Monitoring System Metrics Externally

You can monitor system metrics outside of IBM® Cognos® Administration by using industry standard Java™ Management Extensions (JMX). First, you configure two JMX properties in IBM Cognos Configuration to enable secure access to the metrics in the Java environment. Then you use a secure user ID and password to connect to the metrics through a JMX connection tool.

Before you begin

You must install Oracle Java SE Development Kit or the Java Software Development Kit from IBM before you can use the external monitoring feature.

Procedure

  1. In the location where Content Manager is installed, start IBM Cognos Configuration.
  2. In the Explorer window, click Environment.
  3. In the Properties window, under Dispatcher Settings, click External JMX port.
  4. In the Value column, type an available port number.
  5. Click External JMX credential.
  6. In the Value column, click the edit icon, type a user ID and password, and then click OK.

    The user ID and password ensure that only an authorized user can connect to the system metrics data in the Java environment, using the port specified in External JMX port.

  7. Save the changes and restart the service.
  8. To access the system metrics data, specify the following information in the JMX connection tool:
    • the URL to connect to the system metrics data

      For example,

      service:jmx:rmi://Content_Manager_server/jndi/rmi://monitoring_server:<JMXport>/proxyserver

      where JMXport is the value that you typed for External JMX port, and Content_Manager_server and monitoring_server are machine names. Do not use localhost, even if connecting locally.

    • the user ID and password to secure the connection

      Use the same values that you configured for External JMX credential.

  9. To access the local metrics data, specify the following information in the JMX connection tool:
    • the URL to connect to the local JMX server

      For example,

      service:jmx:rmi://local_server_hostname/jndi/rmi://local_server_hostname:JMXport/server

      where JMXport is the value that you typed for External JMX port, and local_server_hostname is the local computer name.

    • the user ID and password to secure the connection

      Use the same values that you configured for External JMX credential.