Setting up environment variables to profile a server

Profiling a server allows you to analyze performance, threading, and memory usage when running a web application. In some cases, you must setup environment variables on the target host computer before starting the server in profile-mode. The environment variables must be set before you start the server for profiling. On computers running z/OS® you also need to set permissions on directories used by Rational® Agent Controller.

Determining if you must manually set environment variables for profiling

In some cases, you do not need to manually set environment variables on the target computer when profiling; they are set automatically for you by the workbench. However, in some cases you must set the environment variables manually. The following factors determine if it is necessary to manually set environment variables, as well as which environment variables to set:
  • If the target computer for the server is the same computer where the workbench is installed (local server) or if the server is on a different computer (remote server).
  • If the user ID has write access the /java/jre/bin/ directory for WebSphere® Application Server (local server).
  • The version of Rational Agent Controller installed (remote server).
The following table shows the conditions when environment variables are set automatically or must be set manually.
Table 1. Scenarios for setting environment variables automatically or manually when profiling
Environment variable Local server Remote server
  • For Windows
    PATH
  • For Linux
    For Solairis
    LD_LIBRARY_PATH
  • For AIX
    For z/OS
    LIBPATH
Set automatically by the workbench. Set automatically if remote server is using Rational Agent Controller V8.3 or later. Otherwise, set manually.
Note:
For z/OS
You must ensure that the LIBPATH environment variable includes the path <XML Toolkit installation directory>/xml4c-5_7/lib.

For example, if you installed the XML toolkit at /usr/lpp/ixm/IBM/xml4c-5_7 then the LIBPATH environment variable must contain the path: LIBPATH=/usr/lpp/ixm/IBM/xml4c-5_7/lib. See the section

Note:
For z/OS
You must also have read and execute permissions on <XML Toolkit installation directory>/xml4c-5_7/lib and other directories. See Setting the file permissions for profiling on z/OS.
TPTP_AC_HOME Set automatically by the workbench. Set automatically if remote server is using Rational Agent Controller V8.3 or later. Otherwise, set manually.
PROBEKIT_HOME (Needed only If you are using the Probe Insertion monitor option.) Set automatically by the workbench. Set manually.
JAVA_PROFILER_HOME Set automatically by the workbench Set automatically if remote server is on Windows or Linux operating system using Rational Agent Controller V8.3 or later. Otherwise, set manually.

Manually setting profiling environment variables for a local server

For a server running on the same machine as the workbench, complete the following steps:
  1. Locate the following plugin folders under the installation directory of the IBM® Rational Software Delivery Platform
    Note: Always pick the plugin with the latest version number and time stamp when multiple versions of the same plugin exist.
    Table 2. Paths to plugins used to define environment variables for profiling on a local server
    Description Plugin path
    <Agent Controller Home>
    • For Windows
      <install_dir>\IBMIMShared\plugins\org.eclipse.tptp.platform.ac.win_<XXXX>\agent_controller
    • For Linux
      <install_dir>/IBMIMShared/plugins/org.eclipse.tptp.platform.ac.linux_<XXXX>/agent_controller
    where <install_dir> is the installation directory of the IBM Rational Software Delivery Platform and <XXXX> depends on the architect of the operating system. Substitute <XXXX> with your appropriate processor by selecting ia32 for a 32-bit processor, em64 for a 64-bit processor, or ipf for an Itanium Processor Family processor, for example org.eclipse.tptp.platform.ac.win_ia32_<n.n.n>.v<yyyymmddtttt>, where <n.n.n> is a version number, and <yyyymmddtttt> is a date and time stamp of the plugin.
    <Probekit Home>
    • For Windows
      <install_dir>\IBMIMShared\plugins\org.eclipse.hyades.probekit<n.n.n>.v<yyyymmddtttt>\os\win32\x86
    • For Linux
      <install_dir>/IBMIMShared/plugins/org.eclipse.hyades.probekit<n.n.n>.v<yyyymmddtttt>/os/linux/x86
    where <install_dir> is the installation directory of the IBM Rational Software Delivery Platform and <XXXX> depends on the architect of the operating system. Substitute <XXXX> with your appropriate processor by selecting ia32 for a 32-bit processor, em64 for a 64-bit processor, or ipf for an Itanium Processor Family processor, for example org.eclipse.tptp.platform.ac.win_ia32_<n.n.n>.v<yyyymmddtttt>, where <n.n.n> is a version number, and <yyyymmddtttt> is a date and time stamp of the plugin.
  2. Setup the following environment variables before you start the workbench and the application server. Open a command prompt and type the following commands by replacing <Agent Controller Home> and the optional <Probekit Home> with the plugin paths determined in the previous step:
    For Windows
    set TPTP_AC_HOME=<Agent Controller Home> set PROBEKIT_HOME=<Probekit Home> set PATH=%TPTP_AC_HOME%\bin;%TPTP_AC_HOME%\lib;%PROBEKIT_HOME%;%PATH%
    For Linux
    export TPTP_AC_HOME=<Agent Controller Home> export PROBEKIT_HOME=<Probekit Home> export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$TPTP_AC_HOME/bin:$TPTP_AC_HOME/lib:$PROBEKIT_HOME:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH

