions are active or the average session live time.
TransactionModule: This module contains performance counters giving information how many transactions are in progress or the average time it takes to execute one transaction.

WebApplicationModule: Provides information about deployed servlets and JSPs. For example the average time it takes the servlet to process requests