23. JMX
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## 23. JMX

## 23.1 Introduction

The JMX support in Spring provides you with the features to easily and transparently integrate your Spring application into a JMX infrastructure.

Specifically, Spring's JMX support provides four core features:

- The automatic registration of any Spring bean as a JMX MBean

- A flexible mechanism for controlling the management interface of your beans

- The declarative exposure of MBeans over remote, JSR-160 connectors

- The simple proxying of both local and remote MBean resources

These features are designed to work without coupling your application components to either Spring or JMX interfaces and classes. Indeed, for the most part your application classes need not be aware of either Spring or JMX in order to take advantage of the Spring JMX features.

## 23.2 Exporting your beans to JMX

The core class in Spring's JMX framework is the `MBeanExporter`. This class is responsible for taking your Spring beans and registering them with a JMX `MBeanServer`. For example, consider the following class:

    package org.springframework.jmx;

    public class JmxTestBean implements IJmxTestBean {

        private String name;
        private int age;
        private boolean isSuperman;

        public int getAge() {
            return age;
        }

        public void setAge(int age) {
            this.age = age;
        }

        public void setName(String name) {
            this.name = name;
        }

        public String getName() {
            return name;
        }

        public int add(int x, int y) {
            return x + y;
        }

        public void dontExposeMe() {
            throw new RuntimeException();
        }
    }

To expose the properties and methods of this bean as attributes and operations of an MBean you simply configure an instance of the `MBeanExporter` class in your configuration file and pass in the bean as shown below:

    <beans>

      <!-- this bean must not be lazily initialized if the exporting is to happen -->
      <bean id="exporter" class="org.springframework.jmx.export.MBeanExporter" lazy-init="false">
        <property name="beans">
          <map>
            <entry key="bean:name=testBean1" value-ref="testBean"/>
          </map>
        </property>
      </bean>

      <bean id="testBean" class="org.springframework.jmx.JmxTestBean">
        <property name="name" value="TEST"/>
        <property name="age" value="100"/>
      </bean>

    </beans>

The pertinent bean definition from the above configuration snippet is the `exporter` bean. The `beans` property tells the `MBeanExporter` exactly which of your beans must be exported to the JMX `MBeanServer`. In the default configuration, the key of each entry in the `beans` `Map` is used as the `ObjectName` for the bean referenced by the corresponding entry value. This behavior can be changed as described in Section 23.4, “Controlling the ObjectNames for your beans”.

With this configuration the `testBean` bean is exposed as an MBean under the `ObjectName` `bean:name=testBean1`. By default, all public properties of the bean are exposed as attributes and all public methods (bar those inherited from the `Object` class) are exposed as operations.

### 23.2.1 Creating an `MBeanServer`

The above configuration assumes that the application is running in an environment that has one (and only one) `MBeanServer` already running. In this case, Spring will attempt to locate the running `MBeanServer` and register your beans with that server (if any). This behavior is useful when your application is running inside a container such as Tomcat or IBM WebSphere that has its own `MBeanServer`.

However, this approach is of no use in a standalone environment, or when running inside a container that does not provide an `MBeanServer`. To address this you can create an `MBeanServer` instance declaratively by adding an instance of the `org.springframework.jmx.support.MBeanServerFactoryBean` class to your configuration. You can also ensure that a specific `MBeanServer` is used by setting the value of the `MBeanExporter`'s `server` property to the `MBeanServer` value returned by an `MBeanServerFactoryBean`; for example:

    <beans>

      <bean id="mbeanServer" class="org.springframework.jmx.support.MBeanServerFactoryBean"/>

      <!--
        this bean needs to be eagerly pre-instantiated in order for the exporting to occur;
        this means that it must not be marked as lazily initialized
      -->
      <bean id="exporter" class="org.springframework.jmx.export.MBeanExporter">
        <property name="beans">
          <map>
            <entry key="bean:name=testBean1" value-ref="testBean"/>
          </map>
        </property>
        <property name="server" ref="mbeanServer"/>
      </bean>

      <bean id="testBean" class="org.springframework.jmx.JmxTestBean">
        <property name="name" value="TEST"/>
        <property name="age" value="100"/>
      </bean>

    </beans>

Here an instance of `MBeanServer` is created by the `MBeanServerFactoryBean` and is supplied to the `MBeanExporter` via the server property. When you supply your own `MBeanServer` instance, the `MBeanExporter` will not attempt to locate a running `MBeanServer` and will use the supplied `MBeanServer` instance. For this to work correctly, you must (of course) have a JMX implementation on your classpath.

### 23.2.2 Reusing an existing `MBeanServer`

If no server is specified, the `MBeanExporter` tries to automatically detect a running `MBeanServer`. This works in most environment where only one `MBeanServer` instance is used, however when multiple instances exist, the exporter might pick the wrong server. In such cases, one should use the `MBeanServer` `agentId` to indicate which instance to be used:

    <beans>
       <bean id="mbeanServer" class="org.springframework.jmx.support.MBeanServerFactoryBean">
         <!-- indicate to first look for a server -->
         <property name="locateExistingServerIfPossible" value="true"/>
         <!-- search for the MBeanServer instance with the given agentId -->
         <property name="agentId" value="<MBeanServer instance agentId>"/>
       </bean>

       <bean id="exporter" class="org.springframework.jmx.export.MBeanExporter">
         <property name="server" ref="mbeanServer"/>
       ...
       </bean>
    </beans>

For platforms/cases where the existing `MBeanServer` has a dynamic (or unknown) `agentId` which is retrieved through lookup methods, one should use factory-method:

    <beans>
       <bean id="exporter" class="org.springframework.jmx.export.MBeanExporter">
         <property name="server">
           <!-- Custom MBeanServerLocator -->
           <bean class="platform.package.MBeanServerLocator" factory-method="locateMBeanServer"/>
         </property>

         <!-- other beans here -->

       </bean>
    </beans>

### 23.2.3 Lazy-initialized MBeans

If you configure a bean with the `MBeanExporter` that is also configured for lazy initialization, then the `MBeanExporter` will not break this contract and will avoid instantiating the bean. Instead, it will register a proxy with the `MBeanServer` and will defer obtaining the bean from the container until the first invocation on the proxy occurs.

