Using the Log System and Monitoring

Monitoring the server activity is a critical point in the administration process. SAP J2EE Engine 6.20 provides a log system to record the server activity and a monitoring system to report important data from specified server components in real time.

To detect server problems in time, and to take immediate steps, check the log and the monitoring systems regularly. This ensures stable server performance.

Log System

Log Files

The SAP J2EE Engine 6.20 log system provides a useful way to manage the server activity. The system records the events that have occurred on the cluster elements in log files, so the system administrator can monitor the system performance, detect problems, and find the source of a fault.

SAP J2EE Engine 6.20 provides log files for monitoring the cluster elements console output. The information printed on the command line is provided to <SAPj2eeEngine_install_dir>/cluster/server or dispatcher/managers/console_logs directory and stored in two separate txt files. One of the files logs the output data about loading and starting of the managers and services (for example, Loading: LogManager ... ). The name of the file includes the date and time of its creation and “output” for marking the information that has been logged (for example, 2001_11_12_at_15_59_3_output.log ). The other file logs exceptions and errors that occurred during the running process of the cluster elements. The name of the file contains the date and time of its creation and “error” for marking the information that has been logged (for example, 2001_11_12_at_15_59_3_error.log ).

This log system can be managed using console_logs.properties file located in <SAPj2eeEngine_install_dir>/cluster/server/managers or <SAPj2eeEngine_install_dir>/cluster/dispatcher/managers/ directory. It contains three properties with the following keys and values:

LogConsoleStreams – this property has a boolean value that indicates if console output is logged. By default, it is set to YES .
LogDir – specifies the directory where the log files are stored. By default, it is /managers/console_logs .
DaysToKeepLogs – specifies how long (in days) to store the log files. The default value is 7 .

Logging console output helps the system administrator to monitor the cluster elements running process if the specific node is set as an NT Service, or no console is provided (such as in an SAP Web Application Server).

The log system consists of Log Manager and Log Service for each dispatcher and server node. The Log Manager creates a directory for each manager, where it stores all data associated with the particular manager in plain text format. These directories are created in the <SAPj2eeEngine_install_dir>/cluster/dispatcher or server/managers/log directory. The Log Service stores all data associated with the services in plain text format in the <SAPj2eeEngine_install_dir>/cluster/dispatcher or server/services/log/work directory. To modify these settings, use the Log Manager and Log Service “Properties” tab.

Note: The HTTP Service running on server nodes stores its log messages in the <SAPj2eeEngine_install_dir>/cluster/server/services/http/log directory by default. The HTTP Service log files are described in detail in How to Set up SAP J2EE Engine 6.20 Web Server section in this document.

The log system recognizes the following types of events:

EMERGENCY (log level 0) – System is unusable
ALERT (log level 1) – Immediate action must be taken
CRITICAL (log level 2) – Critical conditions
ERROR (log level 3) – Error conditions
WARNING (log level 4) – Warning conditions
NOTICE (log level 5) – Normal but significant events for the system
INFO (log level 6) – Information
TRACE (log level 7) – Events that occur as a result of application methods execution
DEBUG (log level 8) – Debug-level messages,

And accordingly creates nine log file types with the same names. The file names can be changed from each Log Manager or Log Service “Properties” tab.

Archiving Log Messages

At certain times, or in reaching a particular size, the log files are archived and stored in another directory.

The default directory where the archived log files are stored is named logBackup . This directory is available anywhere log files are stored. To change the name of this directory, make sure that you are in Cluster view mode (make sure that on the toolbar is selected). Select Cluster ® Server or Dispatcher ® Managers or Services ® Log from the left-hand pane of SAP J2EE Engine 6.20 Visual Administrator. Choose “Properties” from the right-hand pane. Select the ZipDirectory property and change its value in the “Value” field at the bottom of the right-hand pane. Choose “Add.” To enable the changes to take effect, choose (Save Properties) on the toolbar and restart the corresponding Log Manager or Service.

The log files are added to the archive when they reach the length specified in the MaxFileLength property. To change its value, select the property and change its value in the “Value” field at the bottom of the right-hand pane. Choose “Add.” To enable the changes to take effect, choose (Save Properties) on the toolbar and restart the corresponding Log Manager or Service.

The maximum period between two consecutive log files archiving operations is specified by the MaxDelayTime property.

Log Viewer Tab

The “Log Viewer” tab in SAP J2EE Engine 6.20 Visual Administrator displays the messages stored in the log files for a selected service, manager, server node, dispatcher node – or the whole cluster.

The log messages can be displayed in ascending or descending order by type, by date and time, caller, user, client IP, and cluster ID.

