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IBM BlueMix

Applying the agent​

The following explains how to apply the WhaTap agent when deploying with IBM BlueMix.

IBM BlueMix provides the WebSphere Liberty environment with the container. Liberty is a lightweight environment different from WebSphere Application Server, and it is similar to how Spring Boot works.

Note

In the Platform as a Service (PaaS) environment, including the WhaTap agent settings, deployment is performed to the target application.

The following is an example of the configuration environment. These files are created in the local development environment when configuring the environment according to Guide.

whatap@vmwas01:/apps/bluemix/java-helloworld$ ls -alrt
Total 64
drwxrwxr-x 3 whatap whatap  4096 10/29 13:13 ..
-rw-rw-r-- 1 whatap whatap  1079 10/29 13:13 .classpath
-rw-rw-r-- 1 whatap whatap  1184 10/29 13:13 .project
-rw-rw-r-- 1 whatap whatap    39 10/29 13:13 .gitignore
-rw-rw-r-- 1 whatap whatap   151 10/29 13:13 CONTRIBUTING.md
drwxrwxr-x 2 whatap whatap  4096 10/29 13:13 .settings
-rw-rw-r-- 1 whatap whatap  2823 10/29 13:13 pom.xml
-rw-rw-r-- 1 whatap whatap   122 10/29 13:13 manifest.yml
-rw-rw-r-- 1 whatap whatap  3522 10/29 13:13 README.md
-rw-rw-r-- 1 whatap whatap 11323 10/29 13:13 LICENSE
drwxrwxr-x 3 whatap whatap  4096 10/29 13:13 src
drwxrwxr-x 2 whatap whatap  4096 10/29 13:13 target
drwxrwxr-x 8 whatap whatap  4096 10/29 13:13 .git
drwxrwxr-x 6 whatap whatap  4096 10/29 15:26 .

  1. In ${APP_HOME}, create the src/main/resources/whatap-agent/ directory and then copy jar files and conf files.

    $ mkdir -p src/main/resources/whatap-agent/
    $ cp /apps/whatap/whatap.agent.tracer-1.5.4.jar src/main/resources/whatap-agent/
    $ cp /apps/whatap/whatap.conf src/main/resources/whatap-agent/

  2. Add options in the ${APP_HOME}/manifest.yml file. Because it is a yml file, write it with according to spacing and indentation standards.

    ---
    applications:
    - name: sample-java-helloworld
    random-route: true
    memory: 256M
    path: target/JavaHelloWorldApp.war
    # Add from here.
    env:
        JAVA_OPTS: "-javaagent:/{APPLICATION_DIR}/WEB-INF/classes/whatap-agent/whatap.agent-X.Y.Z.jar -Dorg.osgi.framework.bootdelegation=whatap.* "
Note

In case of Java 17 or later, add the following options for reflection.


--add-opens=java.base/java.lang=ALL-UNNAMED

Note
  • The whatap.conf configuration is applied the same as in non-PaaS environments. Because it may be difficult to identify the agent name after application, apply the agent name that suits the situation.
  • For more information about the agent naming, see the following.

Viewing the heap histogram​

WhaTap's Java Monitoring provides the function to view the status of heap occupancy objects in the JVM memory (sizes for each object in heap memory). In APP > Instance performance analysis, select the Heap histogram tab.

Java versions 6 to 8 support basic functions without the JVM options. However, for some Java versions, the JVM options must be applied as follows:

  • Java 9 to Java 15

    -Djdk.attach.allowAttachSelf=true
    example
    java -javaagent:{WHATAP_HOME}/whatap.agent-X.Y.Z.jar -Djdk.attach.allowAttachSelf=true -jar {application.jar}

  • Java 16 or later

    -Djdk.attach.allowAttachSelf=true
    --add-opens=jdk.attach/sun.tools.attach=ALL-UNNAMED
    example
    java -javaagent:{WHATAP_HOME}/whatap.agent-X.Y.Z.jar -Djdk.attach.allowAttachSelf=true --add-opens=java.base/java.lang=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=jdk.attach/sun.tools.attach=ALL-UNNAMED -jar {application.jar}
Note

It does not support Java 5 or earlier and IBM Java.

Next steps​

  • Open source tracing

    Depending on the framework or open source library used in applications, you may need to add agent options. For example, when using spring-boot-3.x, feign-client-11, or okhttp3-4.4 with a framework or open source, set the options as follows:

    whatap.conf
    weaving=spring-boot-3.0,feign-11,okhttp3-4.4

    For information on how to configure the framework or open source library that suits your application environment, see the following.

  • Checking the installation

    If you have created a project, installed an agent, and applied all JVM options, see the checklist in the following.

  • Installation troubleshooting

    It provides various problems that may occur when installing the agent and specific instructions for resolving them. It provides solutions against various situations, including firewall configuration, SpringBoot and Tomcat JMX configuration, and server configuration using the OSGI framework. For more information, see the following.

  • Agent setting

    It provides various features for monitoring by applying some options to the agent configuration file (whatap.conf). It includes basic configuration, configuration for server connection and data transfer, how to manage the configuration files for multiple application servers, and transaction tracing, and more. For more information, see the following.

  • Starting the monitoring

    After all settings are made, restart the application server. The agent starts collecting data. First, check whether the monitoring data has been collected in Application Dashboard. For more information about Application Dashboard, see the following.