### 23.2.4 Automatic registration of MBeans

Any beans that are exported through the `MBeanExporter` and are already valid MBeans are registered as-is with the `MBeanServer` without further intervention from Spring. MBeans can be automatically detected by the `MBeanExporter` by setting the `autodetect` property to `true`:

    <bean id="exporter" class="org.springframework.jmx.export.MBeanExporter">
      <property name="autodetect" value="true"/>
    </bean>

    <bean name="spring:mbean=true" class="org.springframework.jmx.export.TestDynamicMBean"/>

Here, the bean called `spring:mbean=true` is already a valid JMX MBean and will be automatically registered by Spring. By default, beans that are autodetected for JMX registration have their bean name used as the `ObjectName`. This behavior can be overridden as detailed in Section 23.4, “Controlling the ObjectNames for your beans”.

### 23.2.5 Controlling the registration behavior

Consider the scenario where a Spring `MBeanExporter` attempts to register an `MBean` with an `MBeanServer` using the `ObjectName` `'bean:name=testBean1'`. If an `MBean` instance has already been registered under that same `ObjectName`, the default behavior is to fail (and throw an `InstanceAlreadyExistsException`).

It is possible to control the behavior of exactly what happens when an `MBean` is registered with an `MBeanServer`. Spring's JMX support allows for three different registration behaviors to control the registration behavior when the registration process finds that an `MBean` has already been registered under the same `ObjectName`; these registration behaviors are summarized on the following table:

Table 23.1. Registration Behaviors

Registration behavior | Explanation
--- | ---
`REGISTRATION_FAIL_ON_EXISTING` | This is the default registration behavior. If an `MBean` instance has already been registered under the same `ObjectName`, the `MBean` that is being registered will not be registered and an `InstanceAlreadyExistsException` will be thrown. The existing `MBean` is unaffected.
`REGISTRATION_IGNORE_EXISTING` | If an `MBean` instance has already been registered under the same `ObjectName`, the `MBean` that is being registered will not be registered. The existing `MBean` is unaffected, and no `Exception` will be thrown. This is useful in settings where multiple applications want to share a common `MBean` in a shared `MBeanServer`.
`REGISTRATION_REPLACE_EXISTING` | If an `MBean` instance has already been registered under the same `ObjectName`, the existing `MBean` that was previously registered will be unregistered and the new `MBean` will be registered in its place (the new `MBean` effectively replaces the previous instance).

The above values are defined as constants on the `MBeanRegistrationSupport` class (the `MBeanExporter` class derives from this superclass). If you want to change the default registration behavior, you simply need to set the value of the `registrationBehaviorName` property on your `MBeanExporter` definition to one of those values.

The following example illustrates how to effect a change from the default registration behavior to the `REGISTRATION_REPLACE_EXISTING` behavior:

    <beans>

        <bean id="exporter" class="org.springframework.jmx.export.MBeanExporter">
            <property name="beans">
                <map>
                    <entry key="bean:name=testBean1" value-ref="testBean"/>
                </map>
            </property>
            <property name="registrationBehaviorName" value="REGISTRATION_REPLACE_EXISTING"/>
        </bean>

        <bean id="testBean" class="org.springframework.jmx.JmxTestBean">
            <property name="name" value="TEST"/>
            <property name="age" value="100"/>
        </bean>

    </beans>

## 23.3 Controlling the management interface of your beans

In the previous example, you had little control over the management interface of your bean; all of the public properties and methods of each exported bean was exposed as JMX attributes and operations respectively. To exercise finer-grained control over exactly which properties and methods of your exported beans are actually exposed as JMX attributes and operations, Spring JMX provides a comprehensive and extensible mechanism for controlling the management interfaces of your beans.

### 23.3.1 The `MBeanInfoAssembler` Interface

Behind the scenes, the `MBeanExporter` delegates to an implementation of the `org.springframework.jmx.export.assembler.MBeanInfoAssembler` interface which is responsible for defining the management interface of each bean that is being exposed. The default implementation, `org.springframework.jmx.export.assembler.SimpleReflectiveMBeanInfoAssembler`, simply defines a management interface that exposes all public properties and methods (as you saw in the previous examples). Spring provides two additional implementations of the `MBeanInfoAssembler` interface that allow you to control the generated management interface using either source-level metadata or any arbitrary interface.

### 23.3.2 Using Source-Level Metadata (JDK 5.0 annotations)

Using the `MetadataMBeanInfoAssembler` you can define the management interfaces for your beans using source level metadata. The reading of metadata is encapsulated by the `org.springframework.jmx.export.metadata.JmxAttributeSource` interface. Spring JMX provides a default implementation which uses JDK 5.0 annotations, namely `org.springframework.jmx.export.annotation.AnnotationJmxAttributeSource`. The `MetadataMBeanInfoAssembler` must be configured with an implementation instance of the `JmxAttributeSource` interface for it to function correctly (there is no default).