Visual Administrator Cluster “Log Viewer” Tab

Monitoring

The monitoring system collects data from specified server components, and reports general information and statistics about the cluster nodes and their components. The system consists of one (or more) Monitor Server(s) and Monitor Service. The Monitor Service establishes a connection between the Monitor Server(s) and the system. The Monitor Server(s) collects monitor data from the cluster nodes and exports it to external systems. The monitor server has its own shell environment, from which it can be configured dynamically.

Starting the Monitor Server

To start the Monitor Server, execute the monitor.bat file on the command line. The monitor.bat file is located in the <SAPj2eeEngine_install_dir>/tools directory.

If the first attempt to connect to the cluster fails, Monitor Server retries to connect at a specified period. This interval is set as a property of Monitor Server named ping.time , and is specified in milliseconds. The default value of the property is 10 seconds. This property can be changed only manually in the configuration file.

The Monitor Server is configured to connect to SAP J2EE Engine 6.20 system using the following default properties:

java.naming.provider.url – the URL (host name or IP address) of the running SAP J2EE Engine 6.20 system. The default value is localhost .
java.naming.security.principal – a valid user name. The default value is Administrator .
java.naming.security.credentials – the password for the specified user. The default value is an empty string.

The default settings for these properties are given in [] brackets next to the corresponding property.

Note: There is no need to enter the default value properties. Choosing “Enter” assumes the default settings are executed.

The Monitor Server then executes the INCLUDE * command, which starts reporting all monitor data.

A list of available Shell commands in the Monitor Server environment is displayed when the Monitor Server is started. These shell commands are also described in the Monitor Server Shell Commands section below.

Changing the Default Monitor Server Startup Settings

To change the default Monitor Server configuration settings, you must create a configuration file and specify it as an argument when executing the Monitor Server script file – for example:

monitor configuration_file

where configuration_file is the name of the configuration file.

The Monitor Server is then started using the settings from the configuration file.

Note: If a configuration file named properties exists and is located in the <SAPj2eeEngine_install_dir>/tools directory, the Monitor Server takes its startup properties from that configuration file even though the file is not specified when starting the monitor server.

The configuration file priority is higher than the default settings. The Monitor Server uses a default property setting only if this property is not set in the configuration file.

The configuration file must be in text format and must be located in the same directory as the Monitor Server script file ( monitor.bat ) – that is, in the <SAPj2eeEngine_install_dir>/tools directory.

Example contents of a Monitor Server configuration file:

shell.autoexec.0=connect
shell.autoexec.1=include *
shell.autoexec.2=report

shell.connect.prompt.0=report.gap
shell.connect.prompt.1=java.naming.provider.url
shell.connect.prompt.2=java.naming.security.principal
shell.connect.prompt.3=java.naming.security.credentials

cluster.connector.box=yes
cluster.connector.box.id.4001=yes
cluster.connector.box.id.3002=yes

cluster.connector.avoid.id.5001=yes

monitor.system.VA.port = 5555

The example configuration file above provides the following functions when used to configure the Monitor Server at startup:

shell.autoexec.0=connect – executes the CONNECT shell command and prompts for the properties specified by the shell.connect.prompt.n configuration property – that is, the login settings ( java.naming.provider.url , java.naming.security.principal , and java.naming.security.credentials ) and report.gap
shell.autoexec.1=include * – includes all monitor data
shell.autoexec.2=report – executes the REPORT Shell command – that is, reports data at the time of executing the command, even if the period of time specified in the report.gap property has not elapsed
shell.connect.prompt.0=report.gap – when the CONNECT Shell command is executed, prompts for specifying the report.gap property.
shell.connect.prompt.1= java.naming.provider.url – when the CONNECT Shell command is executed, prompts for specifying the java.naming.provider.url property
shell.connect.prompt.2= java.naming.security.principal – when the CONNECT shell command is executed, prompts for specifying the java.naming.security.principal property
shell.connect.prompt.3= java.naming.security.credentials – when the CONNECT shell command is executed, prompts for specifying the java.naming.security.credentials property
cluster.connector.box=yes – starts reporting data in a box – that is, starts reporting data for the whole group of dispatcher and server nodes specified
cluster.connector.box.id.4001=yes – starts reporting monitor data about cluster element 4001
cluster.connector.box.id.3002=yes – starts reporting monitor data about cluster element 3002
cluster.connector.avoid.id.5001=yes – stops reporting monitor data about cluster element 5001
monitor.system.VA.port = 5555 – the Monitor Server opens port 5555 for the Visual Administrator. Visual Administrator uses that port to establish connection to the Monitor Server. This property must be set if starting more than one monitor server on one physical machine – in such a case, each monitor server must open a different port.

Note: The properties used in the configuration file are explained further in the Environment Variables section and in the Configuration File Properties section below.

Configuring the Monitor Server

The Monitor Server can be configured in several ways:

At startup, by using a configuration file. This scenario is described in Changing the Default Monitor Server Startup Settings section above.
By using the ENV Shell command on the Monitor Server command line
By using Visual Administrator at runtime. However, these changes affect only the information currently displayed in Visual Administrator. These changes are not saved in a configuration file, do not affect the monitor data exported to other systems, and are not saved after Visual Administrator is restarted.

