SAP WAS Threads Test

The J2EE Engine thread system is responsible for handling system and client threads. It comprises of two managers – Thread Manager and Application Thread Manager. The SAP WAS Threads test monitors the Application Thread Manager of the SAP Web Application server, which supplies the threads in which the client applications’ source code is executed. This manager provides a set of properties for starting and managing client threads in the Java Virtual Machine. When a client request comes, the system tries to find a free thread in the Application Thread Manager and to start the execution of the request. If no free thread is available, the thread system buffers the request in a request queue. By buffering the threads and using them again, the system achieves better performance than using normal Java thread system without buffering. The Application Thread Manager runs only on server processes.

Target of the test : A SAP NetWeaver Application Server

Agent deploying the test : An internal/remote agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for each Server/Process.

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter	Description
Test period	How often should the test be executed
Host	Specify the server for which the test is to be configured.
Port	The port number at which the specified server listens.
WSDL Port	This test uses the SAPControl web service to pull metrics on application and service status. To enable the test to communicate with the web service, you need to configure the test with the port number of the web service. Therefore, specify the port number of the SAPControl web service against WSDL Port. To determine the exact port number of the SAPControl web service, you can look up the etc/services file on the SAP WAS being monitored. If the port number is not declared in the etc/services file, you can specify the default port number of the web service against WSDL Port. If the web service is not SSL-enabled, then the default port number of the web service will be: 5<NR>13. Similarly, if the web service is SSL-enabled, then the default port number of the web service will be: 5<NR>14. <NR> in the port number refers to the system number of the SAP server being monitored. The system number is an indicator of the TCP/IP port at which the SAP server listens. For example, for a server that listens at port 3200, the system number will be ‘00’. Similarly, if the SAP server port is 3201, the system number will have to be specified as ‘01’. Accordingly, the default port number of an SSL-enabled SAPControl web service will be 50014 , if the system number is 00, or 50114, if the system number is 01.
OS Username and OS Password	To enable the test to access the SAPControl web service and determine component state, you need to configure the OS Username and OS Password parameters of the test with the credentials (i.e., name and password) of an OS user, who fulfills one of the following conditions: The name of the OS user should be declared using the service\admin_users profile parameter; (OR) The name of the user group to which the OS user belongs should be declared using the service\admin_groups profile parameter; (OR) The OS user should have the permission to execute the sapstartsrv executable
Confirm Password	Confirm the OS Password by retyping it here.
SSL	Set this flag to Yes, if the SAPControl web service is SSL-enabled. Set this flag to No, if the SAPControl web service is not SSL-enabled.

Measurements made by the test
Measurement	Description	Measurement Unit	Interpretation
Active threads	Indicates the number of threads from this thread pool which are currently executing a runnable task.	Number	This measure serves as a good indicator of the server workload.
Current pool size	Indicates the number of threads that are currently in this thread pool.	Number
Threadpool usage	Indicates the percentage of threads in the thread pool that are being currently utilized.	Percent	If the value of this measure is high, it could indicate a heavy server workload.
Waiting tasks	Indicates the number of tasks waiting for threads from this thread pool, so as to begin execution.	Number
Tasks queue size	Indicates the capacity of the request queue where the tasks waiting for execution are stored in this thread pool.	Number
Task queue overflow	Indicates the number of tasks waiting to be placed in the request queue, in the event that the request queue is full in this thread pool.	Number	If the value of this measure increases consistently, it could indicate a processing bottleneck.
Maximum pool size	Indicates the maximum number of threads that can be accommodated in this thread pool.	Number