Discovering Java applications on a VM

Overview

Concert automatically identifies your runtime environments and maps your application topology by deploying targeted workflows. Rather than running as a standalone feature, the Java Application Discovery tool operates as a unified compatibility extension within Concert's existing architecture. This framework allows Concert to seamlessly discover workloads across a variety of runtime options, including Apache Tomcat, WebSphere Application Server, Spring Boot, and JBoss.

Supported ingestion metrics matrix

The discovery framework extracts unique operational indicators depending on the exposed management layer of your runtime type. Use the following reference matrix to identify what metrics Concert tracks for your specific technology profile.

Before you begin

• Create a resilience profile (optional) that specifies NFRs from the Java Runtime NFR library. These NFRs are assessed against metrics collected from the Java applications to which this profile is assigned.
  Note: If you create a custom resilience profile, you must modify the resilience_profile input variable in the Concert Workflows workflow editor (Step 3). If you do not create a custom profile, one is automatically generated when you run the auto-discovery workflow for the first time.
• The application must have the Spring Boot Actuator, Apache Tomcat, JBoss or WebSphere MicroProfile metrics endpoint (/metrics), or the jcmd utility configured and enabled to collect and expose metrics.

Step 1: Download and import the prebuilt workflow

In Concert Workflows, in the Workflows page, click Create workflow > Select from library, choose the Discovering Java applications on a VM workflow, and import it. For more information about importing Concert-specific workflows into Concert Workflows, see Creating workflows.

Once the flow (.zip file) is downloaded and imported into Concert Workflows, you have the following folders:

• The Identification folder is used to customize the flow.
• The Prerequisites folder tests and validates the prerequisites.
• The Discovery folder uses SSH credentials to discover Java applications and to collect raw metrics.
• The Selection folder is used to filter the relevant components.
• The Processing folder is used to compute the metrics.
• The Upload to concert folder generates SBOMs and uploads them to Concert.
• The JAVA Application Discovery file runs the flow.

Optional: Create the required authentications

You can create authentications from the Authentications page or from within the workflow editor by opening a workflow and clicking the Auth button. For more information, see Using authentications.

The workflow requires the following authentications to establish a valid connection with external systems referenced in the configuration.

Step 2: Edit the imported workflow

After importing the workflow, you must provide input values, including authentications generated in the previous step.

1. In Concert Workflows, click Workflows in the side navigation.
2. Click Discovering Java applications on a VM to launch the workflow editor.
3. Next to concertAPIKeyAuth, enter the name of the IBM Hub - Self or IBM Concert API Key service authentication you created in Step 2.
4. Next to VMauth, enter the name of the SSH service authentication (for example, my_vm_ssh_authentication) you created in Step 2.

5. Open the 0 - id_target_list file from the 0 - identification folder.

   Table 2. User_input

   Variable name	Description	Example
   app_name	Application Name	Fullbank-Demo
   deployment_name	Name identifying the system deployment framework	JBoss-Prod-Cluster
   app_version	Application Version	1.1.0
   environment	Server Environment	Pre-production
   deploy_number	Deployment Number	1
   ignored_app_names	App Names to ignore in Apache Tomcat	[test_tomcat]
   opt_gen_appSBOM	Optional Application SBOM Metrics	true
   opt_gen_cycloneDX	Optional Software Composition	false
   concert_auth_key Note: The concert_auth_key field is optional when Workflows and Concert are on the same system. In that case, the input can be left empty ("").	Concert Authentication Key	ibmconcert/concert-API-KEY
   resilience_profile Note: The resilience_profiled is optional.	Profile name for profile and posture creation (auto-generated if blank)	Fullbank-Demo - Java Runtime Profile
   assessment_period	Assessment Period	"latest","hour","day","week","month","quarter"
   jvm_configuration	List of JVM customizations	jvm list
   vm_list	List of User VMs	vm list

6. Click Save to save the workflow.

[
  {
    "component_name": "spring-framework-app",
    "jvm_filename": "springmicronexus.jar",
    "log_path": "/opt/javaapps/SpringMicro_Nexus/app.log",
    "application_prop_path": ["/opt/javaapps/SpringMicro_Nexus/app.prop"],
    "context_path": "/baseline",
    "port": 8083
  },
  {
    "matchCriteria": [
      { "key": "-Dcatalina.base", "value": "/opt/tomcat" },
      { "key": "--enable-native-access", "value": "ALL-UNNAMED" }
    ],
    "discovery": "jdk"
  }
]

Step 3: Run the workflow or schedule a Concert Workflows job

1. Go to the Workflows page.
2. Click the overflow menu (in the Actions column) next to the workflow.
3. Click Run.

To configure recurring data ingestion, create a Concert Workflows job to automatically initiate data ingestion and a resilience assessment at a defined interval. Refer to Creating jobs for instructions.

Step 5: Review ingested application and resilience assessment details

After running the workflow, you can review the ingested application details and corresponding resilience metrics.