JVM CPU Usage Test

This test measures the CPU utilization of the JVM. If the JVM experiences abnormal CPU usage levels levels, you can use this test to instantly drill down to the classes and the methods within the classes that contributing to the resource contention at the JVM.

Target of the test : A WebLogic Application Server

Agent deploying the test : An internal/remote agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for the server being monitored .

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter Description

Test Period

How often should the test be executed.

Host

The IP address of the host for which this test is to be configured.

Port

The port at which the specified host listens. By default, this is NULL.

Mode

This test can extract metrics from the Java application using either of the following mechanisms:

  • Using SNMP-based access to the Java runtime MIB statistics;
  • By contacting the Java runtime (JRE) of the application via JMX

To configure the test to use SNMP, select the SNMP option. On the other hand, choose the JMX option to configure the test to use JMX instead. By default, the JMX option is chosen here.

JMX Port

This parameter appears only if the mode is set to JMX. Here, specify the port at which the JMX listens for requests from remote hosts. Ensure that you specify the same port that you configured in the management.properties file in the <JAVA_HOME>\jre\lib\management folder used by the target application Java Applications chapter.

JNDIName

This parameter appears only if the Mode is set to JMX. The JNDIName is a lookup name for connecting to the JMX connector. By default, this is JMXRMI. If you have registered the JMX connector in the RMI registry using a different lookup name, then you can change this default value to reflect the same. 

User, Password,
and Confirm Password

These parameters appear only if the Mode is set to JMX. If JMX requires authentication only (but no security), then ensure that the User and Password parameters are configured with the credentials of a user with read-write access to JMX. To know how to create this user, refer to the Java Applications chapter. Confirm the password by retyping it in the Confirm Password text box.

SNMPPort

This parameter appears only if the Mode is set to SNMP. Here specify the port number through which the server exposes its SNMP MIB. Ensure that you specify the same port you configured in the management.properties file in the <JAVA_HOME>\jre\lib\management folder used by the target application Java Applications chapter.

SNMPVersion

This parameter appears only if the Mode is set to SNMP. By default, the eG agent supports SNMP version 1. Accordingly, the default selection in the SNMPversion list is v1. However, if a different SNMP framework is in use in your environment, say SNMP v2 or v3, then select the corresponding option from this list.

SNMPCommunity

This parameter appears only if the Mode is set to SNMP. The SNMP community name that the test uses to communicate with the firewall. This parameter is specific to SNMP v1 and v2 only. Therefore, if the SNMPVersion chosen is v3, then this parameter will not appear.

UserName

This parameter appears only if the Mode is set to SNMP. This parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVersion. SNMP version 3 (SNMPv3) is an extensible SNMP Framework which supplements the SNMPv2 Framework, by additionally supporting message security, access control, and remote SNMP configuration capabilities. To extract performance statistics from the MIB using the highly secure SNMP v3 protocol, the eG agent has to be configured with the required access privileges – in other words, the eG agent should connect to the MIB using the credentials of a user with access permissions to be MIB. Therefore, specify the name of such a user against this parameter. 

Context

This parameter appears only if the Mode is set to SNMP. This parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVersion. An SNMP context is a collection of management information accessible by an SNMP entity. An item of management information may exist in more than one context and an SNMP entity potentially has access to many contexts. A context is identified by the SNMPEngineID value of the entity hosting the management information (also called a contextEngineID) and a context name that identifies the specific context (also called a contextName). If the Username provided is associated with a context name, then the eG agent will be able to poll the MIB and collect metrics only if it is configured with the context name as well. In such cases therefore, specify the context name of the Username in the Context text box.  By default, this parameter is set to none.

AuthPass

Specify the password that corresponds to the above-mentioned Username. This parameter once again appears only if the SNMPVersion selected is v3.

Confirm Password

Confirm the AuthPass by retyping it here.

AuthType

This parameter too appears only if v3 is selected as the SNMPversion. From the AuthType list box, choose the authentication algorithm using which SNMP v3 converts the specified username and password into a 32-bit format to ensure security of SNMP transactions. You can choose between the following options:

  • MD5 - Message Digest Algorithm
  • SHA - Secure Hash Algorithm
  • SHA224 - Secure Hash Algorithm 224 bit
  • SHA256 - Secure Hash Algorithm 256 bit
  • SHA384 - Secure Hash Algorithm 384 bit
  • SHA512 - Secure Hash Algorithm 512 bit

EncryptFlag

This flag appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVersion. By default, the eG agent does not encrypt SNMP requests. Accordingly, the this flag is set to No by default. To ensure that SNMP requests sent by the eG agent are encrypted, select the Yes option. 

