WebSphere Extended Deployment, Version 6.0.x
             Operating Systems: AIX, HP-UX, Linux, Solaris, Windows, z/OS


Enabling external monitoring with the remote agent

Enable the remote agent on external nodes.

Before you begin

Install WebSphere® Extended Deployment for a mixed server environment on all external machines that you want to monitor. Also install on WebSphere Application Server machines that are not running WebSphere Extended Deployment. To install, see Installing a remote monitor and a stand-alone ObjectGrid from WebSphere Extended Deployment in a mixed environment .

Set up generic server clusters with ports for all of your external nodes.

About this task

By installing the mixed server environment, a lightweight Java™ process called the remote agent runs on the node that is being monitored. There is also a plug-in that polls the remote agent for CPU information. The plug-in runs in the on demand router that has the work profiler running.

Procedure

  1. Start the remote agent on nodes that you want to monitor. On a command line for each node, start the remote agent.
    1. Navigate to the directory where the remote agent is installed. For example, type cd <installed_dir>/bin.
    2. Start the remote agent. Run ./startAgent.sh or startagent.bat.
      Note: If you start the remote agent using the startAgent.sh or startAgent.bat script from the bin directory, the Java Runtime Environment (JRE that is bundled with the installer is used. The JRE is installed in the _jvm subdirectory of the _uninstXD directory.
    You can also supply the port number as a parameter to the script if the default port, 9980, is used by another process that is running on the node. By default, the remote agent can be run by any user. You can limit access to the directory that contains the remote agent for increased security.
  2. Optional: Stop the remote agent. To stop the remote agent, use the command window where you started the remote agent. Type the command quit. You can also stop the remote agent by pressing Control-C or by using the UNIX® kill command if you are running AIX®, HP-UX, Linux®, or Solaris.

Results

The remote agent sends average CPU utilization, node speed, number of CPUs, and several other attributes and values to the plug-in that polls the remote agent for CPU information.

Example

You can start the remote agent in any way that a standalone Java program can be started. You can run the remote agent in the background.

On the Windows® platform, you can start the remote agent as a scheduled task during system startup.

  1. From Windows, click Start > Settings > Control Panel > Scheduled Tasks > Add Scheduled Task.
  2. In the Scheduled Task Wizard, navigate to the bin directory where you installed the WebSphere Extended Deployment mixed server environment and select startAgent.bat.
  3. Specify when you want to perform the task. For example, choose When my computer starts.
  4. Specify the user ID and password for the user that you want to use to run startAgent.bat.
On the Linux or UNIX operating system, add an entry to the /etc/inittab file of the operating system. If you installed the feature in the /opt/WAS60/MixedServer directory, the new entry for the file is:
was:2:once:/opt/WAS60/MixedServer/bin/startAgent.sh >/dev/console 2>&1
For more information, see the UNIX manual page on inittab by typing man inittabb.

What to do next

Enabling the remote agent is a requirement when routing requests to nodes that are not running WebSphere Extended Deployment. See Routing requests to external nodes with generic server clusters for more information.



Related tasks
Routing requests to external nodes with generic server clusters
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Last updated: Oct 16, 2009 11:06:12 AM EDT
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