[Feature] JMX Proxy - Attach to running JVM and make available remotely

Feature Requests - JMX Proxy

I came across the blog post here that shows how to use jstatd to basically proxy connections to a running JVM from a remote VisualVM instance. How cool. But it is limited and I wish there was a way to do this w/ JMX. Sure, I could stop the JVM and add the jmxremote* JVM properties, but then I'd have to stop a Tomcat instance in this case.

I am not a Java Developer or I would take it on myself, but I presume the maintainers of VisualVM are java developers. Furthermore, a JMX proxy might be something other VisualVM users are interested in. Is this a feature/tool you would consider taking on?

Obligatory ASCII Art

  +----Host----+               +--Workstation-+
  ||Target JVM||               |              |
  ||          ||               |              |
  ||     ^    ||               |              |
  |------------|               |              |
  ||Proxy|JVM--|               +-VisualVM/ETC-+
  ||     +    ||               ||            ||
  ||         ^--------TCP--------+           ||
  |------------|               |--------------|
  +------------+               +--------------+

Example Usage

1. Connect to remote machine
2. Run java -jar com.foo.jmx-proxy.jar -Djmx-proxy.localpid=1234 -Djmx-proxy.port=9999 -Djmx-proxy.address=localhost
3. SSH and tunnel 9999 to target box
4. Start Visual VM on workstation, connect to localhost:9999
5. Profit!

Thoughts

• Similar settings to com.sun.management.jmxremote.*
  • Auth, ssl, port, server etc
• Maybe socks proxy support? ssh -D
• Instead of specifying PID could it be selectable like w/ jstatd+VisualVM

No repository files, tests, or entry points are named. Start by reviewing VisualVM's existing remote connection flow and the Java JMX remote settings described in the issue; done would require a defined proxy design, including attachment to a running JVM, remote access, authentication, SSL, and port configuration.