To mark a bean for export to JMX, you should annotate the bean class with the `ManagedResource` annotation. Each method you wish to expose as an operation must be marked with the `ManagedOperation` annotation and each property you wish to expose must be marked with the `ManagedAttribute` annotation. When marking properties you can omit either the annotation of the getter or the setter to create a write-only or read-only attribute respectively.

The example below shows the annotated version of the `JmxTestBean` class that you saw earlier:

    package org.springframework.jmx;

    import org.springframework.jmx.export.annotation.ManagedResource;
    import org.springframework.jmx.export.annotation.ManagedOperation;
    import org.springframework.jmx.export.annotation.ManagedAttribute;

    @ManagedResource(objectName="bean:name=testBean4", description="My Managed Bean", log=true,
        logFile="jmx.log", currencyTimeLimit=15, persistPolicy="OnUpdate", persistPeriod=200,
        persistLocation="foo", persistName="bar")
    public class AnnotationTestBean implements IJmxTestBean {

      private String name;
      private int age;

      @ManagedAttribute(description="The Age Attribute", currencyTimeLimit=15)
      public int getAge() {
        return age;
      }

      public void setAge(int age) {
        this.age = age;
      }

      @ManagedAttribute(description="The Name Attribute",
          currencyTimeLimit=20,
          defaultValue="bar",
          persistPolicy="OnUpdate")
      public void setName(String name) {
        this.name = name;
      }

      @ManagedAttribute(defaultValue="foo", persistPeriod=300)
      public String getName() {
        return name;
      }

      @ManagedOperation(description="Add two numbers")
      @ManagedOperationParameters({
        @ManagedOperationParameter(name = "x", description = "The first number"),
        @ManagedOperationParameter(name = "y", description = "The second number")})
      public int add(int x, int y) {
        return x + y;
      }

      public void dontExposeMe() {
        throw new RuntimeException();
      }
    }

Here you can see that the `JmxTestBean` class is marked with the `ManagedResource` annotation and that this `ManagedResource` annotation is configured with a set of properties. These properties can be used to configure various aspects of the MBean that is generated by the `MBeanExporter`, and are explained in greater detail later in section entitled Section 23.3.3, “Source-Level Metadata Types”.

You will also notice that both the `age` and `name` properties are annotated with the `ManagedAttribute` annotation, but in the case of the `age` property, only the getter is marked. This will cause both of these properties to be included in the management interface as attributes, but the `age` attribute will be read-only.

Finally, you will notice that the `add(int, int)` method is marked with the `ManagedOperation` attribute whereas the `dontExposeMe()` method is not. This will cause the management interface to contain only one operation, `add(int, int)`, when using the `MetadataMBeanInfoAssembler`.

The configuration below shows how you configure the `MBeanExporter` to use the `MetadataMBeanInfoAssembler`:

    <beans>
        <bean id="exporter" class="org.springframework.jmx.export.MBeanExporter">
            <property name="assembler" ref="assembler"/>
            <property name="namingStrategy" ref="namingStrategy"/>
            <property name="autodetect" value="true"/>
        </bean>

        <bean id="jmxAttributeSource"
              class="org.springframework.jmx.export.annotation.AnnotationJmxAttributeSource"/>

        <!-- will create management interface using annotation metadata -->
        <bean id="assembler"
              class="org.springframework.jmx.export.assembler.MetadataMBeanInfoAssembler">
            <property name="attributeSource" ref="jmxAttributeSource"/>
        </bean>

        <!-- will pick up the ObjectName from the annotation -->
        <bean id="namingStrategy"
              class="org.springframework.jmx.export.naming.MetadataNamingStrategy">
            <property name="attributeSource" ref="jmxAttributeSource"/>
        </bean>

        <bean id="testBean" class="org.springframework.jmx.AnnotationTestBean">
            <property name="name" value="TEST"/>
            <property name="age" value="100"/>
        </bean>
    </beans>

Here you can see that an `MetadataMBeanInfoAssembler` bean has been configured with an instance of the `AnnotationJmxAttributeSource` class and passed to the `MBeanExporter` through the assembler property. This is all that is required to take advantage of metadata-driven management interfaces for your Spring-exposed MBeans.

### 23.3.3 Source-Level Metadata Types

The following source level metadata types are available for use in Spring JMX:

Table 23.2. Source-Level Metadata Types

Purpose | Annotation | Annotation Type
--- | --- | ---
Mark all instances of a `Class` as JMX managed resources | `@ManagedResource` | Class
Mark a method as a JMX operation | `@ManagedOperation` | Method
Mark a getter or setter as one half of a JMX attribute | `@ManagedAttribute` | Method (only getters and setters)
Define descriptions for operation parameters | `@ManagedOperationParameter` and `@ManagedOperationParameters` | Method

The following configuration parameters are available for use on these source-level metadata types:

