---
title: "Apache ActiveMQ integration | Grafana Cloud documentation"
description: "Learn about Apache ActiveMQ Grafana Cloud integration."
---

# Apache ActiveMQ integration for Grafana Cloud

Apache ActiveMQ is an open-source message broker software that facilitates the communication between different applications or components using messaging patterns. Message brokers like ActiveMQ play a crucial role in distributed systems by enabling asynchronous communication and decoupling producers and consumers of messages. They serve as intermediaries that receive, store, and route messages between different components, applications, or services. The integration with Grafana Cloud enables users to oversee an ActiveMQ environment using five distinct dashboards. These dashboards display metrics and logs for ActiveMQ clusters, instances, topics, and queue components.

This integration supports Apache ActiveMQ version 5.x+  
This integration supports the JMX exporter 0.17.0+

This integration includes 4 useful alerts and 5 pre-built dashboards to help monitor and visualize Apache ActiveMQ metrics and logs.

## Before you begin

In order for the integration to properly work, you must set up the [JMX Exporter for Prometheus](https://github.com/prometheus/jmx_exporter) on each instance in your cluster.

### Setup JMX Exporter

To expose the JMX remotely, it needs to be enabled for the instances being monitored. A configuration option enables JMX, which exists in a `env` file located in the `<apache-activemq-installation-dir>/bin/env` directory. Within the `env` file, the following lines should be added:

sh ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```sh
ACTIVEMQ_SUNJMX_START="$ACTIVEMQ_SUNJMX_START -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.port=11099"
ACTIVEMQ_SUNJMX_START="$ACTIVEMQ_SUNJMX_START -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.authenticate=false"
ACTIVEMQ_SUNJMX_START="$ACTIVEMQ_SUNJMX_START -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.ssl=false"
ACTIVEMQ_SUNJMX_START="$ACTIVEMQ_SUNJMX_START -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote"
```

Change the `jmxremote.port` on the first command above for each instance you run, then save the configuration files. For more details, refer to the [official documentation](https://activemq.apache.org/jmx).

### Connect JMX to the Prometheus Exporter

In order to connect JMX to the Prometheus Exporter, a collector is configured in a config file. This config.yaml file can be placed anywhere and named anything. The contents of this file will be the following

YAML ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```yaml
lowercaseOutputLabelNames: true
lowercaseOutputName: true
rules:
  - pattern: org.apache.activemq<type=Broker, brokerName=(\S*), destinationType=Queue, destinationName=(\S*)><>(\w+)
    name: activemq_queue_$3
    attrNameSnakeCase: true
    labels:
      destination: $2

  - pattern: org.apache.activemq<type=Broker, brokerName=(\S*), destinationType=Topic, destinationName=(\S*)><>(\w+)
    name: activemq_topic_$3
    attrNameSnakeCase: true
    labels:
      destination: $2

  - pattern: org.apache.activemq<type=Broker, brokerName=(\S*)><>CurrentConnectionsCount
    name: activemq_connections
    type: GAUGE

  - pattern: org.apache.activemq<type=Broker, brokerName=(\S*)><>Total(.*)Count
    name: activemq_$2_total
    type: COUNTER

  - pattern: org.apache.activemq<type=Broker, brokerName=(\S*)><>(.*)PercentUsage
    name: activemq_$2_usage_ratio
    type: GAUGE
    valueFactor: 0.01

  - pattern: 'java.lang<name=([^>]+), type=GarbageCollector><LastGcInfo>duration: (\d+)'
    name: jvm_gc_duration_seconds
    value: $2
    labels:
      name: $1
    type: GAUGE
    # Convert ms to s
    valueFactor: 0.001

  - pattern: 'java.lang<name=([^>]+), type=GarbageCollector><>CollectionCount: (\d+)'
    name: jvm_gc_collection_count
    value: $2
    labels:
      name: $1
    type: GAUGE
```

### Run the Prometheus Exporter

To run the JMX to Prometheus Exporter, the [Java agent](https://github.com/prometheus/jmx_exporter#running-the-java-agent) is used. The command requires two arguments: a `<CONFIG>.yaml` file that was created above, and the `<JMX_EXPORTER_PORT>` that exposes the metrics.

The following command runs the JMX to Prometheus Exporter as a Java agent:

sh ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```sh
java -javaagent:./jmx_prometheus_javaagent-0.19.0.jar=<JMX_EXPORTER_PORT>:/path/to/config/<CONFIG>.yaml -jar yourJar.jar
```

To validate that the JMX Exporter is setup correctly, the Prometheus metrics should be available locally via curl:

sh ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```sh
curl http://localhost:<JMX_EXPORTER_PORT>/metrics
```

## Install Apache ActiveMQ integration for Grafana Cloud

1. In your Grafana Cloud stack, click **Connections** in the left-hand menu.
2. Find **Apache ActiveMQ** and click its tile to open the integration.
3. Review the prerequisites in the **Configuration Details** tab and set up Grafana Alloy to send Apache ActiveMQ metrics and logs to your Grafana Cloud instance.
4. Click **Install** to add this integration’s pre-built dashboards and alerts to your Grafana Cloud instance, and you can start monitoring your Apache ActiveMQ setup.

