What's new

Read about the new features in this release of the product. Documentation for new features is indicated by the following graphic images, which might also include a version number: example of new content .

What's new in version 3.0.12

Health Center agents: Health Center agents are available to download from the Health Center client; see Installing Health Center. They are now listed in a separate entry, Health Center agents, in the client Help menu.
Minor updates: This version includes minor updates and fixes.

What's new in version 3.0.10

Performance: This version includes a number of fixes and performance improvements to the Health Center agent.

What's new in version 3.0.9

Updating the Health Center agent: To update the agent in previous versions, you downloaded the agent package then extracted it into the installation directory of your Java SDK. From this version onwards, you can also extract the agent package into a different directory, then specify that directory when you start your Java application or when you attach the new agent to a running application. This behavior is useful when updating your file system is difficult, for example on z/OS® systems, where the file system is typically read-only and managed by SMP/E or IBM Installation Manager, requiring you to obtain an SMP/E installable fix or an Installation Manager iFix. For more information, see Installing a Health Center monitoring agent, Starting the monitoring agent, and Starting the Health Center agent after starting an application (Java applications only).

What's new in version 3.0.8

Performance: This version includes a number of performance enhancements to the API.

What's new in version 3.0.7

Events perspective: The Events perspective shows information about event occurrences in the application being monitored. See Events perspective.
Connecting to a running Bluemix application by using IBM Eclipse Tools for Bluemix: You can make a connection to a running Bluemix Node.js or Liberty application by using IBM Eclipse Tools for Bluemix. See Connecting to a Bluemix application.
Profiling perspective: The "Profiling" perspective is now called the "Method profiling" perspective, and the "Method profile" view is now called the "Sample-based profile" view. See Method profiling perspective.

What's new in version 3.0.6

New API for class histogram events: If you are using the Health Center API in event-only mode, you can now get information from class histogram events. For more information about the API, see Using the Health Center API.
Removal of some documentation: Because the monitoring agent for Node.js now exists as an open source npm module, any information in this documentation that is specific to that module is now in the Node Application Metrics documentation.

What's new in version 3.0.5

Node.js agent npm module change: The Health Center agent npm module, healthcenter , is superseded by the new Node Application Metrics module, appmetrics . For more information about this module, see Installing a Health Center monitoring agent.
Minor updates: Minor updates and improvement, including new or modified recommendations.

What's new in version 3.0.4

Network perspective: The network perspective applies only to Java applications that are running on IBM SDK, Java Technology Edition, Version 8 or later.; This perspective provides information about network communication activity such as socket open or close events. You can use this perspective to help diagnose network problems with your Java applications, such as a failure to send data over a network. For more information, see Network perspective.

Node.js API

In previous releases, you could use the Java API to monitor a Node.js application. A Node.js API is now provided so you no longer have to write the monitoring application in Java code. The API is available in the Health Center agent npm module, described in the following subsection.

Node.js agent as an npm module

The Health Center agent for Node.js is now available as a separate npm module. You are no longer restricted to using the agent that was provided with your version of the IBM SDK for Node.js.

Note: You can also use this module to install the agent into other versions of the SDK. However, this scenario is not supported by IBM.

Support for IBM Bluemix applications

You can monitor applications that are running in the Liberty for Java or SDK for Node.js runtime environments in Bluemix. The following restrictions apply:

You cannot update or configure the Health Center agent, because it is an integral part of the Liberty for Java and SDK for Node.js runtime environments.
You must have IBM SDK, Java Technology Edition, Version 7 or later for the Health Center client.
The system dump feature (see Triggering dumps (Java applications only)) is not available.
You cannot use the Health Center API to connect the client to the agent.
App Management must be enabled for the application. For more information, see App Management in the Bluemix documentation.

What's new in version 3.0.3

Event-based API: The Health Center Java API is extended to include event-based classes and methods. You can use these new APIs to obtain information from the Health Center agent without storing any monitored data, thereby reducing the resource requirements of your monitoring application. Performance recommendations are not available when you use the event-based APIs. For more information, see Using the Health Center API.
Support for IBM SDK For Node.js, Version 1.2: You can use Health Center with the latest version of IBM SDK for Node.js.

What's new in version 3.0.2

Health Center API support for MQTT connections

You can use the Health Center API to connect to the Health Center agent through an MQTT broker. In this way, you can use the API to monitor a Node.js application. For more information, see Using the Health Center API.

Native memory perspective is available for Node.js applications

You can view native memory information from Node.js applications, with some restrictions. For more information, see Native memory perspective.

