Sun Microsystems, Inc  JMX Agent and Instrumentation
Reference Implementation

JMX Tutorial

The best way to understand the JMX architecture as it is running is to view it through the HTML protocol adaptor in the base agent example. The BaseAgent class is a minimal agent application which can also be used for testing and debugging. The HTML adaptor provides a view of the agent and its registered MBeans through a basic interface on any web browser.

This tutorial is aimed at JMX beginners: it explains some of the basic concepts of the JMX architecture and remote management while demonstrating the interface of the HTML adaptor. The action items for stepping through the topics are identified by the "Action: " paragraph lead-in. JMX experts might be interested in the description of the HTML adaptor MBean which is used as an example in Instantiating and Managing MBeans.

Tutorial Topics:

  1. Launching the Base Agent
  2. The Agent View
  3. The MBean View
  4. Agent Administration
  5. Instantiating and Managing MBeans
  6. Standard and Dynamic MBeans
  7. Filtering the MBean List
  8. Conclusion
The HTML adaptor relies mostly on plain HTML in order to be compatible with the most possible browsers. The only JavaScript that the generated pages contain are pop-up windows for displaying information. Browsers that are not JavaScript enabled might give an incompatibility message and won't be able to display the information. Otherwise, the generated pages contain no further scripting (JavaScript, Visual Basic or other), no frames and no images that might slow down loading.

Note: The HTML adaptor is a tool provided in this software bundle for demonstration purposes. Its classes are not defined by the JMX specification and are therefore not part of the JMX reference implementation.


[ First Topic ]
Launching the Base Agent

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