## Configuration snippets for Grafana Alloy

### Advanced mode

The following snippets provide examples to guide you through the configuration process.

To instruct Grafana Alloy to scrape your Apache ActiveMQ instances, **manually** copy and append the snippets to your alloy configuration file, then follow subsequent instructions.

### Advanced metrics snippets

Alloy ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```alloy
prometheus.scrape "metrics_integrations_integrations_apache_activemq" {
	targets = [{
		__address__      = "<instance-name>:<instance-port>",
		activemq_cluster = "<activemq-cluster-name>",
	}]
	forward_to = [prometheus.remote_write.metrics_service.receiver]
	job_name   = "integrations/apache-activemq"
}
```

To monitor your Apache ActiveMQ instance, you must use a [discovery.relabel](/docs/alloy/latest/reference/components/discovery.relabel/) component to discover your Apache ActiveMQ Prometheus endpoint and apply appropriate labels, followed by a [prometheus.scrape](/docs/alloy/latest/reference/components/prometheus.scrape) component to scrape it.

Configure the following properties within each `discovery.relabel` component:

- `__address__`: The address to your Apache ActiveMQ Prometheus metrics endpoint.
- `instance` label: `constants.hostname` sets the `instance` label to your Grafana Alloy server hostname. If that is not suitable, change it to a value uniquely identifies this Apache ActiveMQ instance. Make sure this label value is the same for all telemetry data collected for this instance.
- `activemq_cluster`: The `activemq_cluster` label to group your ActiveMQ instances within a cluster. Set the same value for all nodes within your cluster.

If you have multiple Apache ActiveMQ servers to scrape, configure one `discovery.relabel` for each and scrape them by including each under `targets` within the `prometheus.scrape` component.

### Advanced logs snippets

#### darwin

Alloy ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```alloy
local.file_match "logs_integrations_integrations_apache_activemq" {
	path_targets = [{
		__address__      = "localhost",
		__path__         = "<activemq_install_dir>/data/activemq.log",
		activemq_cluster = "<activemq-cluster-name>",
		instance         = "<instance-name>:<instance-port>",
		job              = "integrations/apache-activemq",
	}]
}

loki.process "logs_integrations_integrations_apache_activemq" {
	forward_to = [loki.write.grafana_cloud_loki.receiver]

	stage.multiline {
		firstline     = "(TRACE|DEBUG|INFO|WARN|ERROR|FATAL)"
		max_lines     = 0
		max_wait_time = "3s"
	}

	stage.regex {
		expression = "(?P<level>TRACE|DEBUG|INFO|WARN|ERROR|FATAL)\\s*[\\|:]\\s*(?P<message>.+)"
	}

	stage.labels {
		values = {
			level = null,
		}
	}
}

loki.source.file "logs_integrations_integrations_apache_activemq" {
	targets    = local.file_match.logs_integrations_integrations_apache_activemq.targets
	forward_to = [loki.process.logs_integrations_integrations_apache_activemq.receiver]
}
```

To monitor your Apache ActiveMQ instance logs, you will use a combination of the following components:

- [local.file\_match](/docs/alloy/latest/reference/components/local.file_match) defines where to find the log file to be scraped. Change the following properties according to your environment:
  
  - `__address__`: The Apache ActiveMQ instance address
  - `__path__`: The path to the log file, which is typically in the `data` file within the Apache ActiveMQ installation directory. An example log location looks like `/apache-activemq-5.18.2/data/activemq.log` on Unix based systems and like `C:\apache-activemq-x.x.x\data\activemq.log` on Windows.
  - `instance` label: `constants.hostname` sets the `instance` label to your Grafana Alloy server hostname. If that is not suitable, change it to a value uniquely identifies this Apache ActiveMQ instance. Make sure this label value is the same for all telemetry data collected for this instance.
  - `activemq_cluster`: The `activemq_cluster` label to group your ActiveMQ instances within a cluster. Set the same value for all nodes within your cluster.
- [loki.process](/docs/alloy/latest/reference/components/loki.process) defines how to process logs before sending it to Loki.
- [loki.source.file](/docs/alloy/latest/reference/components/loki.source.file) sends logs to Loki.

