IBM WebSphere Application Server monitoring
IBM WebSphere Application Server is an enterprise-grade Java application server designed to build, run, and manage secure, high-performance business applications at scale.
Using Site24x7, you can gain deep visibility into your WebSphere Application Server environment by monitoring server health, Java Virtual Machine (JVM) performance, and resource utilization across application servers and deployments.
With real-time monitoring of JVM memory, CPU usage, thread pools, Java Database Connectivity and Jakarta Connectors connection pools, Jakarta Enterprise Beans, servlets, and messaging components such as Jakarta Messaging queues and topics—along with instant alerts—you can quickly detect performance bottlenecks, troubleshoot application issues, and ensure your enterprise applications are stable and high-performing.
Supported WebSphere versions
WebSphere Application Server: 5.x, 6.x, 7.x, 8.x, and 9.x
Prerequisites
- Install an On-Premise Poller on a server that has network access to WebSphere Application Server. Both Windows and Linux flavors are supported.
- Ensure that the Performance Monitoring Infrastructure (PMI) level is changed from None to Standard.
To modify the PMI specification level:
- Log in to the WebSphere Application Server administrative console at http://<Host>:<Port>/admin/
- On the left navigation pane, expand Servers.
- Click Application Servers to view the list of servers in the node.
- Select the application server for which performance data collection needs to be enabled.
- Under Additional Properties, click Performance Monitoring Service.
- Set the initial specification level to Standard.
- Enable Startup and apply the changes.
- Ensure the WebSphere Application Server SOAP connector port is accessible from the On-Premise Poller server.
- Provide valid WebSphere Application Server administrative credentials for connectivity.
Add a monitor
- Navigate to Plugins > Enterprise Applications > IBM WebSphere and click the + icon.
- On the Add IBM WebSphere page, add an On-Premise Poller or choose from an existing one.
- On the resulting page, fill in the following details to add the WebSphere Application Server monitor:
- Display Name: Specify a name to identify the WebSphere Application Server monitor within Site24x7.
- Host Name/IP Address: Provide the hostname or IP address of the server where WebSphere Application Server is running.
- SOAP Port: Specify the port number used by WebSphere Application Server’s SOAP connector for communication and metric collection.
- Node: Provide the WebSphere Application Server node name under which the application server is configured.
- Node Server: Specify the specific application server instance within the selected node that needs to be monitored.
- Check Frequency: Choose a polling frequency from the drop-down list.
- Location Profile: Select the location profile from where WebSphere Application Server can be monitored from the drop-down list. To learn more, refer to the location profile help document.
- Associate with Monitor Group(s): Select a monitor group from the drop-down list to logically group your monitors. To learn how to create a group for your monitors, refer to the monitor groups help document.
- In the WebSphere User Credentials section, choose the appropriate credentials stored in the Site24x7 Credential Profile or add new ones.
To add a new WebSphere Application Server Credential Profile:
- Click the + icon next to the WebSphere Credential field.
- In the resulting Add Credential pop-up, provide a Credential Name to identify the credential. IBM WebSphere will be auto-selected as the Credential Type.
- Provide the Username and Password of the associated WebSphere Application Server account.
- Click Save.
- Specify the following details for Configuration Profiles, Alert Settings, and Third-Party Integrations:
- Tags: Associate your monitor with predefined Tags. Learn how to add Tags.
- IT Automation Templates: Select an automation to be executed when WebSphere Application Server's status is down, trouble, or up; when there's any status change; or when there's any attribute change. The defined action gets executed when there is a state change, and the selected user groups get alerted. To automate corrective actions upon a failure, refer to the IT Automation help document.
- User Alert Group: Select the user group that needs to be alerted during an outage.
To add multiple users to a group, see the User Alert Group help document. - Notification Profile: Choose a notification profile from the drop-down list or select the default profile available. A notification profile helps you configure who gets notified and when in the event of downtime. Refer to the notification profile help document to create a customized notification profile.
- Third-Party Integrations: Associate your monitor with preconfigured third-party services. This lets you push your monitor alarms to selected services and facilitate improved incident management.