Table 23.3. Source-Level Metadata Parameters

Parameter | Description | Applies to
--- | --- | ---
`ObjectName` | Used by `MetadataNamingStrategy` to determine the `ObjectName` of a managed resource | `ManagedResource`
`description` | Sets the friendly description of the resource, attribute or operation | `ManagedResource`, `ManagedAttribute`, `ManagedOperation`, `ManagedOperationParameter`
`currencyTimeLimit` | Sets the value of the `currencyTimeLimit` descriptor field | `ManagedResource`, `ManagedAttribute`
`defaultValue` | Sets the value of the `defaultValue` descriptor field | `ManagedAttribute`
`log` | Sets the value of the `log` descriptor field | `ManagedResource`
`logFile` | Sets the value of the `logFile` descriptor field | `ManagedResource`
`persistPolicy` | Sets the value of the `persistPolicy` descriptor field | `ManagedResource`
`persistPeriod` | Sets the value of the `persistPeriod` descriptor field | `ManagedResource`
`persistLocation` | Sets the value of the `persistLocation` descriptor field | `ManagedResource`
`persistName` | Sets the value of the `persistName` descriptor field | `ManagedResource`
`name` | Sets the display name of an operation parameter | `ManagedOperationParameter`
`index` | Sets the index of an operation parameter | `ManagedOperationParameter`

### 23.3.4 The `AutodetectCapableMBeanInfoAssembler` interface

To simplify configuration even further, Spring introduces the `AutodetectCapableMBeanInfoAssembler` interface which extends the `MBeanInfoAssembler` interface to add support for autodetection of MBean resources. If you configure the `MBeanExporter` with an instance of `AutodetectCapableMBeanInfoAssembler` then it is allowed to "vote" on the inclusion of beans for exposure to JMX.

Out of the box, the only implementation of the `AutodetectCapableMBeanInfo` interface is the `MetadataMBeanInfoAssembler` which will vote to include any bean which is marked with the `ManagedResource` attribute. The default approach in this case is to use the bean name as the `ObjectName` which results in a configuration like this:

    <beans>

      <bean id="exporter" class="org.springframework.jmx.export.MBeanExporter">
        <!-- notice how no 'beans' are explicitly configured here -->
        <property name="autodetect" value="true"/>
        <property name="assembler" ref="assembler"/>
      </bean>

      <bean id="testBean" class="org.springframework.jmx.JmxTestBean">
        <property name="name" value="TEST"/>
        <property name="age" value="100"/>
      </bean>

      <bean id="assembler" class="org.springframework.jmx.export.assembler.MetadataMBeanInfoAssembler">
        <property name="attributeSource">
            <bean class="org.springframework.jmx.export.annotation.AnnotationJmxAttributeSource"/>
        </property>
      </bean>

    </beans>

Notice that in this configuration no beans are passed to the `MBeanExporter`; however, the `JmxTestBean` will still be registered since it is marked with the `ManagedResource` attribute and the `MetadataMBeanInfoAssembler` detects this and votes to include it. The only problem with this approach is that the name of the `JmxTestBean` now has business meaning. You can address this issue by changing the default behavior for `ObjectName` creation as defined in Section 23.4, “Controlling the ObjectNames for your beans”.

### 23.3.5 Defining management interfaces using Java interfaces

In addition to the `MetadataMBeanInfoAssembler`, Spring also includes the `InterfaceBasedMBeanInfoAssembler` which allows you to constrain the methods and properties that are exposed based on the set of methods defined in a collection of interfaces.

Although the standard mechanism for exposing MBeans is to use interfaces and a simple naming scheme, the `InterfaceBasedMBeanInfoAssembler` extends this functionality by removing the need for naming conventions, allowing you to use more than one interface and removing the need for your beans to implement the MBean interfaces.

Consider this interface that is used to define a management interface for the `JmxTestBean` class that you saw earlier:

    public interface IJmxTestBean {

      public int add(int x, int y);

      public long myOperation();

      public int getAge();

      public void setAge(int age);

      public void setName(String name);

      public String getName();
    }

This interface defines the methods and properties that will be exposed as operations and attributes on the JMX MBean. The code below shows how to configure Spring JMX to use this interface as the definition for the management interface:

    <beans>

      <bean id="exporter" class="org.springframework.jmx.export.MBeanExporter">
        <property name="beans">
          <map>
            <entry key="bean:name=testBean5" value-ref="testBean"/>
          </map>
        </property>
        <property name="assembler">
          <bean class="org.springframework.jmx.export.assembler.InterfaceBasedMBeanInfoAssembler">
            <property name="managedInterfaces">
              <value>org.springframework.jmx.IJmxTestBean</value>
            </property>
          </bean>
        </property>
      </bean>

      <bean id="testBean" class="org.springframework.jmx.JmxTestBean">
        <property name="name" value="TEST"/>
        <property name="age" value="100"/>
      </bean>

    </beans>

Here you can see that the `InterfaceBasedMBeanInfoAssembler` is configured to use the `IJmxTestBean` interface when constructing the management interface for any bean. It is important to understand that beans processed by the `InterfaceBasedMBeanInfoAssembler` are not required to implement the interface used to generate the JMX management interface.

In the case above, the `IJmxTestBean` interface is used to construct all management interfaces for all beans. In many cases this is not the desired behavior and you may want to use different interfaces for different beans. In this case, you can pass `InterfaceBasedMBeanInfoAssembler` a `Properties` instance via the `interfaceMappings` property, where the key of each entry is the bean name and the value of each entry is a comma-separated list of interface names to use for that bean.

If no management interface is specified through either the `managedInterfaces` or `interfaceMappings` properties, then the `InterfaceBasedMBeanInfoAssembler` will reflect on the bean and use all of the interfaces implemented by that bean to create the management interface.