#### linux

Alloy ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```alloy
local.file_match "logs_integrations_integrations_apache_activemq" {
	path_targets = [{
		__address__      = "localhost",
		__path__         = "<activemq_install_dir>/data/activemq.log",
		activemq_cluster = "<activemq-cluster-name>",
		instance         = "<instance-name>:<instance-port>",
		job              = "integrations/apache-activemq",
	}]
}

loki.process "logs_integrations_integrations_apache_activemq" {
	forward_to = [loki.write.grafana_cloud_loki.receiver]

	stage.multiline {
		firstline     = "(TRACE|DEBUG|INFO|WARN|ERROR|FATAL)"
		max_lines     = 0
		max_wait_time = "3s"
	}

	stage.regex {
		expression = "(?P<level>TRACE|DEBUG|INFO|WARN|ERROR|FATAL)\\s*[\\|:]\\s*(?P<message>.+)"
	}

	stage.labels {
		values = {
			level = null,
		}
	}
}

loki.source.file "logs_integrations_integrations_apache_activemq" {
	targets    = local.file_match.logs_integrations_integrations_apache_activemq.targets
	forward_to = [loki.process.logs_integrations_integrations_apache_activemq.receiver]
}
```

To monitor your Apache ActiveMQ instance logs, you will use a combination of the following components:

- [local.file\_match](/docs/alloy/latest/reference/components/local.file_match) defines where to find the log file to be scraped. Change the following properties according to your environment:
  
  - `__address__`: The Apache ActiveMQ instance address
  - `__path__`: The path to the log file, which is typically in the `data` file within the Apache ActiveMQ installation directory. An example log location looks like `/apache-activemq-5.18.2/data/activemq.log` on Unix based systems and like `C:\apache-activemq-x.x.x\data\activemq.log` on Windows.
  - `instance` label: `constants.hostname` sets the `instance` label to your Grafana Alloy server hostname. If that is not suitable, change it to a value uniquely identifies this Apache ActiveMQ instance. Make sure this label value is the same for all telemetry data collected for this instance.
  - `activemq_cluster`: The `activemq_cluster` label to group your ActiveMQ instances within a cluster. Set the same value for all nodes within your cluster.
- [loki.process](/docs/alloy/latest/reference/components/loki.process) defines how to process logs before sending it to Loki.
- [loki.source.file](/docs/alloy/latest/reference/components/loki.source.file) sends logs to Loki.

#### windows

Alloy ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```alloy
local.file_match "logs_integrations_integrations_apache_activemq" {
	path_targets = [{
		__address__      = "localhost",
		__path__         = "<activemq_install_dir>/data/activemq.log",
		activemq_cluster = "<activemq-cluster-name>",
		instance         = "<instance-name>:<instance-port>",
		job              = "integrations/apache-activemq",
	}]
}

loki.process "logs_integrations_integrations_apache_activemq" {
	forward_to = [loki.write.grafana_cloud_loki.receiver]

	stage.multiline {
		firstline     = "(TRACE|DEBUG|INFO|WARN|ERROR|FATAL)"
		max_lines     = 0
		max_wait_time = "3s"
	}

	stage.regex {
		expression = "(?P<level>TRACE|DEBUG|INFO|WARN|ERROR|FATAL)\\s*[\\|:]\\s*(?P<message>.+)"
	}

	stage.labels {
		values = {
			level = null,
		}
	}
}

loki.source.file "logs_integrations_integrations_apache_activemq" {
	targets    = local.file_match.logs_integrations_integrations_apache_activemq.targets
	forward_to = [loki.process.logs_integrations_integrations_apache_activemq.receiver]
}
```

To monitor your Apache ActiveMQ instance logs, you will use a combination of the following components:

- [local.file\_match](/docs/alloy/latest/reference/components/local.file_match) defines where to find the log file to be scraped. Change the following properties according to your environment:
  
  - `__address__`: The Apache ActiveMQ instance address
  - `__path__`: The path to the log file, which is typically in the `data` file within the Apache ActiveMQ installation directory. An example log location looks like `/apache-activemq-5.18.2/data/activemq.log` on Unix based systems and like `C:\apache-activemq-x.x.x\data\activemq.log` on Windows.
  - `instance` label: `constants.hostname` sets the `instance` label to your Grafana Alloy server hostname. If that is not suitable, change it to a value uniquely identifies this Apache ActiveMQ instance. Make sure this label value is the same for all telemetry data collected for this instance.
  - `activemq_cluster`: The `activemq_cluster` label to group your ActiveMQ instances within a cluster. Set the same value for all nodes within your cluster.
- [loki.process](/docs/alloy/latest/reference/components/loki.process) defines how to process logs before sending it to Loki.
- [loki.source.file](/docs/alloy/latest/reference/components/loki.source.file) sends logs to Loki.

## Kubernetes instructions

Instructions for Kubernetes

### Before you begin with Kubernetes

**Please note**: These instructions assume the use of the [Kubernetes Monitoring Helm chart](https://github.com/grafana/k8s-monitoring-helm)

In order for the integration to properly work, you must set up the [JMX Exporter for Prometheus](https://github.com/prometheus/jmx_exporter) on each instance in your cluster.

