Monitoring WebSphere Application Server
After you install the Instana host agent, WebSphere Application Server sensor is automatically installed, but you need to configure as outlined in this topic. For more information, see Configuring. Then, you can view metrics that are related to WebSphere Application Server in the Instana UI.
Supported information
Supported operating systems
See Supported operating systems for WebSphere Application Server sensor.
Supported WebSphere Application Server versions and platforms
Instana supports metrics and configuration data for WebSphere Application Server 7, 8.0, 8.5, and 9, which are installed in the following platforms:
| Operating system | Hardware |
|---|---|
| AIX 7.1 | POWER System - Big Endian POWER System - Big Endian |
| Solaris 10 | SPARC |
| Solaris 11 | SPARC |
| Windows Server 2012 Standard Edition | x86-64 |
| Amazon Linux 1 | x86-64 |
| Amazon Linux 2 | x86-64 |
| CentOS 6.0 | x86-32 |
| CentOS 6.0 | x86-64 |
| CentOS 7 | POWER System - Little Endian |
| CentOS 7 | x86-32 |
| CentOS 7 | x86-64 |
| CentOS 8 | x86-64 |
| Debian 10 | x86-32 |
| Debian 10 | x86-64 |
| Debian 9.0 | x86-64 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8 | IBM z Systems |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8 | POWER System - Little Endian |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8 | x86-64 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Server 6 | IBM z Systems |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Server 6 | x86-64 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Server 7 | IBM z Systems |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Server 7 | x86-64 |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 12 | IBM z Systems |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 12 | POWER System - Little Endian |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 12 | x86-64 |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 15 | IBM z Systems |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 15 | POWER System - Little Endian |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 15 | x86-64 |
| Ubuntu 14.04 LTS | POWER System - Little Endian |
| Ubuntu 14.04 LTS | x86-32 |
| Ubuntu 14.04 LTS | x86-64 |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | IBM z Systems |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | POWER System - Little Endian |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | x86-32 |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | x86-64 |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | IBM z Systems |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | POWER System - Little Endian |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | x86-32 |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | x86-64 |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | IBM z Systems |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | POWER System - Little Endian |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | x86-64 |
Tracing requirements
Instana provides tracing support for WebSphere Application Server. For more information about tracing requirements, see Monitoring Java virtual machine - System requirements topic.
To enable tracing for WebSphere on z/OS, complete the steps in the Instana on z/OS Tracing requirement.
Configuring
WebSphere server uses the embedded IBM J9 VM by default. For more information, see IBM J9 limitations.
The metrics are collected from Performance Monitoring Infrastructure (PMI) of WebSphere server. The required PMI data collection is enabled by default. That means if enable_pmi field is not set or set to true in the
agent configuration file <agent_install_dir>/etc/instana/configuration.yaml file, the PMI is enabled.
If enable_pmi is set the value as false, the PMI will not be enabled, and the original setting will not be changed.
The unit of poll_rate is second. The default value is 5.
See the following configuration example:
com.instana.plugin.websphere:
enable_pmi: false
poll_rate: 5
If PMI is not be enabled, some PMI data can't be collected, such as the Object Pool data.
Viewing metrics
To view the metrics, complete the following steps:
- In the sidebar of the Instana UI, select Infrastructure.
- Click a specific monitored host.
Then, you can see a host dashboard with all the collected metrics and monitored processes.
