jmxtrans-agent is a version of jmxtrans intended to be used as a java agent. JmxTrans Agent has zero dependencies to ease integration.

Download the latest release of jmxtrans-agent-<version>.jar

Sample setenv.sh for Apache Tomcat

export JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -javaagent:/path/to/jmxtrans-agent-1.2.4.jar=jmxtrans-agent.xml"

• java agent jar path can be relative to the working dir
• jmxtrans-agent.xml is the configuration file, can be classpath relative (classpath:…), http(s) (http(s)://...) or file system based (relative to the working dir)

For some application servers like JBoss, delaying premain is needed to start the agent, see WFLY-3054 This has been confirmed to be needed with JBoss 5.x, 6.x, 7.x and Wildfly 8.x. This is because a custom MBeanServer is used by programmatically setting the "javax.management.builder.initial" system property in JBoss's startup sequence. If the PlatformMBeanServer is initialized before this is set, the PlatformMBeanServer will not use the implementation JBoss expects.

For versions >=1.2.8, you can wait for the custom MBeanServer to be defined, set jmxtrans.agent.premain.waitForCustomMBeanServer=true:

# delays calling premain() in jmxtrans agent until javax.management.builder.initial is set, up to 2 minutes
java -Djmxtrans.agent.premain.waitForCustomMBeanServer=true

This usually takes less than a second. If needed, you can optionally increase the timeout to wait by setting jmxtrans.agent.premain.waitForCustomMBeanServer.timeoutInSeconds (defaults to 2 minutes):

# delays calling premain() in jmxtrans agent until javax.management.builder.initial is set, up to 5 minutes
java -Djmxtrans.agent.premain.waitForCustomMBeanServer=true -Djmxtrans.agent.premain.waitForCustomMBeanServer.timeoutInSeconds=300

For versions <1.2.8, you have to add a flat delay. To add a flat delay set jmxtrans.agent.premain.delay (value in seconds):

# delays calling premain() in jmxtrans agent for 30 seconds
java -Djmxtrans.agent.premain.delay=30

To select which attributes to collect, use the attribute or attributes attribute on the query element. attribute accepts a single attribute while attributes accepts a comma-separated list of attributes to collect. If you do not specify any attributes, all attributes of the MBean will be dynamically discovered and collected. Use the expression language #attribute# in the resultAlias to use the attribute name in the metric name when collecting many attributes.

Example - collect the ThreadCount attribute from the Threading MBean:

<query objectName="java.lang:type=Threading" attribute="ThreadCount"
   resultAlias="jvm.thread.count"/>

Example - collect the SystemLoadAverage gauge attribute from the OperatingSystem MBean:

<query objectName="java.lang:type=OperatingSystem" attributes="SystemLoadAverage" 
       type="gauge" resultAlias="#attribute#"/>

(i) Note that the type attribute is customizable. Output writers such as the LibratoWriter, StatsDOutputWriter and PerMinuteSummarizerOutputWriter are aware of the types counter and gauge and assume that non defined typemeans counter.

Example - collect ThreadCount and TotalStartedThreadCount from the Threading MBean:

<query objectName="java.lang:type=Threading" attributes="ThreadCount,TotalStartedThreadCount"
  resultAlias="jvm.threads.#attribute#"/>

Example - collect all attributes from the Threading MBean:

<query objectName="java.lang:type=Threading" resultAlias="jvm.threads.#attribute#"/>

Use attribute or attributes to specify the values to lookup. No additional configuration is required. See javax.management.MBeanServer.getAttribute(objectName, attribute).

<query objectName="java.lang:type=Threading" attribute="ThreadCount"
   resultAlias="jvm.thread"/>

Use key to specify the key of the CompositeData. See javax.management.openmbean.CompositeData#get(key).

