Java Management Extensions

Chapter 2. Standard MBeans

By far the most straightforward type of MBean to create, standard MBeans are a logical starting place for our voyage into the world of JMX. In this chapter, we will begin by defining a management interface, then we will look at the design patterns we must use when building standard MBeans. Next, we will discuss some of the issues involved when using inheritance among standard MBean classes. Then we will look at some common pitfalls of using standard MBeans that might leave you scratching your head, wondering why your MBeans aren’t working as expected. Finally, we will discuss some advanced topics and things to consider when creating standard MBeans. This chapter includes several examples from the sample application that is used throughout this book. When you have completed this chapter, you should be able to create standard MBeans and understand the issues involved in doing so.

What Is a Management Interface?

The idea of a management interface revolves around the notion of an application resource, which is any abstraction within an application that provides value. A resource can be, for example, a business component of the application, an infrastructure component such as a cache or queue, or even the application itself. With respect to JMX (and more broadly, system management), only those resources that must be managed are significant. Each resource that is to be managed must provide a management interface, which consists of the attributes and operations ...