### 23.3.6 Using `MethodNameBasedMBeanInfoAssembler`

The `MethodNameBasedMBeanInfoAssembler` allows you to specify a list of method names that will be exposed to JMX as attributes and operations. The code below shows a sample configuration for this:

    <bean id="exporter" class="org.springframework.jmx.export.MBeanExporter">
        <property name="beans">
          <map>
            <entry key="bean:name=testBean5" value-ref="testBean"/>
          </map>
        </property>
        <property name="assembler">
          <bean class="org.springframework.jmx.export.assembler.MethodNameBasedMBeanInfoAssembler">
            <property name="managedMethods">
              <value>add,myOperation,getName,setName,getAge</value>
            </property>
          </bean>
        </property>
    </bean>

Here you can see that the methods `add` and `myOperation` will be exposed as JMX operations and `getName()`, `setName(String)` and `getAge()` will be exposed as the appropriate half of a JMX attribute. In the code above, the method mappings apply to beans that are exposed to JMX. To control method exposure on a bean-by-bean basis, use the `methodMappings` property of `MethodNameMBeanInfoAssembler` to map bean names to lists of method names.

## 23.4 Controlling the `ObjectName`s for your beans

Behind the scenes, the `MBeanExporter` delegates to an implementation of the `ObjectNamingStrategy` to obtain `ObjectName`s for each of the beans it is registering. The default implementation, `KeyNamingStrategy`, will, by default, use the key of the `beans` `Map` as the `ObjectName`. In addition, the `KeyNamingStrategy` can map the key of the `beans` `Map` to an entry in a `Properties` file (or files) to resolve the `ObjectName`. In addition to the `KeyNamingStrategy`, Spring provides two additional `ObjectNamingStrategy` implementations: the `IdentityNamingStrategy` that builds an `ObjectName` based on the JVM identity of the bean and the `MetadataNamingStrategy` that uses source level metadata to obtain the `ObjectName`.

### 23.4.1 Reading `ObjectName`s from `Properties`

You can configure your own `KeyNamingStrategy` instance and configure it to read `ObjectName`s from a `Properties` instance rather than use bean key. The `KeyNamingStrategy` will attempt to locate an entry in the `Properties` with a key corresponding to the bean key. If no entry is found or if the `Properties` instance is `null` then the bean key itself is used.

The code below shows a sample configuration for the `KeyNamingStrategy`:

    <beans>

      <bean id="exporter" class="org.springframework.jmx.export.MBeanExporter">
        <property name="beans">
          <map>
            <entry key="testBean" value-ref="testBean"/>
          </map>
        </property>
        <property name="namingStrategy" ref="namingStrategy"/>
      </bean>

      <bean id="testBean" class="org.springframework.jmx.JmxTestBean">
        <property name="name" value="TEST"/>
        <property name="age" value="100"/>
      </bean>

      <bean id="namingStrategy" class="org.springframework.jmx.export.naming.KeyNamingStrategy">
        <property name="mappings">
          <props>
            <prop key="testBean">bean:name=testBean1</prop>
          </props>
        </property>
        <property name="mappingLocations">
          <value>names1.properties,names2.properties</value>
        </property>
      </bean

    </beans>

Here an instance of `KeyNamingStrategy` is configured with a `Properties` instance that is merged from the `Properties` instance defined by the mapping property and the properties files located in the paths defined by the mappings property. In this configuration, the `testBean` bean will be given the `ObjectName` `bean:name=testBean1` since this is the entry in the `Properties` instance that has a key corresponding to the bean key.

If no entry in the `Properties` instance can be found then the bean key name is used as the `ObjectName`.

### 23.4.2 Using the `MetadataNamingStrategy`

The `MetadataNamingStrategy` uses the `objectName` property of the `ManagedResource` attribute on each bean to create the `ObjectName`. The code below shows the configuration for the `MetadataNamingStrategy`:

    <beans>

      <bean id="exporter" class="org.springframework.jmx.export.MBeanExporter">
        <property name="beans">
          <map>
            <entry key="testBean" value-ref="testBean"/>
          </map>
        </property>
        <property name="namingStrategy" ref="namingStrategy"/>
      </bean>

      <bean id="testBean" class="org.springframework.jmx.JmxTestBean">
        <property name="name" value="TEST"/>
        <property name="age" value="100"/>
      </bean>

      <bean id="namingStrategy" class="org.springframework.jmx.export.naming.MetadataNamingStrategy">
        <property name="attributeSource" ref="attributeSource"/>
      </bean>

      <bean id="attributeSource"
          class="org.springframework.jmx.export.metadata.AttributesJmxAttributeSource"/>

    </beans>

If no `objectName` has been provided for the `ManagedResource` attribute, then an `ObjectName` will be created with the following format: [fully-qualified-package-name]:type=[short-classname],name=[bean-name]. For example, the generated `ObjectName` for the following bean would be: com.foo:type=MyClass,name=myBean.

    <bean id="myBean" class="com.foo.MyClass"/>

### 23.4.3 The `<context:mbean-export/>` element

If you are using at least Java 5, then a convenience subclass of `MBeanExporter` is available: `AnnotationMBeanExporter`. When defining an instance of this subclass, the `namingStrategy`, `assembler`, and `attributeSource` configuration is no longer needed, since it will always use standard Java annotation-based metadata (autodetection is always enabled as well). In fact, an even simpler syntax is supported by Spring's '`context`' namespace.. Rather than defining an `MBeanExporter` bean, just provide this single element:

    <context:mbean-export/>

You can provide a reference to a particular MBean server if necessary, and the `defaultDomain` attribute (a property of `AnnotationMBeanExporter`) accepts an alternate value for the generated MBean `ObjectNames`' domains. This would be used in place of the fully qualified package name as described in the previous section on `MetadataNamingStrategy`.