Monitor Server Shell Commands

The shell commands available in the Monitor Server are:

CONNECT

Syntax	CONNECT
Description	Connects the Monitor Server to the cluster.

DISCONNECT

Syntax	DISCONNECT
Description	Disconnects the Monitor Server from the cluster.

ENV

Syntax

ENV [variable] [value]

Argument

Description

[variable]

The environment variable, whose value can be changed.

[value]

The new value of the specified variable.

Description

Shows the main environment variables when executed without arguments. If the [variable] argument is specified, it returns its value. If the [variable] and [value] arguments are specified, this changes the value of the specified environment variable assigning it the specified [value].

Example

ENV report.gap 50000 – Changes the value of the “report.gap” environment variable to 50000.

EXCLUDE

Syntax

EXCLUDE <monitor_data>

Argument

Description

<monitor_data>

Specifies the kind of monitor data to be excluded from all reported monitor data.

Description

Stops reporting the specified monitor data. The type of the monitor data to be reported can be chosen from the list of available monitor data.

Example

EXCLUDE MemoryManager – stops reporting monitor data about the memory usage and allocation.

HELP

Syntax	HELP
Description	Displays the help message.

INCLUDE

Syntax

INCLUDE <monitor_data>

Argument

Description

<monitor_data>

Specifies the kind of monitor data to be included in the reported monitor data.

Description

Includes the specified kind of monitor data. The type of the monitor data to be reported can be chosen from the list of available monitor data.

Example

INCLUDE MemoryManager – starts reporting monitor data about the memory usage and allocation.

INCLUDE * - starts reporting all possible monitor data.

LIST

Syntax	LIST
Description	Lists all available types of monitor data, which can be included or excluded from the reported monitor data.

LISTAVAILABLE

Syntax	LISTAVAILABLE
Description	Lists all available types of monitor data, which can be included or excluded from the reported monitor data.

LISTINCLUDED

Syntax	LISTINCLUDED
Description	Lists the included monitor data.

REPORT

Syntax	REPORT
Description	Reports data at the time of executing the command, even if the period specified in the `report.gap` property has not elapsed.

SELECT

Syntax

SELECT <cluster_node_ID>

Argument

Description

<cluster_node_ID>

Specifies the ID of a cluster element.

Description

Selects a cluster element on which to apply the commands executed afterwards.

Example

SELECT * - Selects the whole cluster.

Selects cluster element with ID 4001; switches off all monitor data reporting on that cluster element; starts monitoring the System Info and the Memory usage and allocation:
SELECT 4001
EXCLUDE * INCLUDE MemoryManager INCLUDE System Info

QUIT

Syntax	QUIT
Description	Stops the Monitor Server.

Environment Variables

The environment variables described below can be changed at runtime on the Monitor Server command line by using the ENV Shell command, or they can be set in a configuration file used when starting the Monitor Server.