 <query objectName="java.lang:type=Memory" attribute="HeapMemoryUsage" key="used"
    resultAlias="jvm.heapMemoryUsage.used"/>

• You can collect all the keys of the composite data omitting key in the <query /> declaration.
• Use the expression language #key# (or its synonym #compositeDataKey#) in the resultAlias to use the composite data key in the metric name. Sample:

 <query objectName="java.lang:type=Memory" attribute="HeapMemoryUsage" resultAlias="jvm.heapMemoryUsage.#key#"/>

Use position to specify the value to lookup. Position is `0 based.

 <query objectName="MyApp:type=MyMBean" attribute="MyMultiValuedAttribute" position="2"
    resultAlias="myMBean.myMultiValuedAttributeValue"/>

• position is 0 based
• You can collect all the entries of the multi-valued data omitting position in the <query /> declaration.
• Use the expression language #position# in the resultAlias to use the multi-valued data position in the metric name. Sample:

 <query objectName="MyApp:type=MyMBean" attribute="MyMultiValuedAttribute" resultAlias="myMBean.myMultiValuedAttributeValue.#position#"/>

• If no resultAlias is specified, the generated metric name is suffixed by _#position#. Sample:

myMBean.myMultiValuedAttributeValue_0`

The configuration can be dynamically reloaded at runtime. To enable this feature, enable it with the reloadConfigurationCheckIntervalInSeconds element, e.g.:

<reloadConfigurationCheckIntervalInSeconds>60</reloadConfigurationCheckIntervalInSeconds>

The interval for collecting data using the specified queries and invocations can be specified with the element collectIntervalInSeconds, e.g.:

<collectIntervalInSeconds>20</collectIntervalInSeconds>

The collect interval can be overridden for a specific query or invocation by setting the collectIntervalInSeconds attribute, e.g.:

<query objectName="java.lang:type=Threading" attributes="ThreadCount,TotalStartedThreadCount"
   resultAlias="jvm.threads.#attribute#" collectIntervalInSeconds="5"/>

The ResultNameStrategy is the component in charge of building the metric name. The default implementation uses the resultAlias if provided and otherwise will build the metric name using the ObjectName.

You can use your own implementation for the ResultNameStrategy

<resultNameStrategy class="com.mycompany.jmxtrans.agent.MyResultNameStrategyImpl">
   <attrA>valA</attrA>
   <attrB>valB</attrB>
</resultNameStrategy>

You then have to make this implementation available in the classpath (adding it the the jmxtrans-agent jar, adding it to the boot classpath ...)

Sample jmxtrans-agent.xml configuration file for Tomcat:

<jmxtrans-agent>
    <queries>
        <!-- OS -->
        <query objectName="java.lang:type=OperatingSystem" attribute="SystemLoadAverage" resultAlias="os.systemLoadAverage"/>

        <!-- JVM -->
        <query objectName="java.lang:type=Memory" attribute="HeapMemoryUsage" key="used"
               resultAlias="jvm.heapMemoryUsage.used"/>
        <query objectName="java.lang:type=Memory" attribute="HeapMemoryUsage" key="committed"
               resultAlias="jvm.heapMemoryUsage.committed"/>
        <query objectName="java.lang:type=Memory" attribute="NonHeapMemoryUsage" key="used"
               resultAlias="jvm.nonHeapMemoryUsage.used"/>
        <query objectName="java.lang:type=Memory" attribute="NonHeapMemoryUsage" key="committed"
               resultAlias="jvm.nonHeapMemoryUsage.committed"/>
        <query objectName="java.lang:type=ClassLoading" attribute="LoadedClassCount" resultAlias="jvm.loadedClasses"/>

        <query objectName="java.lang:type=Threading" attribute="ThreadCount" resultAlias="jvm.thread"/>