    <context:mbean-export server="myMBeanServer" default-domain="myDomain"/>

.

| Note
Do not use interface-based AOP proxies in combination with autodetection of JMX annotations in your bean classes. Interface-based proxies 'hide' the target class, which also hides the JMX managed resource annotations. Hence, use target-class proxies in that case: through setting the 'proxy-target-class' flag on `<aop:config/>`, `<tx:annotation-driven/>`, etc. Otherwise, your JMX beans might be silently ignored at startup...

## 23.5 JSR-160 Connectors

For remote access, Spring JMX module offers two `FactoryBean` implementations inside the `org.springframework.jmx.support` package for creating both server- and client-side connectors.

### 23.5.1 Server-side Connectors

To have Spring JMX create, start and expose a JSR-160 `JMXConnectorServer` use the following configuration:

    <bean id="serverConnector" class="org.springframework.jmx.support.ConnectorServerFactoryBean"/>

By default `ConnectorServerFactoryBean` creates a `JMXConnectorServer` bound to `"service:jmx:jmxmp://localhost:9875"`. The `serverConnector` bean thus exposes the local `MBeanServer` to clients through the JMXMP protocol on localhost, port 9875. Note that the JMXMP protocol is marked as optional by the JSR 160 specification: currently, the main open-source JMX implementation, MX4J, and the one provided with J2SE 5.0 do not support JMXMP.

To specify another URL and register the `JMXConnectorServer` itself with the `MBeanServer` use the `serviceUrl` and `ObjectName` properties respectively:

    <bean id="serverConnector"
          class="org.springframework.jmx.support.ConnectorServerFactoryBean">
      <property name="objectName" value="connector:name=rmi"/>
      <property name="serviceUrl"
                value="service:jmx:rmi://localhost/jndi/rmi://localhost:1099/myconnector"/>
    </bean>

If the `ObjectName` property is set Spring will automatically register your connector with the `MBeanServer` under that `ObjectName`. The example below shows the full set of parameters which you can pass to the `ConnectorServerFactoryBean` when creating a JMXConnector:

    <bean id="serverConnector"
          class="org.springframework.jmx.support.ConnectorServerFactoryBean">
      <property name="objectName" value="connector:name=iiop"/>
      <property name="serviceUrl"
                   value="service:jmx:iiop://localhost/jndi/iiop://localhost:900/myconnector"/>
      <property name="threaded" value="true"/>
      <property name="daemon" value="true"/>
      <property name="environment">
        <map>
          <entry key="someKey" value="someValue"/>
        </map>
      </property>
    </bean>

Note that when using a RMI-based connector you need the lookup service (tnameserv or rmiregistry) to be started in order for the name registration to complete. If you are using Spring to export remote services for you via RMI, then Spring will already have constructed an RMI registry. If not, you can easily start a registry using the following snippet of configuration:

    <bean id="registry" class="org.springframework.remoting.rmi.RmiRegistryFactoryBean">
      <property name="port" value="1099"/>
    </bean>

### 23.5.2 Client-side Connectors

To create an `MBeanServerConnection` to a remote JSR-160 enabled `MBeanServer` use the `MBeanServerConnectionFactoryBean` as shown below:

    <bean id="clientConnector" class="org.springframework.jmx.support.MBeanServerConnectionFactoryBean">
      <property name="serviceUrl" value="service:jmx:rmi://localhost/jndi/rmi://localhost:1099/jmxrmi"/>
    </bean>

### 23.5.3 JMX over Burlap/Hessian/SOAP

JSR-160 permits extensions to the way in which communication is done between the client and the server. The examples above are using the mandatory RMI-based implementation required by the JSR-160 specification (IIOP and JRMP) and the (optional) JMXMP. By using other providers or JMX implementations (such as MX4J) you can take advantage of protocols like SOAP, Hessian, Burlap over simple HTTP or SSL and others:

    <bean id="serverConnector" class="org.springframework.jmx.support.ConnectorServerFactoryBean">
      <property name="objectName" value="connector:name=burlap"/>
      <property name="serviceUrl" value="service:jmx:burlap://localhost:9874"/>
    </bean>

In the case of the above example, MX4J 3.0.0 was used; see the official MX4J documentation for more information.

## 23.6 Accessing MBeans via Proxies

Spring JMX allows you to create proxies that re-route calls to MBeans registered in a local or remote `MBeanServer`. These proxies provide you with a standard Java interface through which you can interact with your MBeans. The code below shows how to configure a proxy for an MBean running in a local `MBeanServer`:

    <bean id="proxy" class="org.springframework.jmx.access.MBeanProxyFactoryBean">
        <property name="objectName" value="bean:name=testBean"/>
        <property name="proxyInterface" value="org.springframework.jmx.IJmxTestBean"/>
    </bean>

Here you can see that a proxy is created for the MBean registered under the `ObjectName`: `bean:name=testBean`. The set of interfaces that the proxy will implement is controlled by the `proxyInterfaces` property and the rules for mapping methods and properties on these interfaces to operations and attributes on the MBean are the same rules used by the `InterfaceBasedMBeanInfoAssembler`.