Configuration data
- Process ID
- Version
- Node Name
- Server Name
- Cell Name
- State
- Thread Pool
- Min Threads
- Max Threads
- Inactivity Timeout
- Growable
- Apps
- Name
- Start Time
- Datasources
- Name
- Min Connections
- Max Connections
- Connection Timeout
- Certificates
- Keystore
- Alias
- Owner
- Issuer
- Serial Number
- Expiration
Performance metrics
| Metric | Performance Module | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Active Threads | Thread Pool | The number of active threads in the Web Container Thread Pool |
| Pool Size | Thread Pool | Size of the Web Container Thread Pool |
| Declared Thread Hung Count | Thread Pool | The number of threads declared hung |
| Cleared Thread Hang Count | Thread Pool | The number of thread hangs cleared |
| Sessions | Session Manager | The number of sessions for web module |
| Session Create Count | Session Manager | The number of sessions that were created |
| Session Invalidate Count | Session Manager | The number of sessions that were invalidated |
| Servlet Requests | Web App Module | The number of servlet requests for web module |
| Response Times | Web App Module | Servlets average response time for web module |
| Servlet Errors | Web App Module | The number of servlet errors for web module |
| Pool Size | JDBC Connection Pool | Datasource pool size |
| Free Connections | JDBC Connection Pool | The number of free connections in pool |
| Threads Waiting | JDBC Connection Pool | The number of threads waiting for connection |
| Waiting time | JDBC Connection Pool | Average waiting time |
| EJB Module Response Time | EJB Module | The average response time on the remote methods of the module |
| EJB Module Response Count | EJB Module | The response count on the remote methods of the module |
| EJB Bean Response Time | EJB Bean | The average response time on the remote methods of the bean |
| EJB Bean Response Count | EJB Bean | The response count on the remote methods of the bean |
| Objects Created Count | Object Pool | The number of objects created |
| Objects Allocated Count | Object Pool | The number of objects requested from the pool |
| Objects Returned Count | Object Pool | The number of objects returned to the pool |
| Idle Objects Size | Object Pool | The average number of idle object instances in the pool |
| Pool Size | J2C Module | Average number of managed connections in the pool |
| Free Pool Size | J2C Module | The number of free connections in the pool |
| Percent Used | J2C Module | Average percent of the pool that is in use |
| Fault Count | J2C Module | The number of faults in the pool |
| Use Time | J2C Module | Average time in milliseconds that connections are in use |
| Wait Time | J2C Module | Average waiting time in milliseconds until a connection is granted |
| Active Count | Transaction Module | The number of concurrently active global transactions |
| Committed Count | Transaction Module | The number of global transactions committed |
| Rolledback Count | Transaction Module | The number of global transactions rolled back |
| Global Timeout Count | Transaction Module | The number of global transactions timed out |
| Global Transaction Time | Transaction Module | The average duration of global transactions |
| Remaining Days Before Expiration | Certificate Module | The remaining days before certificate expiration |
| Message Data Written to Messaging Engines | SIB Module | The number of bytes of message data that is sent to messaging engines |
| Message Data Read from Messaging Engines | SIB Module | The number of bytes of message data that is received from messaging engines |
| Message Data Written to Clients | SIB Module | The number of bytes of message data that is sent to client processes |
| Message Data Read from Clients | SIB Module | The number of bytes of message data that is received from client processes |
| Message Produced by Queue | SIB Module | The total number of messages that are produced to the queue |
| Message Consumed by Queue | SIB Module | The total number of messages that are consumed from the queue |
Note:
You need to enable the following PMI counters for WebSphere Application Server sensor to collect Service Integration Bus (SIB) metrics. For more information about how to enable a specific PMI counter, see Custom monitoring level.
MEStats.MessageBytesRead
MEStats.MessageBytesWritten
ClientStats.MessageBytesRead
ClientStats.MessageBytesWritten
QueueStats.AssuredPersistentMessagesProducedCount
QueueStats.BestEffortNonPersistentMessagesProducedCount
QueueStats.ExpressNonPersistentMessagesProducedCount
QueueStats.ReliableNonPersistentMessagesProducedCount
QueueStats.ReliablePersistentMessagesProducedCount
QueueStats.BestEffortNonPersistentMessagesConsumedCount
QueueStats.ExpressNonPersistentMessagesConsumedCount
QueueStats.ReliableNonPersistentMessagesConsumedCount
QueueStats.ReliablePersistentMessagesConsumedCount
QueueStats.AssuredPersistentMessagesConsumedCount
Health signatures
Each sensor has a curated knowledgebase of health signatures that are evaluated continuously against the incoming metrics and are used to raise issues or incidents depending on user impact.
Built-in events trigger issues or incidents based on failing health signatures on entities, and custom events trigger issues or incidents based on the thresholds of an individual metric of any given entity.
For information about built-events for the WebSphere Application Server sensor, see the Built-in events reference.
Viewing JMS metrics
The Java Message Service (JMS) metrics are collected from Tracing. These metrics are shown on the "Analytics" dashboard with the filtering Call > Type = MESSAGING AND Dest > Endpoint > Name = <Your destination>:
For more information, see Unbounded analytics.
Tracing
Instana provides tracing support for WebSphere Application Server. For more information, see Monitoring Java virtual machine (JVM).