        <!-- TOMCAT -->
        <query objectName="Catalina:type=GlobalRequestProcessor,name=*" attribute="requestCount"
               resultAlias="tomcat.requestCount"/>
        <query objectName="Catalina:type=GlobalRequestProcessor,name=*" attribute="errorCount"
               resultAlias="tomcat.errorCount"/>
        <query objectName="Catalina:type=GlobalRequestProcessor,name=*" attribute="processingTime"
               resultAlias="tomcat.processingTime"/>
        <query objectName="Catalina:type=GlobalRequestProcessor,name=*" attribute="bytesSent"
               resultAlias="tomcat.bytesSent"/>
        <query objectName="Catalina:type=GlobalRequestProcessor,name=*" attribute="bytesReceived"
               resultAlias="tomcat.bytesReceived"/>

        <!-- APPLICATION -->
        <query objectName="Catalina:type=Manager,context=/,host=localhost" attribute="activeSessions"
               resultAlias="application.activeSessions"/>
    </queries>
    <outputWriter class="org.jmxtrans.agent.GraphitePlainTextTcpOutputWriter">
        <host>localhost</host>
        <port>2003</port>
        <namePrefix>app_123456.servers.i876543.</namePrefix>
    </outputWriter>
    <outputWriter class="org.jmxtrans.agent.ConsoleOutputWriter"/>
    <collectIntervalInSeconds>20</collectIntervalInSeconds>
</jmxtrans-agent>

Note why XML and not JSON ? because XML parsing is out of the box in the JVM when JSON requires additional libraries.

OutputWriters are very simple to develop, you just have to extend AbstractOutputWriter.java or to implement OutputWriter.java.

Out of the box output writers:

• GraphitePlainTextTcpOutputWriter: output to Graphite Carbon plain text protocol on TCP. Configuration parameters:
  • enabled: to enable/disable the output writer. Optional, default value true
  • host: Graphite Carbon listener host
  • port: Graphite Carbon Plain Text TCP listener port. Optional, default value 2003
  • namePrefix; prefix of the metric name. Optional, default values servers.#hostname#. where #hostname# is the auto discovered hostname of computer with . escaped as _ (InetAddress.getLocalHost().getHostName()).
• GraphiteUdpOutputWriter: output to Graphite Carbon plain text protocol on UDP. Supports the same configuration parameters as the GraphitePlainTextTcpOutputWriter
• FileOverwriterOutputWriter: store the last collection of metrics in a file. Configuration parameters:
  • fileName: name of the file in which the collected metrics are stored. Optional, default value jmxtrans-agent.data (in JVM working dir, for example $TOMCAT_HOME/bin)
  • showTimeStamp: true or false value that determines if the time stamp is printed with the lines. Optional tag, default is `false.
• SummarizingFileOverwriterOutputWriter: Similar to the FileOverwriterOutputWriter but displays "per minute" values for counters of type counter
• ConsoleOutputWriter: output metric values to stdout
• SummarizingConsoleOutputWriter: Similar to the ConsoleOutputWriter but displays "per minute" values for counters of type counter
• RollingFileOutputWriter
  • fileName: Name of the file in which the collected metrics are stored. Optional, default value jmxtrans-agent.data (in JVM working dir, for example $TOMCAT_HOME/bin)
  • maxFileSize: Maximum file size in MB before file is rolled. Optional, default is 10
  • maxBackupIndex: Maximum number of backup files. Optional, default is `5
  • singleLine: true or false value that determines if all values are printed on a single line. Optional, default is false
• StatsDOutputWriter: output to StatD using the counter metric type. Configuration parameters:
  • host: StatsD listener host
  • port: StatsD listener port
  • statsd : Optional StatsD server type, statsd, dd or sysdig
  • tags : Optional StatsD tags for dd and sysdig, i.e. serviceid:SERVICE_ID,environment:dev
  • metricName: metric name prefix. Optional, default value is machine hostname or IP (all . are scaped as _).
  • bufferSize: max buffer size. Holds data to be sent. Optional, default value is 1024.
• InfluxDbOutputWriter: output to InfluxDb. This writer is currently experimental - behavior and options might change. See InfluxDbOutputWriter Details for more details. Configuration parameters:
  • url: url to the influxdb server, e.g. <url>http://influx.company.com:8086</url> - required
  • database: name of the database to write to - required
  • user: username for authentication - optional
  • password: password for authentication - optional
  • tags: additional tags to use for all metrics on n1=v1,n2=v2 format, e.g. <tags>#hostname#</tags> - optional
  • retentionPolicy: retention policy to use - optional
  • connectTimeoutMillis: connect timeout for the HTTP connection to influx - optional, defaults to 3000
  • readTimeoutMillis: read timeout for the HTTP connection to influx - optional, defaults to 5000

