Using the -javaagent
option is the most common way to set up java agents on a JVM, it has the following properties:
-
No application code changes required.
-
Requires to change JVM arguments, which implies a restart of the whole JVM.
-
For application servers, the JVM arguments modification requires changing application server configuration
-
Agent artifact is an extra binary to manage alongside the JVM or application server.
-
Ensures that the application is fully instrumented before it starts.
The first step in getting started with the Elastic APM Java agent is to retrieve a copy of the agent jar.
Note
|
Agents are not like regular application dependencies. Don’t declare a dependency to the agent in your application. |
When starting your application, add the JVM flag -javaagent:/path/to/elastic-apm-agent-<version>.jar
Different application servers have different ways of setting the -javaagent
flag and system properties.
Note that system properties are only one way of configuring the agent but setting the -javaagent
flag is required in each case.
See [configuration] to learn about how to configure the agent with a configuration file or environment variables.
Start your application (for example a Spring Boot application or other embedded servers) and add the -javaagent
JVM flag.
Use the -D
prefix to configure the agent using system properties.
java -javaagent:/path/to/elastic-apm-agent-<version>.jar -Delastic.apm.service_name=my-cool-service -Delastic.apm.application_packages=org.example,org.another.example -Delastic.apm.server_url=http://127.0.0.1:8200 -jar my-application.jar
Create bin/setenv.sh
(or modify if the file already exists).
Make sure to make the file executable, for example chmod +x bin/setenv.sh
Add the following line:
export CATALINA_OPTS="$CATALINA_OPTS -javaagent:/path/to/elastic-apm-agent-<version>.jar"
export CATALINA_OPTS="$CATALINA_OPTS -Delastic.apm.service_name=my-cool-service"
export CATALINA_OPTS="$CATALINA_OPTS -Delastic.apm.application_packages=org.example,org.another.example"
export CATALINA_OPTS="$CATALINA_OPTS -Delastic.apm.server_url=http://127.0.0.1:8200"
Create bin\setenv.bat
(or modify if the file already exists).
set CATALINA_OPTS=%CATALINA_OPTS% -javaagent:C:/path/to/elastic-apm-agent-<version>.jar
set CATALINA_OPTS=%CATALINA_OPTS% -Delastic.apm.service_name=my-cool-service
set CATALINA_OPTS=%CATALINA_OPTS% -Delastic.apm.application_packages=org.example,org.another.example
set CATALINA_OPTS=%CATALINA_OPTS% -Delastic.apm.server_url=http://127.0.0.1:8200
Option 1: edit jetty.sh
export JAVA_OPTIONS="${JAVA_OPTIONS} -javaagent:/path/to/elastic-apm-agent-<version>.jar"
export JAVA_OPTIONS="${JAVA_OPTIONS} -Delastic.apm.service_name=my-cool-service"
export JAVA_OPTIONS="${JAVA_OPTIONS} -Delastic.apm.application_packages=org.example,org.another.example"
export JAVA_OPTIONS="${JAVA_OPTIONS} -Delastic.apm.server_url=http://127.0.0.1:8200"
Option 2: edit start.ini
--exec
-javaagent:/path/to/elastic-apm-agent-<version>.jar
-Delastic.apm.service_name=my-cool-service
-Delastic.apm.application_packages=org.example,org.another.example
-Delastic.apm.server_url=http://127.0.0.1:8200
Option 3: If you are using embedded Jetty, see Generic Setup.
Add the agent configuration at the bottom of the standalone.conf
file:
Unix
export JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -javaagent:/path/to/elastic-apm-agent-<version>.jar"
export JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Delastic.apm.service_name=my-cool-service"
export JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Delastic.apm.application_packages=org.example,org.another.example"
export JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Delastic.apm.server_url=http://127.0.0.1:8200"
Windows
set JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -javaagent:C:/path/to/elastic-apm-agent-<version>.jar
set JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -Delastic.apm.service_name=my-cool-service
set JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -Delastic.apm.application_packages=org.example,org.another.example
set JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -Delastic.apm.server_url=http://127.0.0.1:8200
Edit the domain.xml
file which is usually located under domain/configuration
and add a JVM option for the -javaagent
flag,
as well as some system properties for the configuration.
...
<server-group>
<jvm>
<jvm-options>
...
<option value="-javaagent:/path/to/elastic-apm-agent-<version>.jar"/>
...
</jvm-options>
</jvm>
</server-group>
...
<system-properties>
<property name="elastic.apm.service_name" value="my-cool-service"/>
<property name="elastic.apm.application_packages" value="org.example,org.another.example"/>
<property name="elastic.apm.server_url" value="http://127.0.0.1:8200"/>
</system-properties>
...
Add the following lines to the jvm.options
file.
-javaagent:/path/to/elastic-apm-agent-<version>.jar
-Delastic.apm.service_name=my-cool-service
-Delastic.apm.application_packages=org.example,org.another.example
-Delastic.apm.server_url=http://127.0.0.1:8200
Update the domain.xml
file to add the -javaagent
flag and system properties.
<java-config>
...
<jvm-options>-javaagent:/path/to/elastic-apm-agent-<version>.jar</jvm-options>
<jvm-options>-Delastic.apm.service_name=my-cool-service</jvm-options>
<jvm-options>-Delastic.apm.application_packages=org.example,org.another.example</jvm-options>
<jvm-options>-Delastic.apm.server_url=http://127.0.0.1:8200</jvm-options>
</java-config>
Edit the startWebLogic.sh
file and add the following lines after the setDomainEnv.sh
call:
export JAVA_OPTIONS="$JAVA_OPTIONS -javaagent:/path/to/elastic-apm-agent-<version>.jar"
export JAVA_OPTIONS="$JAVA_OPTIONS -Delastic.apm.service_name=my-cool-service"
export JAVA_OPTIONS="$JAVA_OPTIONS -Delastic.apm.application_packages=org.example,org.another.example"
export JAVA_OPTIONS="$JAVA_OPTIONS -Delastic.apm.server_url=http://127.0.0.1:8200"
Edit the startWebLogic.cmd
file and add the following lines after the setDomainEnv.cmd
call:
set JAVA_OPTIONS=%JAVA_OPTIONS% -javaagent:C:/path/to/elastic-apm-agent-<version>.jar
set JAVA_OPTIONS=%JAVA_OPTIONS% -Delastic.apm.service_name=my-cool-service
set JAVA_OPTIONS=%JAVA_OPTIONS% -Delastic.apm.application_packages=org.example,org.another.example
set JAVA_OPTIONS=%JAVA_OPTIONS% -Delastic.apm.server_url=http://127.0.0.1:8200
The Elastic Java APM Agent Framework is now part of the Cloud Foundry Java Buildpack as of Release v4.19.
A user provided Elastic APM service must have a name or tag with elastic-apm
in it so that the Elastic APM Agent Framework will automatically configure the application to work with the service.
Create a user provided service:
cf cups my-elastic-apm-service -p '{"server_url":"my-apm-server-url","secret_token":"my-apm-server-secret-token"}'
Both my-apm-server-url
and my-apm-server-secret-token
are respectively server_url
and secret_token
from service-key of your Elasticsearch server.
Bind the application to the service:
cf bind-service my-application my-elastic-apm-service
and restage the application or use the services
block in the application manifest file.
For more details on the Elastic Java APM Agent Framework for Cloud Foundry see here.
applications:
- name: my-application
memory: 1G
path: ./target/my-application.jar
services:
- my-elastic-apm-service