Setting Up the Agent for Java EE/JMX

The JMX agent can be run outside of an application server. This installation guide describes the required steps.

The following guide describes how to install an agent in an AE system in which authentication is not used. Additional installation steps are required before the agent can be started and used if you intend to use one of the available authentication methods. More detailed information is provided in the document Advanced Security.

Automic strongly recommends installing the agent in a separate directory (such as UC4/Agent/jmx or C:\AUTOMIC\Agent\jmx).

Before you start the installation, make sure that the Java agents can only connect to CP port numbers that are lower than 65536. If they use a higher port number, the agent cannot start and aborts with an error message. This limitation is caused by Java and affects the agents for JMX, Databases, SAP and RA.

To Set Up the Agent for Java EE/JMX

  1. Install Java Standard Edition.

    This installation step can be omitted if the required version of Java Standard Edition is already available.

    • Admin computer and/or user computer
    • Check the current version of your system's Java Virtual Machine (VM) using the following command:

      java -version

      Note that the order of the indicated directories is relevant when specifying %PATH% or $PATH if several versions of JRE or Java SDK are installed on your computer. The Java Runtime Environment listed first is used.

  2. Set up the agent.

    • Host
    • Create a separate folder for the JMX agent and copy the supplied files and the subfolder "Logs" to it. Instead, you can also use the program SETUP.EXE for the installation. It is available in the supplied directory (Agent).
    • Several settings are available for adjusting the JMX agent to your system environment. Of note are the agent and computer name, and the port of the communication process to which the agent should connect. Configure these settings using the agent's INI file.

  3. Start the agent.

    • Use the following command to start the agent from the command line (UNIX and Windows): 

      java -jar -Xrs -Xmx256M ucxjjmx.jar

    The agent can also be started by using the ServiceManager.

    The maximum size of the memory allocation poolshould be set to at least 256MB for starting Java agents (Databases, RA, JMX, SAP). You can specify a value for the storage limitation of Java applications by using the start parameter -Xmx. Specifying a value that is too low can cause the agent to crash. The default value depends on the Java version that is used. This value must a multiple of 1024 greater than 2MB. Append the letter k or K to indicate kilobytes, or m or M to indicate megabytes. If large spool lists or Job logs are transferred the value should be much higher (for example -Xmx1024M).

    The Java parameter -Xrs ensures that the agent keeps running in the Service Manager when a User logs off. Automic recommends using this parameter on Windows only. More detailed information is provided in the Java documentation.

  4. Important notes for creating jobs.

    • Host
    • Select the option "Local Java VM" in the Job object's JMX tab.
    • Activate the sub-items "Use existing MBean Server" and "Create new instance..."