	Monitor Server
Environment Variable	Description	Default Value

debug.level	Specifies whether to log messages about the current state of the Monitor Server on the command line. If this property is set to 0, log messages are not displayed on the Monitor Server command line.	0
java.naming.factory.initial	Provides the SAP Initial Context Factory Implementation.	com.inqmy.services.jndi.InitialContextFactoryImpl
java.naming.provider.url	The URL (host name or IP address) of the running SAP J2EE Engine 6.20 system.	localhost
java.naming.security.principal	A valid user name. Identifies the user who has logged on to the system.	Administrator
java.naming.security.credentials	The password for the specified user.
monitor.system.VA.mode	Indicates whether monitoring data is reported to SAP J2EE Engine 6.20 Visual Administrator. The value of this property is boolean.	on
monitor.system.FS.mode	Indicates whether monitoring data is reported to a file system. The value of this property is boolean.	on
monitor.system.CCMS.mode	Indicates whether monitoring data is reported to SAP’s Computing Center Management System (CCMS). The value of this property is boolean.	on
monitor.system.CCMS.sessions.toplist.size	Specifies the maximum number of toplist sessions displayed by SAP’s CCMS.	50
monitor.system.CCMS.threads.toplist.size	Specifies the maximum number of toplist threads displayed by SAP’s CCMS.	50
monitor.system.FS.type	Specifies the extension of the monitor system output files.	mon
monitor.system.FS.sessions.toplist.size	Specifies the maximum number of toplist sessions exported to the file system.	50
report.gap	Specifies the period after which the monitor system reports data. The value of this property is in milliseconds.	60000
top.list.sort.Http Sessions	Specifies the attribute by which the HTTP Sessions are displayed.	Accessed
top.list.sort.Login System	Specifies the attribute by which the Login System®Login Sessions monitor data is displayed.	User-principal
top.list.sort.SystemThreadManager	Specifies the attribute by which the System Thread Manager monitor data is displayed.	State
top.list.sort.ThreadManager	Specifies the attribute by which the Thread Manager monitor data is displayed.	State
top.list.size.Http Sessions	Specifies the maximum number of HTTP Sessions to be displayed.	50
top.list.size.Login System	Specifies the maximum number of Login System®Login Sessions to be displayed.	50
top.list.size.SystemThreadManager	Specifies the maximum number of System Threads to be displayed.	50
top.list.size.ThreadManager	Specifies the maximum number of Threads to be displayed.	50
top.list.sort.CCMS.Http Sessions	Specifies the attribute by which the HTTP Sessions is displayed in SAP’s CCMS system.	Accessed
top.list.sort.CCMS.Login System	Specifies the attribute by which the Login System®Login Sessions monitor data is displayed in SAP’s CCMS system.	User-principal
top.list.sort.CCMS.ThreadManager	Specifies the attribute by which the System Thread Manager monitor data is displayed in SAP’s CCMS system.	State
top.list.sort.FS.Http Sessions	Specifies the attribute by which the HTTP Sessions is sorted in the file system.	Accessed
top.list.sort.FS.Login System	Specifies the attribute by which the Login System®Login Sessions monitor data is sorted in the file system.	User-principal
top.list.sort.FS.ThreadManager	Specifies the attribute by which the Thread Manager monitor data is sorted in the file system.	State
top.list.sort.FS.SystemThreadManager	Specifies the attribute by which the System Thread Manager monitor data is sorted in the file system.	State
top.list.size.FS.Http Sessions	Specifies the maximum number of HTTP sessions to be saved by the file system.	50
top.list.size.FS.Login System	Specifies the maximum number of login sessions to be saved by the file system.	50
top.list.size.FS.ThreadManager	Specifies the maximum number of Threads, which are going to be saved by the file system.	50
top.list.size.FS.SystemThreadManager	Specifies the maximum number of System Threads to be saved by the file system.	50

Configuration File Properties

The properties described below can be used in a Monitor Server configuration file along with the environment variables. However, these properties should not be modified on the Monitor Server command line.

Monitor Server
Property	Description

shell.autoexec.n	Executes a predetermined shell command. This property is typically used in Monitor Server configuration files. The value of this property is the shell command to be executed on the monitor server command line at startup. The value range of `n` is an integer from 0 to ¥ that specifies the order of executing the specified command. You can define other `shell.autoexec` properties, by specifying their number and value in the configuration file – for example: `shell.autoexec.0=env` – executes the `ENV` shell command; `shell.autoexec.1=connect` – executes the `CONNECT` shell command.
shell.connect.prompt.n	Enables you to set the value of the specified property when executing the connect shell command. The value range of `n` is an integer from 0 to ¥ that specifies the order in which the user is prompted to specify these properties.
Monitor.system.VA.port	Specifies the port that the Monitor Server opens for the Visual Administrator. The Visual Administrator uses that port to establish connection to the Monitor Server. If more than one Monitor Server is started, this property must be set, and each Monitor Server must open a different port.
Cluster.connector.avoid.name.Server One	Stops reporting monitor data about the specified cluster element – in this example, Server One. “Server One” can be replaced by any other cluster element name.
Cluster.connector.avoid.id.5001	Stops reporting monitor data about the specified cluster element – in this example, cluster element 5001. “5001” can be replaced by any other cluster element ID.
Cluster.connector.avoid.host.10.12.10.56	Stops reporting monitor data about all cluster elements running on the specified host – in this example, 10.17.68.19.
Cluster.connector.avoid.port.2077	Stops reporting monitor data about the cluster element running on the specified host – in this example, 2077.
cluster.connector.avoid.url.10.17.68.19:2077	Stops reporting monitor data about the cluster element running on the specified host and port – in this example, 10.17.68.19:2077.
cluster.connector.box	Starts reporting data in a box – that is, starts reporting data for the whole group of dispatcher and server nodes specified.
cluster.connector.box.id.5001	Starts reporting monitor data about the specified cluster element – in this example, cluster element 5001.
cluster.connector.box.host.10.17.68.19	Starts reporting monitor data about all cluster elements running on the specified host – in this example, cluster element 5001.
cluster.connector.box.port.2077	Starts reporting monitor data about the cluster element running on the specified host – in this example, 2077.
cluster.connector.box.url.10.17.68.19:2077	Starts reporting monitor data about the cluster element running on the specified host and port – in this example, 10.17.68.19:2077.

Reported Data

The monitor data is separated according to the number of monitor servers and the monitored cluster nodes. The data for each monitored dispatcher and server node is displayed separately. The monitoring system also provides aggregated information about all cluster nodes monitored by a specific monitor server.