The `MBeanProxyFactoryBean` can create a proxy to any MBean that is accessible via an `MBeanServerConnection`. By default, the local `MBeanServer` is located and used, but you can override this and provide an `MBeanServerConnection` pointing to a remote `MBeanServer` to cater for proxies pointing to remote MBeans:

    <bean id="clientConnector"
          class="org.springframework.jmx.support.MBeanServerConnectionFactoryBean">
      <property name="serviceUrl" value="service:jmx:rmi://remotehost:9875"/>
    </bean>

    <bean id="proxy" class="org.springframework.jmx.access.MBeanProxyFactoryBean">
      <property name="objectName" value="bean:name=testBean"/>
      <property name="proxyInterface" value="org.springframework.jmx.IJmxTestBean"/>
      <property name="server" ref="clientConnector"/>
    </bean>

Here you can see that we create an `MBeanServerConnection` pointing to a remote machine using the `MBeanServerConnectionFactoryBean`. This `MBeanServerConnection` is then passed to the `MBeanProxyFactoryBean` via the `server` property. The proxy that is created will forward all invocations to the `MBeanServer` via this `MBeanServerConnection`.

## 23.7 Notifications

Spring's JMX offering includes comprehensive support for JMX notifications.

### 23.7.1 Registering Listeners for Notifications

Spring's JMX support makes it very easy to register any number of `NotificationListeners` with any number of MBeans (this includes MBeans exported by Spring's `MBeanExporter` and MBeans registered via some other mechanism). By way of an example, consider the scenario where one would like to be informed (via a `Notification`) each and every time an attribute of a target MBean changes.

    package com.example;

    import javax.management.AttributeChangeNotification;
    import javax.management.Notification;
    import javax.management.NotificationFilter;
    import javax.management.NotificationListener;

    public class ConsoleLoggingNotificationListener
                   implements NotificationListener, NotificationFilter {

        public void handleNotification(Notification notification, Object handback) {
            System.out.println(notification);
            System.out.println(handback);
        }

        public boolean isNotificationEnabled(Notification notification) {
            return AttributeChangeNotification.class.isAssignableFrom(notification.getClass());
        }
    }

    <beans>

      <bean id="exporter" class="org.springframework.jmx.export.MBeanExporter">
        <property name="beans">
          <map>
            <entry key="bean:name=testBean1" value-ref="testBean"/>
          </map>
        </property>
        <property name="notificationListenerMappings">
          <map>
            <entry key="bean:name=testBean1">
              <bean class="com.example.ConsoleLoggingNotificationListener"/>
            </entry>
          </map>
        </property>
      </bean>

      <bean id="testBean" class="org.springframework.jmx.JmxTestBean">
        <property name="name" value="TEST"/>
        <property name="age" value="100"/>
      </bean>

    </beans>

With the above configuration in place, every time a JMX `Notification` is broadcast from the target MBean (`bean:name=testBean1`), the `ConsoleLoggingNotificationListener` bean that was registered as a listener via the `notificationListenerMappings` property will be notified. The `ConsoleLoggingNotificationListener` bean can then take whatever action it deems appropriate in response to the `Notification`.

You can also use straight bean names as the link between exported beans and listeners:

    <beans>

      <bean id="exporter" class="org.springframework.jmx.export.MBeanExporter">
        <property name="beans">
          <map>
            <entry key="bean:name=testBean1" value-ref="testBean"/>
          </map>
        </property>
        <property name="notificationListenerMappings">
          <map>
            <entry key="testBean">
              <bean class="com.example.ConsoleLoggingNotificationListener"/>
            </entry>
          </map>
        </property>
      </bean>

      <bean id="testBean" class="org.springframework.jmx.JmxTestBean">
        <property name="name" value="TEST"/>
        <property name="age" value="100"/>
      </bean>

    </beans>

If one wants to register a single `NotificationListener` instance for all of the beans that the enclosing `MBeanExporter` is exporting, one can use the special wildcard `'*'` (sans quotes) as the key for an entry in the `notificationListenerMappings` property map; for example:

    <property name="notificationListenerMappings">
      <map>
        <entry key="*">
          <bean class="com.example.ConsoleLoggingNotificationListener"/>
        </entry>
      </map>
    </property>

If one needs to do the inverse (that is, register a number of distinct listeners against an MBean), then one has to use the `notificationListeners` list property instead (and in preference to the `notificationListenerMappings` property). This time, instead of configuring simply a `NotificationListener` for a single MBean, one configures `NotificationListenerBean` instances... a `NotificationListenerBean` encapsulates a `NotificationListener` and the `ObjectName` (or `ObjectNames`) that it is to be registered against in an `MBeanServer`. The `NotificationListenerBean` also encapsulates a number of other properties such as a `NotificationFilter` and an arbitrary handback object that can be used in advanced JMX notification scenarios.

