1 Introduction and Roadmap

The following sections describe the contents and audience for this guide—Configuring and Using the WebLogic Diagnostics Framework:

What Is the WebLogic Diagnostics Framework?
Document Scope and Audience
Guide to This Document
Related Documentation
Samples and Tutorials
New and Changed Features in this Release

What Is the WebLogic Diagnostics Framework?

The WebLogic Diagnostics Framework (WLDF) is a monitoring and diagnostic framework that defines and implements a set of services that run within WebLogic Server processes and participate in the standard server life cycle. Using WLDF, you can create, collect, analyze, archive, and access diagnostic data generated by a running server and the applications deployed within its containers. This data provides insight into the run-time performance of servers and applications and enables you to isolate and diagnose faults when they occur.

WLDF includes several components for collecting and analyzing data:

Integration with Oracle JRockit—If WebLogic Server is configured with JRockit, WLDF can generate diagnostic information about WebLogic Server that is captured in the JRockit Flight Recording file.
Diagnostic Image Capture—Creates a diagnostic snapshot from the server that can be used for post-failure analysis. The diagnostic image capture includes JRockit Flight Recorder data, if it is available, that can be viewed in JRockit Mission Control.
Archive—Captures and persists data events, log records, and metrics from server instances and applications.
Instrumentation—Adds diagnostic code to WebLogic Server instances and the applications running on them to execute diagnostic actions at specified locations in the code. The Instrumentation component provides the means for associating a diagnostic context with requests so they can be tracked as they flow through the system. The WebLogic Server Administration Console includes a Request Performance page, which shows real-time and historical views of method performance information that has been captured through the WLDF instrumentation capabilities, serving as a tool that can help identify performance problems in applications.
Harvester—Captures metrics from run-time MBeans, including WebLogic Server MBeans and custom MBeans, which can be archived and later accessed for viewing historical data.
Watches and Notifications—Provides the means for monitoring server and application states and sending notifications based on criteria set in the watches.
Monitoring Dashboard—Graphically presents the current and historical operating state of WebLogic Server and hosted applications. The Monitoring Dashboard, which is accessed from the WebLogic Server Administration Console, provides a set of tools for organizing and displaying diagnostic data into views, which surface some of the more critical run-time WebLogic Server performance metrics and the change in those metrics over time
Logging services—Manage logs for monitoring server, subsystem, and application events. The WebLogic Server logging services are documented separately from the rest of the WebLogic Diagnostics Framework. See Configuring Log Files and Filtering Log Messages for Oracle WebLogic Server.

WLDF provides a set of standardized application programming interfaces (APIs) that enable dynamic access and control of diagnostic data, as well as improved monitoring that provides visibility into the server. Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) can use these APIs to develop custom monitoring and diagnostic tools for integration with WLDF.

WLDF enables dynamic access to server data through standard interfaces, and the volume of data accessed at any given time can be modified without shutting down and restarting the server.

Document Scope and Audience

This document describes and tells how to configure and use the monitoring and diagnostic services provided by WLDF.

WLDF provides features for monitoring and diagnosing problems in running WebLogic Server instances and clusters and in applications deployed to them. Therefore, the information in this document is directed both to system administrators and to application developers. It also contains information for third-party tool developers who want to build tools to support and extend WLDF.

It is assumed that readers are familiar with Web technologies and the operating system and platform where WebLogic Server is installed.

Guide to This Document

This document is organized as follows:

This chapter, "Introduction and Roadmap," provides an overview of WLDF components and describes the audience for this guide.
Chapter 2, "Overview of the WLDF Architecture," provides a high-level view of the WLDF architecture.
Chapter 3, "Using WLDF with Oracle JRockit Flight Recorder," describes the WLDF integration features with JRockit Flight Recorder, describes basic usage scenarios, and provides a sample walkthrough of using JRockit Mission Control to examine WebLogic Server events captured in a JRockit Flight Recorder file.
Chapter 4, "Understanding WLDF Configuration," provides an overview of how WLDF features are configured for servers and applications.
Chapter 5, "Configuring and Capturing Diagnostic Images," describes how to configure and use the WLDF Diagnostic Image Capture component to capture a snapshot of significant server configuration settings and the server state.
Chapter 6, "Configuring Diagnostic Archives," describes how to configure and use the WLDF Diagnostic Archive component to persist diagnostic data to a file store or database.
Chapter 7, "Configuring the Harvester for Metric Collection," describes how to configure and use the WLDF Harvester component to harvest metrics from runtime MBeans, including WebLogic Server MBeans and custom MBeans.
Chapter 8, "Configuring Watches and Notifications," provides an overview of WLDF watches and notifications.
Chapter 9, "Configuring Watches," describes how to configure watches to monitor server instances and applications for specific conditions and send notifications when those conditions are met.
Chapter 10, "Configuring Notifications," describes how to configure notifications that can be triggered by watches.
Chapter 11, "Configuring Instrumentation," describes how to add diagnostic instrumentation code to WebLogic Server classes and to the classes of applications running on the server.
Chapter 12, "Configuring the DyeInjection Monitor to Manage Diagnostic Contexts," describes how to use the DyeInjection monitor and how to use dye filtering with diagnostic monitors.
Chapter 13, "Accessing Diagnostic Data With the Data Accessor," tells how to use the WLDF Data Accessor component to retrieve diagnostic data.
Chapter 14, "Deploying WLDF Application Modules," explains how to configure and manage instrumentation for an application as a diagnostics application module.
Chapter 15, "Using the Monitoring Dashboard," explains how to graphically present the current and historical operating state of WebLogic Server and hosted applications using, in part, diagnostic data captured by WLDF.
Chapter 16, "Configuring and Using WLDF Programmatically," provides an overview of how you can use the JMX API and the WebLogic Scripting Tool (weblogic.WLST) to configure and use WLDF components.
Appendix A, "WLDF Query Language," describes the WLDF query language that is used for constructing expressions to query diagnostic data using the Data Accessor, constructing watch rules, and constructing rules for filtering logs.
Appendix B, "WLDF Instrumentation Library," describes the predefined diagnostic monitors and diagnostic actions that are included in the WLDF Instrumentation Library.
Appendix C, "Using Wildcards in Expressions," discusses how to use wildcards in WLDF expressions.
Appendix D, "WebLogic Scripting Tool Examples," provides examples of how to perform WLDF monitoring and diagnostic activities using the WebLogic Scripting Tool.
"Glossary" is a glossary of terms used in WLDF.

Samples and Tutorials

In addition to this document, we provide a variety of samples and tutorials that show WLDF configuration and use.

Avitek Medical Records Application (MedRec) and Tutorials

MedRec is an end-to-end sample J2EE application shipped with WebLogic Server that simulates an independent, centralized medical record management system. The MedRec application provides a framework for patients, doctors, and administrators to manage patient data using a variety of different clients.

MedRec demonstrates WebLogic Server and J2EE features, and highlights recommended best practices. MedRec is included in the WebLogic Server distribution, and can be accessed from the Start menu on Windows machines. For Linux and other platforms, you can start MedRec from the WL_HOME\samples\domains\medrec directory, where WL_HOME is the top-level installation directory for WebLogic Platform.

WLDF Samples Available for Download

Additional WLDF samples for download can be found at https://codesamples.samplecode.oracle.com/. These examples are distributed as .zip files that you can unzip into an existing WebLogic Server samples directory structure. These samples include Oracle-certified ones, as well as samples submitted by fellow developers.

New and Changed Features in this Release

Two diagnostic monitors have been added:

JDBC_After_Reserve_Connection_Internal
JDBC_After_Release_Connection_Internal

These diagnostic instrumentation monitors can be configured in a WLDF module at the server level. They provide additional visibility when JDBC connections are reserved and released. For more information, see Diagnostic Monitor Library.

For a comprehensive listing of the new WebLogic Server features introduced in this release, see What's New in Oracle WebLogic Server.