The following sections contain full descriptions of the server, dispatcher, and aggregated monitor data.

Server Monitor

Workload Summary

Sessions

The Session monitor provides aggregated information about the user sessions. This component displays monitor data about the Login System, the HTTP Sessions, and a summary of both for the relevant server node. Information about each session is provided by the Top List monitoring data.

Login System – used for collecting data about user sessions on the relevant server node. The login monitor data is:

Current number of sessions – the number of server login sessions now open
Maximum sessions since startup – the maximum number of login sessions opened since startup
Average sessions since startup – the average number of open server sessions per second
Maximum sessions gross time – the maximum duration of a user session from its opening to its closure
Average sessions gross time – the average duration of a user session from its opening to its closure

Http Sessions – enables you to monitor the current number of stateful sessions (HTTP Sessions).

Current number of sessions – the number of server HTTP sessions now open
Maximum sessions since startup – the maximum number of HTTP sessions opened since startup
Average sessions since startup – the average number of open server sessions per second
Maximum sessions gross time – the maximum duration of an HTTP session from its opening to its closure
Average sessions gross time – the average duration of an HTTP session from its opening to its closure

Total Sessions – displays summary information about the sessions on the relevant server node.

Requests

Requests (http) – displays information about the number of HTTP requests received by the corresponding server and the number of responses. The data is distributed as follows:

TotalNumberOfRequests – the total number of HTTP requests received by the corresponding server since startup
TotalNumberOfResponses – the total number of HTTP responses returned by the corresponding server since startup
AverageTimeForRequest – the average time (in milliseconds) for response to an HTTP request by the server
MaximumTimeForRequest – the maximum period (in milliseconds) for executing an HTTP request from startup to the present
WaitingRequests – the number of requests waiting to be processed. The type of this property is “int.” Its value range is a non-negative number.
MaxNumberOfWaitingRequests – the maximum number of requests waiting at the same time. This property covers a period from startup to the present. The type of the property is “int.” Its range is greater than or equal to the requests waiting.
MaxNumberOfRequestsPerSecond – the maximum number of requests per second received from startup to the present. The type of this property is “double.” Its value range is a non-negative number.
MaxNumberOfResponsesPerSecond – the maximum number of responses returned by the server per second from startup to the present. The type of this property is “long.” Its value range is a non-negative number.
AvgNumberOfRequestsPerSecond – the average number of requests per second received from startup to the present. The type of this property is “double.” Its value range is a non-negative number.

Total Requests – displays information about the number of all requests (for example, HTTP, P4, and so on) received by the corresponding server, and the number of responses. The data is presented by the same properties as described above.

Top List

The Top List monitor provides information about each user and HTTP session, and information about the running threads.

Login System – displays a table showing the following information about each user session:

Session-id – the identifier of the session
User-principal – the user who has opened the session
Accessed – when the session was accessed
Expires – the time when the session expires
Creation time – the time when the session was created

SystemMonitoredThreads – displays information about threads that have higher priority than the MonitoredThreads . The information is displayed in the same way as in the information in the MonitoredThreads group:

Summary – contains the following data

Initial threads
Current threads
Peak threads
Running threads
Idle threads
Idle waiting threads
Threads blocked by synchronization
Threads waiting for resources
Queued requests for threads

Children – displays the following information about the threads

Name
ThreadID
State
Elapsed time
LastStateChange

MonitoredThreads – displays summary information about all threads on the relevant server, and a table containing specific information about each thread:

Summary – contains the following data

Initial threads
Current threads
Peak threads
Running threads
Idle threads
Idle waiting threads
Threads blocked by synchronization
Threads waiting for resources
Queued requests for threads

Children – displays the following information about the threads

Name
ThreadID
State
Elapsed time
LastStateChange

Http Sessions – displays a table of the HTTP sessions. The type of the information in the table is the same as the information about the user sessions in the Login System.

Memory

MemoryManager – displays information about the memory used by the server node. The following information is provided:

Allocated Memory – the memory allocated to the corresponding server node. The value of this property is in bytes. Its type is “long.” The value range is less than or equal to the Memory Limit property.
Memory Limit – the maximum amount of memory that can be allocated to the relevant server node
Max Memory – the maximum amount of memory used by the corresponding server node to date
Memory in Use – the amount of memory being used by the server node
Utilization Level – an integer corresponding to the percentage range of memory used by the particular server node at present. There are six utilization levels, according to the amount of memory used

0 – the amount of memory used is from 0% to 40%
1 – the amount of memory used is from 41% to 55%
2 – the amount of memory used is from 56% to 65%
3 – the amount of memory used is from 66% to 71%
4 – the amount of memory used is from 72% to 75%
5 – the amount of memory used is from 76% to 100%

Heart Beat

This displays a table containing information about the current state of the services running on the server node and the whole server system. The table displays the state (for example, Running, Stopped, and so on) and the time of the last change of the corresponding service state.

