Manual setup with -javaagent flag

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.

COPY --from=docker.elastic.co/observability/apm-agent-java:latest /usr/agent/elastic-apm-agent.jar /elastic-apm-agent.jar

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