Manually setting environment variables for profiling on a remote server

For application servers running on a different computer than the workbench, complete the following steps:
Note: If you are profiling a remote application server, you must install Rational Agent Controller on the same machine where the application server is located. Verify that environment variable settings listed below are picked up by the startup process of the application server.
On the computer where the remote application server is located, manually set any environment variables before you start the workbench and the application server. You can manually set the following environment variables on the target system by replacing <AC installation directory> with the installation directory of Rational Agent Controller. In addition, if you are using the Probe Insertion monitor option, specify the PROBEKIT_HOME environment variable:
For Windows
set TPTP_AC_HOME=<AC installation directory> set JAVA_PROFILER_HOME=%TPTP_AC_HOME%\plugins\org.eclipse.tptp.javaprofiler set PROBEKIT_HOME=%TPTP_AC_HOME%\plugins\org.eclipse.hyades.probekit set PATH=%JAVA_PROFILER_HOME%;%TPTP_AC_HOME%\bin;%TPTP_AC_HOME%\lib;%PROBEKIT_HOME%\lib;%PATH%
For Linux
For Solairis
export TPTP_AC_HOME=<AC installation directory> export JAVA_PROFILER_HOME=$TPTP_AC_HOME$/plugins/org.eclipse.tptp.javaprofiler export PROBEKIT_HOME=$TPTP_AC_HOME$/plugins/org.eclipse.hyades.probekit export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$JAVA_PROFILER_HOME:$TPTP_AC_HOME/bin:$TPTP_AC_HOME/lib:$PROBEKIT_HOME/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
For AIX
export TPTP_AC_HOME=<AC installation directory> export JAVA_PROFILER_HOME=$TPTP_AC_HOME$/plugins/org.eclipse.tptp.javaprofiler export PROBEKIT_HOME=$TPTP_AC_HOME$/plugins/org.eclipse.hyades.probekit export LIBPATH=$JAVA_PROFILER_HOME:$TPTP_AC_HOME/bin:$TPTP_AC_HOME/lib:$PROBEKIT_HOME/lib:$LIBPATH
For z/OS
export TPTP_AC_HOME=<AC installation directory/RACzOS64 or 31bit> export JAVA_PROFILER_HOME=$TPTP_AC_HOME$/plugins/org.eclipse.tptp.javaprofiler export XERCESC_HOME=<XML Toolkit installation directory>/xml4c-5_7/lib export PROBEKIT_HOME=$TPTP_AC_HOME$/plugins/org.eclipse.hyades.probekit export LIBPATH=$JAVA_PROFILER_HOME:$TPTP_AC_HOME/bin:$TPTP_AC_HOME/lib:$XERCESC_HOME/lib:$PROBEKIT_HOME/lib:$LIBPATH

where <XML Toolkit installation directory> is typically /usr/lpp/ixm/IBM.

Note: If you enabled security when you installed Rational Agent Controller, then enter the following commands:
  • extattr +ap <Rational Agent Controller directory>/lib/*
  • extattr +ap <Rational Agent Controller directory>/plugins/org.eclipse.tptp.javaprofiler/*
  • extattr +ap <XML Toolkit installation directory>/xml4c-5_7/lib/*

Starting the workbench

Once you have set the required environment variables, start the IBM Rational Software Delivery Platform workbench from a command prompt such that the environment variables are picked up by the workbench process. For example, run the following command:
For Windows
C:\Program Files\IBM\SDP>eclipse
For Linux
/opt/IBM/SDP>./eclipse
Note: When profiling with WebSphere Application Server, the environment variables setup can be added in the file setupCmdLine.bat (Windows) or setupCmdLine.sh (Linux) found in the /bin folder of the server installation.

Setting the file permissions for profiling on z/OS

For z/OS
If you are profiling on z/OS, then you must have read and execute permissions on the following directories (and all directories in their path):
  • <Rational Agent Controller installation directory>/lib/*
  • <Rational Agent Controller installation directory>/plugins/org.eclipse.tptp.javaprofiler/*
  • <XML Toolkit installation directory>/xml4c-5_7/lib*
Note: All directories in the path to these directories also need read and execute permission. For example, if <Rational Agent Controller installation directory> is /opt/IBM/RAC, then you need read and execute permissions on each of the /opt, /opt/IBM, /opt/IBM/RAC and /opt/IBM/RAC/lib/ directories.
To give the correct permission on these directories by running the command umask 022:
  1. In a UNIX System Services shell, change to the <Rational Agent Controller installation directory>/RACzOS31bit/bin directory.
  2. Run the following commands: umask 022
  3. Start agent controller: ./ACStart.sh.

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