The JavaTMManagement Extensions (JMX) API

This group is dedicated to the Java^TM Management Extensions (JMX^TM) API in project OpenJDK.

Introduction

The JMX API is a standard API for management and monitoring of resources such as applications, devices, services, and the Java virtual machine.

Typical uses of the JMX technology include:

Consulting and changing application configuration.
Accumulating and publishing statistics about application behavior.
Notifying users or applications of state changes and erroneous conditions.

The JMX API includes remote access, so a remote management program can interact with a running application for the above purposes.

Specifications

The JMX technology is developed through the Java Community Process (JCP). In JDK versions 5.0 and 6, the JMX technology was developed as Java Specification Request (JSR) 3, Java Management Extensions, and JSR 160, JMX Remote API. Evolutions of the JMX API and JMX Remote API in JDK version 7 are covered by JSR 255, JMX API 2.0.

JMX Implementation Sources

The JMX implementation is composed of the following packages :

javax.management and sub-packages: The public JMX API packages. The evolution of these APIs is governed by the JMX Specifications.
com.sun.jmx and sub-packages: The private Sun implementation packages. These packages constitute a private API which is subject to changes. Only JDK software library classes should call these APIs.

Contributing to the JMX API

To contribute to the JMX API, make sure you read the page explaining how to contribute to OpenJDK, and follow the rules and guidelines described there. You will find out that there can be many ways to contribute: one of them is to contribute to the quality.

The JMX API is a pure Java class library. It does not contain any native code.

You might be also interested in contributing to JConsole. The jconsole tool is a JMX-compliant graphical tool for monitoring a Java virtual machine.

Debugging and Troubleshooting Tips

The JMX technology uses the java.util.logging API to print debug traces. You can activate these traces by providing a logging.properties file on the command line when you run your Java application.

Documentation

The specialized JMX Trail from the online Java Tutorials.
The JMX Technology's Home Page - The page for news, downloads, blogs and other information about the JMX specification.
The JDK version 6 JMX Technology Guides - The page for tutorials, API documentation, and links.

Community

Mailing lists
- jmx-dev