Specialized Administration > Site Maintenance > Using Java Management Extensions (JMX) > Using MBeans to Monitor Windchill Directory Server
  
Using MBeans to Monitor Windchill Directory Server
To monitor Windchill Directory Server using MBeans, you must first connect to the Windchill Directory Server MBeans.
From any machine (even one that is local to the Windchill Directory Server), you must use a remote connection to connect. On the JConsole New Connection window, you must specify the Windchill Directory Server JMX URL in the Remote Process text field and include the username and password specified when Windchill Directory Server was installed (default cn=manager) in the Username and Password fields. The format of the JMX URL is similar to the following (entered on one line):
service:jmx:rmi:///jndi/rmi://localhost:1689/org.opends.server.protocols.jmx.client-unknown
If you are connecting from a remote system, replace localhost with the host name where Windchill Directory Server resides.
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If you use a local connection to connect to the Windchill Directory Server by choosing the Windchill Directory Server process from the local process list. However, local connections (which do not require logon credentials) are not recommended since a local connection only provides limited access to the Windchill Directory Server MBeans.
For VisualVM, use File > Add JMX Connection to open a connection to Windchill Directory Server. Enter the JMX URL in the Connection field and select Use security credentials to enable the Username and Password fields.
The Windchill Directory Server MBeans are available from the com.ptc node on the MBeans tab.
Most of the Windchill Directory Server MBeans you see are similar to their counterparts in Windchill. For example, the LogsDirViewer MBean allows you to list log files, view them, and send log files to support. However, these log files are files in the Windchill Directory Server logs directory, rather than Windchill log files. For the descriptions of the Windchill MBeans, see Windchill MBeans.
The two MBeans specific to Windchill Directory Server are DSCollector and DSUtility:
DSUtility allows you to view basic Windchill Directory Server information, environment variables, and view and set system properties.
DSCollector allows you to collect Windchill Directory Server specific information and also allows you to send it to support. The operations collectLogs, collectMBeanDump, collectProperties, and sendDirectory allow you to specify a directory for sending or collection. Normally you would specify a relative directory name. The paths are relative to the <WindchillDS_dir>/server/utilities/SystemConfigurationCollector/gathered directory, where <WindchillDS_dir> is the directory location where Windchill Directory Server is installed.
Notes on Using MBeans to Send or Email Information
Windchill Directory Server does not access the Windchill property files, so you must manually set the appropriate values. For example, before you can email information, set the MailServer and MailServerPort in the Emailer MBean attributes. Also, before you can send information to support, set the SCN value in the DSCollector MBean attributes.
PTC also recommends that you set up a list of email addresses to receive email when an issue (for example, low memory) is detected. Use the emailer JMX-Administrators MBean to add addresses to this list.
After setting the MailServer host and port, and email address list, save the changes using the Loader MBean save operation. By using the Loader MBean save operation, the values you have set continue to be available after Windchill Directory Server is restarted. The default location of the file that contains Windchill Directory Server MBean values and configuration is <WindchillDS_dir>/server/config/WDSMBeanConfig.xml, where <WindchillDS_dir> is the directory location where Windchill Directory Server is installed.
To retain the SCN value across Windchill Directory Server restarts, set the wt.support.scn environment variable to the SCN value.
Alternate Way to Determine the JMX URL
The JMX URL needed to connect to Windchill Directory Server is easy to mistype. So, as a convenience, the JMX URL needed to connect to Windchill Directory Server is provided on the Server Status page. Open the Server Status page from Site > Utilities and scroll down to the Windchill Directory Server section. You can copy the JMX URL value for Windchill Directory Server and paste it into your JMX client connection window.