Application Real-Time Monitoring Service:Use SkyWalking to report Java application data

Step 1: Download and extract the SkyWalking agent

Download SkyWalking 6.x.x or later (latest stable version recommended) and extract the archive. Store the agent folder in a location accessible to your Java processes.

The agent folder contains the following directories:

Step 2: Get the SkyWalking endpoint and token

1. Log on to the Managed Service for OpenTelemetry console.

2. In the left-side navigation pane, click Cluster Configurations, then click the Access point information tab.

3. In the top navigation bar, select a region. In the Cluster Information section, turn on Show Token.

4. Set Client to SkyWalking.

5. Copy the endpoint from the Related Information column.

Step 3: Configure the endpoint and token

Open config/agent.config and set the following properties:

collector.backend_service=<endpoint>
agent.authentication=<auth-token>

Step 4: Set the application name

Choose one of the following methods. If you use both, the startup command parameter takes precedence.

Method 1: Configuration file

In config/agent.config, set the service name:

agent.service_name=<ServiceName>

Method 2: Startup command parameter

Add -Dskywalking.agent.service_name to the JVM startup command:

java -javaagent:<skywalking-agent-path> -Dskywalking.agent.service_name=<ServiceName> -jar yourApp.jar

Replace <ServiceName> with your application name.

Step 5: Attach the agent to your application

Add the -javaagent parameter pointing to the skywalking-agent.jar file in the agent folder. Replace <skywalking-agent-path> with the absolute path to this file.

Choose the method that matches your deployment:

CATALINA_OPTS="$CATALINA_OPTS -javaagent:<skywalking-agent-path>"; export CATALINA_OPTS

set "CATALINA_OPTS=-javaagent:<skywalking-agent-path>"

java -javaagent:<skywalking-agent-path> -jar yourApp.jar

--exec
-javaagent:<skywalking-agent-path>

Step 6: Restart the application

Restart the application. Trace data is reported to Managed Service for OpenTelemetry automatically once the application starts handling requests.

Configuration methods

Agent attributes support four configuration methods, listed from highest to lowest priority:

Agent options

Append key-value pairs after the agent JAR path in the JVM argument:

# Syntax
-javaagent:/path/to/skywalking-agent.jar=[key1]=[value1],[key2]=[value2]

# Example
java -javaagent:/path/to/skywalking-agent.jar=agent.service_name=<your-service-name>,agent.authentication=<your-token> -jar your-project.jar

System properties

Use the -Dskywalking. prefix followed by the attribute key:

java -javaagent:/path/to/skywalking-agent.jar -Dskywalking.agent.service_name=<your-service-name> -jar your-project.jar

Environment variables

Mappings are defined in config/agent.config. For example, agent.service_name maps to SW_AGENT_NAME:

# In agent.config
agent.service_name=${SW_AGENT_NAME:default_name}

# Set the environment variable
export SW_AGENT_NAME=<your-service-name>

Agent attributes

Plug-in types

Supported plug-ins

Official plug-ins are maintained in the /plugins folder. Additional plug-ins that may affect performance are available in a third-party repository.

Develop a custom plug-in

To create a custom SkyWalking Java agent plug-in, see the SkyWalking plug-in development guide. Managed Service for OpenTelemetry supports trace reporting through custom plug-ins.