Method profiling perspective is available for Node.js applications

You can view method profiling data for Node.js applications. However, the collection of profiling data is disabled by default. You can enable it in one of the following ways:

To enable collection before you start the agent, set the com.ibm.diagnostics.healthcenter.data.profiling property to on. For more information about properties, see Health Center configuration properties.
To enable collection from the client after you connect to a running agent, click Monitored System > Data Collection Settings, then select the Enable the collection of profiling information check box. For more information, see Controlling the amount of data generated.

What's new in version 3.0.1

Support for IBM SDK, Java Technology Edition, Version 8: You can use Health Center with the latest version of IBM SDK, Java Technology Edition.

What's new in version 3.0

New connection protocol: MQTT: You can now use an MQ Telemetry Transport (MQTT) broker for communication between the Health Center agent and client. Previously, the only connection protocol available was Java Management Extensions (JMX). A single MQTT broker can be shared by multiple users and applications. By using an MQTT broker, multiple clients can therefore monitor the same application. This function can be useful if, for example, you are seeing issues in an application and want to allow another person to connect and view the same live data. The MQTT broker also enables Health Center to monitor non- Java applications.
Note: JMX is used by default. If you are monitoring Java applications, there is no change in the default behavior.
Support for Node.js applications: You can use Health Center to monitor Node.js applications as well as Java applications. Some perspectives are not available for Node.js applications. To connect the Health Center client to an agent that is running in a Node.js application, you must use the new MQTT connection option. For more information, see Monitoring a running application.
New configuration property for preventing denial-of-service attacks: You can prevent the Health Center agent from taking any actions that are requested by the client that might disrupt the monitored application. These actions, such as triggering a dump file, could be used in a denial-of-service attack. To prevent the agent from taking these actions, set the com.ibm.diagnostics.healthcenter.readonly property to on. For more information, see Health Center configuration properties.
New way to limit data collection when attaching the agent to a running Java application: To limit data collection in previous releases, you had to extract and modify data collection properties files by entering the command java -jar path /healthcenter.jar -extract, then specify the override parameter when you attached the agent. From this release, you no longer have to modify properties files. Instead, you specify properties directly on the command line. For more information, see Starting the Health Center agent after starting an application (Java applications only).
No longer available in IBM Support Assistant 4.1: Version 3.0 will be available in IBM Support Assistant Team Server but not IBM Support Assistant 4.1.
New limitation for IBM SDK for Linux on System i® and System p architecture, Java Technology Edition, Version 6, service refreshes 1 through 9: From this release, the Health Center agent does not run in IBM SDK for Linux on System i and System p architecture, Java Technology Edition, Version 6, service refreshes 1 through 9. This limitation is due to the following issue in the SDK: IV02046: C++ ABI COMPATIBILITY BREAK ON PLINUX INTRODUCED BY THE INTRODUC TION OF C++ CODE IN JAVA 6 ON PLINUX.
If you are using a version of the IBM SDK, Java Technology Edition at these levels, do not upgrade your Health Center agent. Alternatively, upgrade your version of IBM SDK, Java Technology Edition to at least Version 6, service refresh 10, before you upgrade Health Center.

What's new in version 2.2.1

Collecting a subset of data for late attach: You can configure Health Center to collect only a subset of available data when you attach to an application that is already running. For more information, see Starting the Health Center agent after starting an application (Java applications only).
New in-process mode for the agent: Use this mode when you want monitor an application from within the same VM process, rather than from the client. You must use the Health Center API to retrieve data from the agent. For more information, see Health Center configuration properties.
Restriction: CPU usage information no longer available on some systems: Due to a platform limitation, CPU usage information cannot be collected on IBM SDK for z/OS, Java Technology Edition, Version 7, from service refresh 7 onwards.

What's new in version 2.2

CPU perspective: Use the CPU perspective to monitor the CPU usage of the application and the system on which it is running. For more information, see CPU perspective.
Thread stacks: When you select a thread in the Threads perspective, you can see the call stack for that thread. For more information, see Threads perspective.
Appending data: You can load data to be appended to existing data that you are viewing in Health Center. Previously, any data that you loaded replaced the existing data. For more information, see Loading saved data.

What's new in version 2.1

API: Use the Health Center API to write your own Java code for viewing and analyzing the data from a monitored application, instead of using the Health Center client GUI. For more information, see Using the Health Center API.
Class histogram data: You can request the collection of class histogram data. This information shows a snapshot of the classes that are in the heap, the number of instances that exist for each class, and the amount of heap space that those instances are occupying. By using this information, you can diagnose memory problems without the need to generate a Java dump file and analyze it with another diagnostic tool. For more information, see Using the classes perspective.