Configuration

This displays the configuration properties and their values of all managers and services running on the relevant server node. The properties and their values can be viewed only, and cannot be modified here. To modify them, use the corresponding manager or service Visual Administrator “Properties” tab or Properties file.

System Info

Provides general information about the dispatcher node and its environment:

Cluster element ID
Cluster element host/IP
Cluster element opened port
SAP J2EE Engine 6.20 system core version
Java version
Operating system (OP) name
Operating system (OP) version
Java Virtual Machine (VM) version
Java Virtual Machine (VM) vendor
Java Virtual Machine (VM) name
User directory
Startup Time

Log

Log – displays the log messages about all significant events that have occurred on the relevant server node. The following information is displayed about each log message:

Severity – the severity level of the log message
Component – the component that logs the message
Message – the ID and information about the log message
Exception – the exception that is written to the log files

Dispatcher Monitor

Log

Log – displays the log messages about all significant events that have occurred on the relevant dispatcher node. The following information is displayed about each log message:

Severity – the severity level of the log message
Component – the component that logs the message
Message – the ID and information about the log message
Exception – the exception that is written to the log files

Heart Beat

This displays a table containing information about the current state of the services running on the dispatcher node and the whole dispatcher system. The table displays the state (for example, Running, Stopped, and so on) and the time of the last change of the corresponding service state.

Workload Summary

Top List

MonitoredThreads – displays summary information about all threads on the relevant server, and a table showing specific information about each thread:

Summary – contains the following data

Initial threads
Current threads
Peak threads
Running threads
Idle threads
Idle waiting threads
Threads blocked by synchronization
Threads waiting for resources
Queued requests for threads

Children – displays the following information about the threads

Name
ThreadID
State
Elapsed time
LastStateChange

Memory

MemoryManager – displays information about the memory used by the dispatcher node. The following information is provided:

Allocated Memory – the memory allocated to the corresponding dispatcher node. The value of this property is in bytes. Its type is “long.” The value range is less than or equal to the Memory Limit property.
Memory Limit – the maximum amount of memory that can be allocated to the relevant dispatcher node
Max Memory – the maximum amount of memory used by the corresponding dispatcher node to date
Memory in Use – the amount of memory being used by the dispatcher node
Utilization Level – an integer corresponding to the percentage range of memory used by the relevant dispatcher node at present. There are six utilization levels according to the amount of memory used

0 – the amount of memory used is from 0% to 40%
1 – the amount of memory used is from 41% to 55%
2 – the amount of memory used is from 56% to 65%
3 – the amount of memory used is from 66% to 71%
4 – the amount of memory used is from 72% to 75%
5 – the amount of memory used is from 76% to 100%

System Info

Provides general information about the dispatcher node and its environment:

Cluster element ID
Cluster element host/IP
Cluster element opened port
SAP J2EE Engine 6.20 system core version
Java version
Operating system (OP) name
Operating system (OP) version
Java Virtual Machine (VM) version
Java Virtual Machine (VM) vendor
Java Virtual Machine (VM) name
User directory
Startup Time

Configuration

This displays the configuration properties and their values for all managers and services running on the relevant dispatcher node. The properties and their values can be viewed only, and cannot be modified here. To modify them, use the corresponding manager or service Visual Administrator “Properties” tab or Properties file.

Aggregated

Workload Summary

Sessions

The Session monitor provides aggregated information about the user sessions. This component displays monitor data about the Login System, the HTTP Sessions, and a summary of both for the whole cluster. Information about each session is provided in the Top List monitoring data in each server node.

Login System – used for collecting data about all user sessions on the cluster. The login monitor data is:

Current number of sessions – the number of cluster login sessions now open
Maximum sessions since startup – the maximum number of login sessions opened since startup
Average sessions since startup – the average number of open cluster sessions per second
Maximum sessions gross time – the maximum duration of a user session from its opening to its closure
Average sessions gross time – the average duration of a user session from its opening to its closure

Http Sessions – enables you to monitor the current number of stateful sessions (HTTP Sessions) on the cluster:

Current number of sessions – the number of cluster HTTP sessions now opened
Maximum sessions since startup – the maximum number of HTTP sessions opened since startup
Average sessions since startup – the average number of open cluster sessions per second
Maximum sessions gross time – the maximum duration of an HTTP session from its opening to its closure
Average sessions gross time – the average duration of an HTTP session from its opening to its closure

Total Sessions – displays summary information about the sessions on the cluster.