Output writers configuration support an expression language based on property placeholders with the {prop-name[:default-value]} syntax (e.g. "${graphite.port:2003}").

The default-value is optional. An exception is raised if no default value is defined and the property placeholder is not found.

Environment variables are looked-up in the following order:

1. JVM system properties (System.getProperty("graphite.host"))
2. JVM environment variables (System.getenv("graphite.host"))
3. JVM environment variables after a "to-upper-case + dot-to-underscore" transformation (System.getenv("GRAPHITE_HOST"))

This writer is currently in beta, it might have bugs and the behavior and options might change.

When using the InfluxDbOutputWriter, the queries' resultAlias have special semantics. The result alias is a comma-separated list where the first item is the name of the measurement and the rest of the items are tags to add to metrics collected by the query. For example, the query

<query objectName="java.lang:type=GarbageCollector,name=*"
	attributes="CollectionTime,CollectionCount"
	resultAlias="#attribute#,garbageCollector=%name%,myTag=foo" />

will result in measurements named as the attributes collected (CollectionTime and CollectionCount). The additional tag garbageCollector will be added which will correspond to the name attribute of the object name. In addition, a tag called myTag with value foo will be added.

All measurements sent to InfluxDb will have only one field called value. Multiple fields are currently not supported.

Example complete output writer configuration:

<outputWriter class="org.jmxtrans.agent.influxdb.InfluxDbOutputWriter">
	<url>http://localhost:8086</url>
	<database>mydb</database>
	<user>admin</user>
	<password>shadow</password>
	<tags>host=#hostname#</tags>
</outputWriter>

os.systemLoadAverage 1.80419921875 1366199958
jvm.heapMemoryUsage.used 20438792 1366199958
jvm.heapMemoryUsage.committed 119668736 1366199958
jvm.nonHeapMemoryUsage.used 15953560 1366199958
jvm.nonHeapMemoryUsage.committed 24313856 1366199958
jvm.loadedClasses 2162 1366199958
jvm.thread 13 1366199958
tomcat.requestCount 0 1366199958
tomcat.requestCount 0 1366199958
tomcat.errorCount 0 1366199958
tomcat.errorCount 0 1366199958
tomcat.processingTime 0 1366199958
tomcat.processingTime 0 1366199958
tomcat.bytesSent 0 1366199958
tomcat.bytesSent 0 1366199958
tomcat.bytesReceived 0 1366199958
tomcat.bytesReceived 0 1366199958
application.activeSessions 0 1366199958

os.systemLoadAverage 1.27734375
jvm.heapMemoryUsage.used 33436016
jvm.heapMemoryUsage.committed 133365760
jvm.nonHeapMemoryUsage.used 23623096
jvm.nonHeapMemoryUsage.committed 24707072
jvm.loadedClasses 3002
jvm.thread 21
tomcat.requestCount 27
tomcat.requestCount 0
tomcat.errorCount 0
tomcat.errorCount 0
tomcat.processingTime 881
tomcat.processingTime 0
tomcat.bytesSent 135816
tomcat.bytesSent 0
tomcat.bytesReceived 0
tomcat.bytesReceived 0
application.activeSessions 0