EncryptType

If the EncryptFlag is set to Yes, then you will have to mention the encryption type by selecting an option from the EncryptType list. SNMP v3 supports the following encryption types:

  • DES - Data Encryption Standard
  • 3DES - Triple Data Encryption Standard
  • AES - Advanced Encryption Standard
  • AES128 - Advanced Encryption Standard 128 bit
  • AES192 - Advanced Encryption Standard 192 bit
  • AES256 - Advanced Encryption Standard 256 bit

EncryptPassword

Specify the encryption password here.

Confirm Password

Confirm the encryption password by retyping it here.

Timeout

This parameter appears only if the Mode is set to SNMP. Specify the duration (in seconds) within which the SNMP query executed by this test should time out in this text box. The default is 10 seconds.

Data Over TCP

This parameter appears only if the Mode is set to SNMP. By default, in an IT environment, all data transmission occurs over UDP. Some environments however, may be specifically configured to offload a fraction of the data traffic – for instance, certain types of data traffic or traffic pertaining to specific components – to other protocols like TCP, so as to prevent UDP overloads. In such environments, you can instruct the eG agent to conduct the SNMP data traffic related to the monitored target over TCP (and not UDP). For this, set this flag to Yes. By default, this flag is set to No.

Engine ID

This parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVersion. Sometimes, the test may not report metrics when AES192 or AES256 is chosen as the Encryption type. To ensure that the test report metrics consistently, administrators need to set this flag to Yes. By default, this parameter is set to No.

Profiler Home

JIP (Java Interactive Profiler) is a high performance, low overhead profiler that is written entirely in Java and used extensively to gather performance data pertaining to a JVM. The eG agent comes bundled with JIP, and takes the help of JIP to provide detailed diagnosis information related to the CPU usage of the JVM. To make sure that this test contacts JIP for detailed resource usage metrics, you need to indicate the location of the JIP in the Profiler Home text box.

Typically, the files related to this profiler are available in <EG_INSTALL_DIR>\lib\jip directory (in Windows; in Unix, this will be: /opt/egurkha/lib/jip). If only a single Java application on a host is being monitored, then the jip folder can remain in the same location. The profiler home parameter should then be configured with /opt/egurkha/lib/jip or <EG_INSTALL_DIR>\lib\jip, as the case may be. However, if more than one Java application on a single host is to be monitored, then first ensure that the jip folder is copied to two different locations on the same host. The profiler home parameter should in this case be configured with the location of the jip folder that corresponds to the Java application for which this test is being currently configured. For instance, say japp1 and japp2 are 2 Java applications that are being managed by the eG Enterprise system. Assume that the jip folder has been copied to the C:\japp1 and D:\japp2 folders. Now, while configuring this test for the japp1 application, specify C:\japp\jip in  profiler homE. Similarly, when configuring this test for the japp2 application, enter D:\japp2\jip in profiler home.

Profiler

The JIP can be turned on or off while the JVM is still running. For the eG agent to be able to report detailed diagnosis of the CPU usage metric, the Profiler should be turned on. Accordingly, the Profiler flag is set to On by default. If you do not want detailed diagnosis, then you can set the Profiler flag to Off.

DD Frequency

Refers to the frequency with which detailed diagnosis measures are to be generated for this test. The default is 1:1. This indicates that, by default, detailed measures will be generated every time this test runs, and also every time the test detects a problem. You can modify this frequency, if you so desire. Also, if you intend to disable the detailed diagnosis capability for this test, you can do so by specifying none against DD Frequency. 

Detailed Diagnosis

To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server, choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

  • The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability
  • Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.
Measurements made by the test
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

CPU Utilization of JVM

Indicates the percentage of CPU currently utilized by the JVM.

Percent

Ideally, this value should be low. An unusually high value or a consistent increase in this value is indicative of abnormal CPU usage, and could warrant further investigation. In such a situation, you can use the detailed diagnosis of this measure, if enabled, to determine which methods invoked by which classes are causing the steady/sporadic spikes in CPU usage.