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May 6, 2016

Running IBM Health Center from outside the Java file system

IBM Health Center allows you to monitor your Java application in real time, displaying information about resource usage, performance of the application and the environment in which the application is running. It’s been bundled into every instance of the IBM Java SDK since Java 5, making it widely available. Upgrading to the latest version is a simple process of extracting the latest agent over the top of your existing installation. But what if you can’t do that?

Our z/OS customers feel this pain the most. More often than not, their Java file systems are read-only, as this provides a performance boost, so they can’t overwrite it. Their Java is usually installed using SMP/E or Installation Manager as part of a bigger software product, requiring any upgrades or fixes to the IBM Health Center to be presented in that format. There can often be a long wait for versions of Health Center to percolate through to the end user — Java only periodically takes a version of Health Center for inclusion and the bigger product only takes select versions of Java after vigorous testing phases. It’s not uncommon to see customers running versions of Health Center that are a year or two old, despite being on the latest upgrade for their product!

Also, what if you don’t want to overwrite the Health Center you currently have? There’s no easy way of backing it up, and you might not want to restore your entire Java installation just to get it back.

That’s why, with the release of IBM Health Center 3.0.9, we’ve made it possible to run the latest version of Health Center from anywhere you like, purely by adding a couple of extra command arguments. It keeps your Java file system in its original stage, and you don’t have to worry about getting it in a specific format.

Simply extract the Health Center 3.0.9 agent for your platform to anywhere on your file system (for example, /tmp/HC309) and then do the following:

For starting applications using the -Xhealthcenter option:

java -Xhealthcenter <Application> becomes

java -Xbootclasspath/p:/tmp/HC309/lib/ext/healthcenter.jar -agentpath:/tmp/HC309/lib/<platform>/libhealthcenter.so=path=/tmp/HC309 < Application>

For using late attach to monitor an already-running application:

java -jar <path_to_Java>/lib/ext/healthcenter.jar becomes

java -Xbootclasspath/p:/tmp/HC309/lib/ext/healthcenter.jar -jar /tmp/HC309/lib/ext/healthcenter.jar path=/home/HC309

For using the Health Center API:

java -Xbootclasspath/p:<path_to_java>/lib/tools/monintoring-api.jar <Application> becomes

java -Xbootclasspath/p:/tmp/HC309/lib/ext/healthcenter.jar:<path_to_Java>/lib/tools/monitoring-api.jar -agentpath:/tmp/HC309/lib/<platform>/libhealthcenter.so=path=/home/HC380 <Application>

For using the Health Center API to monitor the same application:

java -Xbootclasspath/p:<path_to_java>/monitoring-api.jar -Xhealthcenter:level=inprocess <Application> becomes

java -Xbootclasspath/p:/tmp/HC309/lib/ext/healthcenter.jar:<path_to_Java>/lib/tools/monitoring-api.jar -agentpath:/tmp/HC309/lib/<platform>/libhealthcenter.so=path=/tmp/HC309,level=inprocess <Application>

For more information, see Installing Health Center, Starting the monitoring agent, and Starting the Health Center agent after starting an application (Java applications only) in the IBM Knowledge Center for Health Center.