JBoss MQ Topics Test

Topics are used in the publish-subscribe paradigm. When a client publishes a message to a topic, he/she expects that a copy of the message will be delivered to each client that has subscribed to the topic. However, if the client is not up, running and receiving messages from the topics, it will miss messages published to the topic. To get around this problem of missing messages, clients can start a durable subscription. This is like having a VCR record a show you cannot watch at its scheduled time so that you can see what you missed when you turn your TV back on. Similarly, messages meant for a durable subscriber are stored in the persistent cache even when the subscriber is inactive. These messages are delivered to durable subscribers when they connect to the server. Using theJBoss MQ Topics test, continuous monitoring of the topics is possible. This test auto discovers the topics on the WildFly JBoss server and reports the number of durable messages and the durable subscribers of the topic. This test also helps the administrators to keep track on the messages added into each topic and the messages delivered from each topic along with the processing rate of the messages from the topic. This way, administrators can figure out the topic that is currently subscribed by most of the subscribers!

Target of the test : A WildFly JBoss server

Agent deploying the test : An internal agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for each topic of the WildFly JBoss server that is to be monitored

Configurable parameters for the test
  1. TEST PERIOD - How often should the test be executed
  2. Host – The host for which the test is to be configured
  3. port– The port at which the specified HOSTlistens. By default, this is 9990.
  4. SSL – If the WildFly JBoss server being monitored is an SSL-enabled server, then set the sslflag to Yes. If not, then set the sslflag to No.
  5. IS JBOSS RUNNING IN DOMAIN MODE?– Specify whether the server to be monitored is currently running in DOMAIN MODE or not. By default, this flag is set to No which implies that the server is currently running in STANDALONE MODE. If you have started the target JBoss server using the default web profile configuration in domain mode i.e, if you have executed the ./domain.sh command from the <JBoss_INSTALL_DIR>/bin directory, then specify Yes against this flag.
  6. JBOSS HOST NAME – Specify whether the target server to be monitored is a master or a slave in a JBoss cluster. By default, none will be specified here which implies that the target JBoss server is a standalone server. Refer to Identifying the host name and server instance name of the WildFly JBoss server running in Domain mode to know how to identify whether the target server is a master or slave in your environment.
  7. JBOSS SERVER INSTANCE NAME– Specify the name of the server instance that is to be monitored. By default, none will be specified here. Refer to Identifying the host name and server instance name of the WildFly JBoss server running in Domain mode to identify the name of the server instance that is to be monitored. 
  8. MANAGEMENT USER and MANAGEMENT PASSWORD– Specify the credentials of the user who is authorized to access the management console of the target JBoss server. To create a new user, refer to Creating a new management user in the WildFly JBoss server of this document.
  9. confirm password– Confirm the MANAGEMENT PASSWORD by retyping it here.
Measures made by the test:
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

Durable messages count:

Indicates the number of durable messages currently in the topic.

Number

 

Durable subject count:

Indicates the number of durable subscribers to the topic.

Number

Messages meant for a durable subscriber are stored in the persistent cache even when the subscriber is inactive. These messages are delivered to durable subscribers when they connect to the server.

Max topic depth:

Indicates the maximum value of the number of messages in the topic since the start of the queue.

Number

 

Message processing rate:

Indicates the rate at which messages were being processed by the topic in the last measurement period.

Msgs/Sec

 

Non-durable messages count:

Indicates the number of non-durable messages currently in the topic.

Number

If the total number of durable subscribers is high, then we can expect the total durable messages to be stored on the server also to be relatively on the higher side.

Non-durable subject count:

Indicates the number of subscribers to the topic who are currently non-durable.

Number

 

Total subject count:

Indicates the total number of subscribers to a topic.

Number

 

Messages added count:

Indicates the number of messages that were added to this topic during the last measurement period.

Number

 

Message delivered count:

Indicates the number of messages in this topic that have been delivered.

Number

A high value is desired for this measure.