The configuration when using `NotificationListenerBean` instances is not wildly different to what was presented previously:

    <beans>

      <bean id="exporter" class="org.springframework.jmx.export.MBeanExporter">
        <property name="beans">
          <map>
            <entry key="bean:name=testBean1" value-ref="testBean"/>
          </map>
        </property>
        <property name="notificationListeners">
            <list>
                <bean class="org.springframework.jmx.export.NotificationListenerBean">
                    <constructor-arg>
                        <bean class="com.example.ConsoleLoggingNotificationListener"/>
                    </constructor-arg>
                    <property name="mappedObjectNames">
                        <list>
                            <value>bean:name=testBean1</value>
                        </list>
                    </property>
                </bean>
            </list>
        </property>
      </bean>

      <bean id="testBean" class="org.springframework.jmx.JmxTestBean">
        <property name="name" value="TEST"/>
        <property name="age" value="100"/>
      </bean>

    </beans>

The above example is equivalent to the first notification example. Lets assume then that we want to be given a handback object every time a `Notification` is raised, and that additionally we want to filter out extraneous `Notifications` by supplying a `NotificationFilter`. (For a full discussion of just what a handback object is, and indeed what a `NotificationFilter` is, please do consult that section of the JMX specification (1.2) entitled `'The JMX Notification Model'`.)

    <beans>

      <bean id="exporter" class="org.springframework.jmx.export.MBeanExporter">
        <property name="beans">
          <map>
            <entry key="bean:name=testBean1" value-ref="testBean1"/>
            <entry key="bean:name=testBean2" value-ref="testBean2"/>
          </map>
        </property>
        <property name="notificationListeners">
            <list>
                <bean class="org.springframework.jmx.export.NotificationListenerBean">
                    <constructor-arg ref="customerNotificationListener"/>
                    <property name="mappedObjectNames">
                        <list>
                            <!-- handles notifications from two distinct MBeans -->
                            <value>bean:name=testBean1</value>
                            <value>bean:name=testBean2</value>
                        </list>
                    </property>
                    <property name="handback">
                        <bean class="java.lang.String">
                            <constructor-arg value="This could be anything..."/>
                        </bean>
                    </property>
                    <property name="notificationFilter" ref="customerNotificationListener"/>
                </bean>
            </list>
        </property>
      </bean>

      <!-- implements both the NotificationListener and NotificationFilter interfaces -->
      <bean id="customerNotificationListener" class="com.example.ConsoleLoggingNotificationListener"/>

      <bean id="testBean1" class="org.springframework.jmx.JmxTestBean">
        <property name="name" value="TEST"/>
        <property name="age" value="100"/>
      </bean>

      <bean id="testBean2" class="org.springframework.jmx.JmxTestBean">
        <property name="name" value="ANOTHER TEST"/>
        <property name="age" value="200"/>
      </bean>

    </beans>

### 23.7.2 Publishing Notifications

Spring provides support not just for registering to receive `Notifications`, but also for publishing `Notifications`.

| Note
Please note that this section is really only relevant to Spring managed beans that have been exposed as MBeans via an `MBeanExporter`; any existing, user-defined MBeans should use the standard JMX APIs for notification publication.

The key interface in Spring's JMX notification publication support is the `NotificationPublisher` interface (defined in the `org.springframework.jmx.export.notification` package). Any bean that is going to be exported as an MBean via an `MBeanExporter` instance can implement the related `NotificationPublisherAware` interface to gain access to a `NotificationPublisher` instance. The `NotificationPublisherAware` interface simply supplies an instance of a `NotificationPublisher` to the implementing bean via a simple setter method, which the bean can then use to publish `Notifications`.

As stated in the Javadoc for the `NotificationPublisher` class, managed beans that are publishing events via the `NotificationPublisher` mechanism are not responsible for the state management of any notification listeners and the like ... Spring's JMX support will take care of handling all the JMX infrastructure issues. All one need do as an application developer is implement the `NotificationPublisherAware` interface and start publishing events using the supplied `NotificationPublisher` instance. Note that the `NotificationPublisher` will be set after the managed bean has been registered with an `MBeanServer`.

Using a `NotificationPublisher` instance is quite straightforward... one simply creates a JMX `Notification` instance (or an instance of an appropriate `Notification` subclass), populates the notification with the data pertinent to the event that is to be published, and one then invokes the `sendNotification(Notification)` on the `NotificationPublisher` instance, passing in the `Notification`.

Find below a simple example... in this scenario, exported instances of the `JmxTestBean` are going to publish a `NotificationEvent` every time the `add(int, int)` operation is invoked.

    package org.springframework.jmx;

    import org.springframework.jmx.export.notification.NotificationPublisherAware;
    import org.springframework.jmx.export.notification.NotificationPublisher;
    import javax.management.Notification;

    public class JmxTestBean implements IJmxTestBean, NotificationPublisherAware {

        private String name;
        private int age;
        private boolean isSuperman;
        private NotificationPublisher publisher;

        // other getters and setters omitted for clarity

        public int add(int x, int y) {
            int answer = x + y;
            this.publisher.sendNotification(new Notification("add", this, 0));
            return answer;
        }

        public void dontExposeMe() {
            throw new RuntimeException();
        }

        public void setNotificationPublisher(NotificationPublisher notificationPublisher) {
            this.publisher = notificationPublisher;
        }
    }

The `NotificationPublisher` interface and the machinery to get it all working is one of the nicer features of Spring's JMX support. It does however come with the price tag of coupling your classes to both Spring and JMX; as always, the advice here is to be pragmatic... if you need the functionality offered by the `NotificationPublisher` and you can accept the coupling to both Spring and JMX, then do so.

## 23.8 Further Resources

This section contains links to further resources about JMX.

- The JMX homepage at Sun

- The JMX specification (JSR-000003)

- The JMX Remote API specification (JSR-000160)

- The MX4J homepage (an Open Source implementation of various JMX specs)

- Getting Started with JMX - an introductory article from Sun.

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