Requests

Requests (http) – displays information about the number of HTTP requests received by all server nodes within the cluster, and the number of responses. The data is distributed as follows:

TotalNumberOfRequests – the total number of HTTP requests received by the cluster since startup
TotalNumberOfResponses – the total number of HTTP responses returned by the cluster since startup
AverageTimeForRequest – the average time (in milliseconds) for response to an HTTP request by the cluster
MaximumTimeForRequest – the maximum period (in milliseconds) for executing an HTTP request from startup to the present
WaitingRequests – the number of requests waiting to be processed. The type of this property is “int.” Its value range is a non-negative number.
MaxNumberOfWaitingRequests – the maximum number of requests waiting at the same time. This property covers a period from startup to the present. The type of the property is “int.” Its range is greater than or equal to the requests now waiting.
MaxNumberOfRequestsPerSecond – the maximum number of requests per second received from startup to the present. The type of this property is “double.” Its value range is a non-negative number.
MaxNumberOfResponsesPerSecond – the maximum number of responses returned by the server nodes per second from startup to the present. The type of this property is “long.” Its value range is a non-negative number.
AvgNumberOfRequestsPerSecond – the average number of requests per second received from startup to the present. The type of this property is “double.” Its value range is a non-negative number.

Total Requests – displays information about the number of all requests (for example, HTTP, P4, and so on) received by the cluster and the number of responses. The data is presented by the same properties as described above.

Threads

SystemMonitoredThreads – displays summary information about all system threads on the cluster:

Initial threads
Current threads
Peak threads
Running threads
Idle threads
Idle waiting threads
Threads blocked by synchronization
Threads waiting for resources
Queued requests for threads

Memory

MemoryManager – displays information about the memory used by the whole cluster. The following information is provided:

Allocated Memory – the memory allocated to the cluster. The value of this property is in bytes. Its type is “long.” The value range is less than or equal to the Memory Limit property.
Memory Limit – the maximum amount of memory that can be allocated to the cluster
Max Memory – the maximum amount of memory used by the cluster to date
Memory in Use – the amount of memory being used by the cluster
Utilization Level – an integer corresponding to the percentage range of memory used by the cluster at present. There are six utilization levels according to the amount of memory used

0 – the amount of memory used is from 0% to 40%
1 – the amount of memory used is from 41% to 55%
2 – the amount of memory used is from 56% to 65%
3 – the amount of memory used is from 66% to 71%
4 – the amount of memory used is from 72% to 75%
5 – the amount of memory used is from 76% to 100%

Viewing and Exporting the Monitor Data

SAP J2EE Engine 6.20 monitoring system can be viewed from the Visual Administrator tool, or it can be configured to report data to an external monitoring system, to a file system, or to a browser.

Viewing the Monitor Data from the Visual Administrator Tool

SAP J2EE Engine 6.20 Visual Administrator by default displays general information and statistics about the server and dispatcher nodes in its “Runtime” tab.

SAP J2EE Engine 6.20 Visual Administrator enables you to view the current monitor data. Make sure that you are in Cluster view mode (that is, select on the toolbar). Choose Cluster ® Server ® Services ® Monitor from the left-hand pane of SAP J2EE Engine 6.20 Visual Administrator. Choose “Runtime” from the right-hand pane. The “Components” pane displays the “Monitor Server” tree structure. Select the tree nodes to display the corresponding monitor data in the right-hand pane of “Runtime.”

Note: You must be running Monitor Server and Monitor Service to view the monitor data from the Visual Administrator tool. If the Monitor Server is not running, the “Components” tab displays “Monitor Servers” – selecting it does not display monitor data.

Monitoring Data from the Visual Administrator Tool

SAP J2EE Engine 6.20 Visual Administrator provides options to dynamically sort the monitor data, which is displayed in tables, in ascending or descending order, by all table data types.

To sort the monitor data by a certain type, select the corresponding column title. For example, to sort the threads by their state, as is shown in the graphic above, select “State” in the “Children” pane in the right-hand pane of Visual Administrator. To change the number of threads that are reported, modify the “Count of the reported thread” field and choose “Enter.”

Note: The settings changed in Visual Administrator are not saved in the Monitor Server configuration file. They only affect the current data displayed in the Visual Administrator.

Visual Administrator displays the current monitor data only. It cannot view monitor data history.

Exporting Data to SAP’s CCMS

SAP’s CCMS system provides an infrastructure to store and access monitoring data.

To use SAP’s CCMS monitoring system, you must install SAP’s CCMS agent and activate it. The SAP J2EE Engine 6.20 Monitor Server is configured by default to export the monitor data to SAP’s CCMS monitoring system.

Note: To export monitor data to CCMS, you need jmon.dll . It is not included in the SAP J2EE Engine distribution package and can be obtained from the SAP J2EE Engine provider. It is critical to specify the path to jmon.dll in the monitor script file – for example, -Djava.library.path="%PATH%";<jmon.dll path>\.jmon.dll , where <jmon.dll path> is the path to jmon.dll on your machine.