• Milestones history
• Releases

• Create directory ${ACTIVEMQ_HOME}/jmxtrans-agent/
• Copy jmxtrans-agent-1.2.4.jar under ${ACTIVEMQ_HOME}/jmxtrans-agent/
• Update ${ACTIVEMQ_HOME}/bin/activemq, add in invoke_start() and invoke_console():

JMXTRANS_AGENT="-javaagent:${ACTIVEMQ_HOME}/jmxtrans-agent/jmxtrans-agent-1.2.4.jar=${ACTIVEMQ_HOME}/jmxtrans-agent/jmxtrans-agent-activemq.xml"
ACTIVEMQ_OPTS="$ACTIVEMQ_OPTS $JMXTRANS_AGENT"

• Copy to ${ACTIVEMQ_HOME}/jmxtrans-agent/ a config file similar to

<jmxtrans-agent>
    <queries>
        <!-- OS -->
        <query objectName="java.lang:type=OperatingSystem" attribute="SystemLoadAverage"
               resultAlias="os.systemLoadAverage"/>

        <!-- JVM -->
        <query objectName="java.lang:type=Memory" attribute="HeapMemoryUsage" key="used"
               resultAlias="jvm.heapMemoryUsage.used"/>
        <query objectName="java.lang:type=Memory" attribute="HeapMemoryUsage" key="committed"
               resultAlias="jvm.heapMemoryUsage.committed"/>
        <query objectName="java.lang:type=Memory" attribute="NonHeapMemoryUsage" key="used"
               resultAlias="jvm.nonHeapMemoryUsage.used"/>
        <query objectName="java.lang:type=Memory" attribute="NonHeapMemoryUsage" key="committed"
               resultAlias="jvm.nonHeapMemoryUsage.committed"/>
        <query objectName="java.lang:type=ClassLoading" attribute="LoadedClassCount" resultAlias="jvm.loadedClasses"/>

        <query objectName="java.lang:type=Threading" attribute="ThreadCount" resultAlias="jvm.thread"/>

        <!-- ACTIVE MQ -->
        <query objectName="org.apache.activemq:type=Broker,brokerName=*,destinationType=Queue,destinationName=*"
               attribute="QueueSize" resultAlias="activemq.%brokerName%.queue.%destinationName%.QueueSize"/>
        <query objectName="org.apache.activemq:type=Broker,brokerName=*,destinationType=Queue,destinationName=*"
               attribute="EnqueueCount" resultAlias="activemq.%brokerName%.queue.%destinationName%.EnqueueCount"/>
        <query objectName="org.apache.activemq:type=Broker,brokerName=*,destinationType=Queue,destinationName=*"
               attribute="ExpiredCount" resultAlias="activemq.%brokerName%.queue.%destinationName%.ExpiredCount"/>
        <query objectName="org.apache.activemq:type=Broker,brokerName=*,destinationType=Queue,destinationName=*"
               attribute="DequeueCount" resultAlias="activemq.%brokerName%.queue.%destinationName%.DequeueCount"/>

        <query objectName="org.apache.activemq:type=Broker,brokerName=*,destinationType=Topic,destinationName=*"
               attribute="EnqueueCount" resultAlias="activemq.%brokerName%.topic.%destinationName%.EnqueueCount"/>
    </queries>
    <outputWriter class="org.jmxtrans.agent.GraphitePlainTextTcpOutputWriter">
        <host>localhost</host>
        <port>2203</port>
    </outputWriter>
    <outputWriter class="org.jmxtrans.agent.ConsoleOutputWriter">
        <enabled>false</enabled>
    </outputWriter>
    <outputWriter class="org.jmxtrans.agent.RollingFileOutputWriter">
      <fileName>rollingJMXOutputFile</fileName>
      <maxFileSize>10</maxFileSize>
      <maxBackupIndex>4</maxBackupIndex>
   </outputWriter>
</jmxtrans-agent>

See https://github.com/jmxtrans/jmxtrans-agent/releases