What is new for troubleshooters

This version provides many new features for troubleshooting and servicing the product, with a focus on the ability to automatically detect and recover from problems.

• Configure the memory leak policy

  We can configure WebSphere Application Server to detect, prevent, and take action, if possible, on classloader memory leaks using the memory leak detection policy. For more information about memory leaks, read the Memory Leaks in JEE applications topic.

• Cross Component Trace (XCT)

  XCT helps identify the root cause of problems across components, which provides the following benefits:

  • Enables administrators and support teams to follow the flow of a request from end-to-end as it traverses thread or process boundaries, or travels between stack products and WebSphere Application Server.

  • Helps to resolve questions about which component is responsible for a request that fails.

• High Performance Extensible Logging (HPEL)

  • We can use the LogViewer command-line tool to filter records based on the content of log and trace record extensions. The application server automatically creates an appName extension for each log and trace record related to a Java EE application, indicating the name of that application. The application server also automatically creates a requestID extension for each log and trace record created during the processing of certain types of requests (for example HTTP or JMS requests), indicating the unique ID of that request.

  • Developers can use HPEL to add custom extensions to log and trace records through a log record context API (com.ibm.websphere.logging.hpel.LogRecordContext). When HPEL stores log and trace records, it includes any extensions present in the log record context on the same thread. For example, a developer might write a servlet filter to add important HTTP request parameters to the log record context. While that servlet runs, HPEL adds those extensions to any log and trace records created on the same thread.

• Memory leaks in JEE applications

  WebSphere Application Server v8.5 provides a top down pattern-based memory leak detection, prevention, and action by watching for suspect patterns in application code at run time. WebSphere Application Server has some means of protection against memory leaks when stopping or redeploying applications. If leak detection, prevention and action are enabled, WebSphere Application Server monitors application and module activity performs diagnostic actions to detect and fix leaks when an application or an individual module stops. This feature helps in increasing application up time with frequent application redeployments without cycling the server.

• Use the IBM Support Assistant Data Collector

  The IBM Support Assistant Data Collector for WebSphere Application Server tool focuses on automatic collection of problem data. It also provides symptom analysis support for the various categories of problems encountered by IBM software products. Information pertinent to a type of problem is collected to help identify the origin of the problem under investigation. The tool assists customers by reducing the amount of time it takes to reproduce a problem with the proper RAS tracing levels set, as well as by reducing the effort required to send the appropriate log information to IBM Support.

Reference topic