- Click Save.
View the monitor
To view the added WebSphere Application Server monitor:
- Navigate to Plugins > Enterprise Applications > IBM WebSphere.
- Select the appropriate monitor to view the performance metrics.
Performance metrics
Find the performance metrics below to monitor the health and behavior of your IBM WebSphere server and its components.
Summary tab
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| CPU Utilization | Percentage of CPU resources currently used by the WebSphere server. |
| Memory Utilization | Amount of Java virtual machine (JVM) memory currently in use. |
| Free Memory | Available JVM memory that can be allocated to applications. |
| Total Memory Utilization | Total memory consumed by the JVM compared to its allocated size. |
| Overall Memory Utilization | Combined view of JVM memory usage across memory pools. |
| Response Time | Time taken by the server to process and respond to requests. |
Web tab
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| Active Sessions | Number of active user sessions currently maintained by the server. |
| Active Count | Number of requests actively being processed by web applications. |
| Invalidated | Total number of user sessions that have been terminated or expired. |
| Created Sessions | Number of new user sessions created by the server. |
| Affinity Breaks | Number of requests routed to a different server, indicating session failover or misconfiguration. |
EJB tab
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| Activation Time | Average time taken to activate a Jakarta Enterprise Bean (EJB) instance. |
| Concurrent Live Beans | Number of EJB instances currently active and in use. |
| Method Response Time | Average time taken to execute EJB method calls. |
| Passivation Time | Average time taken to passivate EJB instances to free resources. |
| Pool Size | Number of EJB instances available in the pool. |
| Total Method Calls | Total number of method invocations made on EJBs. |
Thread tab
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| Active Threads | Number of threads currently executing tasks. |
| Declared Thread Hung | Number of threads identified as hung or unresponsive. |
| Percent Maxed | Percentage of time the thread pool was fully utilized. |
| Percent Used | Percentage of thread pool capacity currently in use. |
| Pool Size | Total number of threads available in the pool. |
| Threads Created | Total number of threads created since monitoring was activated. |
| Threads Destroyed | Total number of threads destroyed to release resources. |
JDBC tab
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| Faults | Number of connection failures or errors in the JDBC pool. |
| Percent Maxed | Percentage of time all JDBC connections were in use. |
| Percent Used | Percentage of JDBC connections currently being used. |
| JDBC Pool Size | Total number of database connections in the JDBC pool. |
| Wait Time | Average time threads wait to obtain a database connection. |
| Concurrent Waiters | Number of threads currently waiting for a JDBC connection. |
| Create Count | Total number of JDBC connections created. |
JMS tab
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| Durable Subscriptions | Number of durable subscriptions retaining messages when subscribers are offline. |
| Incomplete Publications | Number of messages not yet delivered to all subscribers. |
| Nondurable Subscriptions | Number of temporary subscriptions active on the topic. |
| Published Count | Total number of messages published to the topic. |
| Number of Publishers | Number of active publishers sending messages to the topic. |
| Subscription Count | Total number of active subscriptions on the topic. |
| Oldest Publication | Age of the oldest message published to the topic. |
Queues widget
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| Queue Depth | Number of messages currently waiting in the queue. |
| Produced Count | Number of messages added to the queue. |
| Number of Producers | Number of applications producing messages to the queue. |
| Number of Consumers | Number of applications consuming messages from the queue. |
| Message Wait Time Sec | Time a message waits in the queue before being consumed. |
| Consumed Count | Number of messages consumed from the queue. |
| Uncommitted Transactions | Number of messages involved in uncommitted transactions. |
Transactions tab
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| Global Commit Duration | Time taken to commit global transactions. |
| Global Transactions Committed | Number of successfully committed global transactions. |
| Global Transactions Rolled Back | Number of global transactions that were rolled back. |
| Local Transactions Committed | Number of successfully committed local transactions. |
| Local Transactions Rolled Back | Number of local transactions that were rolled back. |
| Num Optimization | Number of transactions optimized by the server for performance. |
Licensing
The WebSphere Application Server monitor is an advanced monitor.