# How to monitor java apps without additional tools or frameworks

Especially during the loadtesting phase or during the realization of
technical prototypes, it is often useful to monitor local and remote
java applications. Java SE 5 comes already with a built-in solution. To
monitor an application you have to provide only one system
parameter:  -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote. To monitor the
Swingset demoapp you have only to invoke it in the following way:
[JAVA_HOME/demo/jfc/swingset2/]> java -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote
SwingSet2.jar 

Now you can monitor this process using jconsole,
a useful tool coming with Java 5. Especially interesting is the tab
MBeans>OperatingSystem. Here you can even access the information
about the OS. Jconsole is especially useful during the loadtest, which
can be accomplished using the jmeter - an useful and free load
generator.