SAP’s CCMS monitoring system optimizes reading and writing of data from a performance viewpoint. It is an independent executable process and operates outside SAP J2EE Engine 6.20. For further information on using SAP’s CCMS, refer to its documentation.

SAP’s CCMS Monitoring System

Exporting Data to a File System

By default, SAP J2EE Engine 6.20 monitoring system exports data to a file system. The log messages in this system can be viewed using a tool (for example, Microsoft Excel ) that is able to interpret a white space delimited plain text file format.

The monitoring system stores the files in the <SAPj2eeEngine_install_dir>/cluster/server/services/monitor/work/ directory.

The system stores the data in white space delimited plain text format. The information is stored row by row; tabulation is used to separate two columns and the symbol for new line is used to separate two rows.

When the file becomes too large, processing it using certain tools becomes difficult. Therefore, after every 60 000 rows the monitoring system starts writing into a new file.

The names of the exported files use the following format:

log_yy_mm_dd_hh_mn_ss.mon , where: yy stands for year, mm for month, dd for day, hh for hour, mn for minutes, ss for seconds, mon for monitoring
monitor_yy_mm_dd_hh_mn_ss.mon , where: yy stands for year, mm for month, dd for day, hh for hour, mn for minutes, ss for seconds, mon for monitoring
settings_yy_mm_dd_hh_mn_ss.mon , where: yy stands for year, mm for month, dd for day, hh for hour, mn for minutes, ss for seconds, mon for monitoring

Browser-Based Monitoring

The monitor data can be viewed from a browser. To view the BBM (Browser-based monitoring) data, enter the following text in your Internet browser address bar:

http://localhost/monitor.jsp

The monitor.jsp has the following view:

Browser-Based Monitoring

The data displayed in the browser can be separated logically into two parts: right (showing all cluster elements) and left (displaying options for monitoring specific monitor data).

The monitor.jsp components displayed in the browser are:

“Refresh” – refreshes the data displayed by the browser. When selected, it sends a request to the server and displays the last monitoring data. The “Refresh” icon on your Web browser tool bar cannot be used to perform the same operation. If selected, that icon displays the initial view of the monitor.jsp shown in the picture above.
“Select All” link – specifies that all log messages should be displayed, if the “Log” link is selected
A link to each cluster node – to view the monitor data on a specific cluster node, select that node and then the specific monitor snapshot. If you are viewing monitoring data about the whole cluster, selecting a specific cluster node displays the monitoring data about that cluster node only.
“Logs” link – displays a table containing the log messages on the cluster
“Level” drop-down menu – enables you to choose the type of log messages to be displayed
Workload snapshots – enables you to choose from the following types of monitor data

Login Sessions
HTTP Sessions
Threads
System Threads

The monitor data is displayed in tables, which you can sort by data elements in increasing or decreasing order. The icon displays the previous 10 pieces of data. The icon displays the previous 100 pieces of data. There are similar icons for displaying the next 10 and the next 100 pieces of monitor data.

Note: To view the data from your Web browser, you must have a running SAP J2EE Engine 6.20, but you do not need a running Monitor Server.

Monitoring Several Servers and Dispatchers by Using more than One Monitor Server

The SAP J2EE Engine 6.20 monitoring system enables you to distribute monitor data using more than one monitor server. This is useful when each monitor server monitors different cluster nodes, and when different types of monitor data are required for different cluster nodes. This option also improves the monitor system performance because it enables you to distribute the workload between the monitor servers.

Two Monitor Servers Monitor Two Dispatchers and Four Servers

The graphic above displays two monitor servers running on the same host ( zorro ). Each has opened a different port for Visual Administrator ( 5555 and 6101 ). The port is specified using the monitor.system.VA.port property in the corresponding configuration file.

The first monitor server monitors Dispatcher 1 ( ID = 5001 ), Server 1 ( ID = 4001 ) and Server 2 ( ID = 3002 ). The second monitor server monitors Dispatcher 2 ( ID = 5002 ), Server 3 ( ID = 3003 ) and Server 4 ( ID = 3004 ).

The contents of the configuration file used to start the first monitor server is:

shell.autoexec.0=help
shell.autoexec.1=connect

cluster.connector.box=yes
cluster.connector.box.id.5001=yes
cluster.connector.box.id.4001=yes
cluster.connector.box.id.3002=yes

monitor.system.VA.port = 5555

shell.autoexec.2=connect
shell.autoexec.3=include *
shell.autoexec.4=list
shell.autoexec.5=report

The contents of the configuration file used to start the second monitor server is:

cluster.connector.box=yes
cluster.connector.box.id.5002=yes
cluster.connector.box.id.3003=yes
cluster.connector.box.id.3004=yes

monitor.system.VA.port = 6101

shell.autoexec.0=connect
shell.autoexec.1=include *
shell.autoexec.2=list
shell.autoexec.3=report