### Setup JMX Exporter

To expose the JMX remotely, it needs to be enabled for the instances being monitored. A configuration option enables JMX, which exists in a `env` file located in the `<apache-activemq-installation-dir>/bin/env` directory. Within the `env` file, the following lines should be added:

sh ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```sh
ACTIVEMQ_SUNJMX_START="$ACTIVEMQ_SUNJMX_START -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.port=11099"
ACTIVEMQ_SUNJMX_START="$ACTIVEMQ_SUNJMX_START -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.authenticate=false"
ACTIVEMQ_SUNJMX_START="$ACTIVEMQ_SUNJMX_START -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.ssl=false"
ACTIVEMQ_SUNJMX_START="$ACTIVEMQ_SUNJMX_START -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote"
```

Change the `jmxremote.port` on the first command above for each instance you run, then save the configuration files. For more details, refer to the [official documentation](https://activemq.apache.org/jmx).

### Connect JMX to the Prometheus Exporter

In order to connect JMX to the Prometheus Exporter, a collector is configured in a config file. This config.yaml file can be placed anywhere and named anything. The contents of this file will be the following

YAML ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```yaml
lowercaseOutputLabelNames: true
lowercaseOutputName: true
rules:
  - pattern: org.apache.activemq<type=Broker, brokerName=(\S*), destinationType=Queue, destinationName=(\S*)><>(\w+)
    name: activemq_queue_$3
    attrNameSnakeCase: true
    labels:
      destination: $2

  - pattern: org.apache.activemq<type=Broker, brokerName=(\S*), destinationType=Topic, destinationName=(\S*)><>(\w+)
    name: activemq_topic_$3
    attrNameSnakeCase: true
    labels:
      destination: $2

  - pattern: org.apache.activemq<type=Broker, brokerName=(\S*)><>CurrentConnectionsCount
    name: activemq_connections
    type: GAUGE

  - pattern: org.apache.activemq<type=Broker, brokerName=(\S*)><>Total(.*)Count
    name: activemq_$2_total
    type: COUNTER

  - pattern: org.apache.activemq<type=Broker, brokerName=(\S*)><>(.*)PercentUsage
    name: activemq_$2_usage_ratio
    type: GAUGE
    valueFactor: 0.01

  - pattern: 'java.lang<name=([^>]+), type=GarbageCollector><LastGcInfo>duration: (\d+)'
    name: jvm_gc_duration_seconds
    value: $2
    labels:
      name: $1
    type: GAUGE
    # Convert ms to s
    valueFactor: 0.001

  - pattern: 'java.lang<name=([^>]+), type=GarbageCollector><>CollectionCount: (\d+)'
    name: jvm_gc_collection_count
    value: $2
    labels:
      name: $1
    type: GAUGE
```

### Run the Prometheus Exporter

To run the JMX to Prometheus Exporter, the [Java agent](https://github.com/prometheus/jmx_exporter#running-the-java-agent) is used. The command requires two arguments: a `<CONFIG>.yaml` file that was created above, and the `<JMX_EXPORTER_PORT>` that exposes the metrics.

The following command runs the JMX to Prometheus Exporter as a Java agent:

sh ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```sh
java -javaagent:./jmx_prometheus_javaagent-0.19.0.jar=<JMX_EXPORTER_PORT>:/path/to/config/<CONFIG>.yaml -jar yourJar.jar
```

To validate that the JMX Exporter is setup correctly, the Prometheus metrics should be available locally via curl:

sh ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```sh
curl http://localhost:<JMX_EXPORTER_PORT>/metrics
```

### Configuration snippets for Kubernetes Helm chart

The following snippets provide examples to guide you through the configuration process.

To scrape your Apache ActiveMQ instances, **manually** modify your Kubernetes Monitoring Helm chart with these configuration snippets.

Replace any values between the angle brackets `<>` in the provided snippets with your desired configuration values.

#### Metrics snippets

Alloy ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```alloy
alloy-metrics:
    extraConfig: |-
        discovery.kubernetes "activemq" {
            role = "pod"
            selectors {
                role = "pod"
                label = "<activemq_pod_label>=<activemq_pod_label_value>"
            }
        }

        discovery.relabel "activemq" {
            targets = discovery.kubernetes.activemq.targets
            rule {
                source_labels = ["__meta_kubernetes_pod_container_port_number"]
                regex = "<activemq_jmx_port_number>"
                action = "keep"
            }
            rule {
                source_labels = ["__meta_kubernetes_namespace", "__meta_kubernetes_pod_container_name"]
                separator = "-"
                target_label = "instance"
            }
            rule {
                replacement = "<your-activemq-cluster-name>"
                target_label = "activemq_cluster"
            }
            rule {
                replacement = "integrations/apache-activemq"
                target_label = "job"
            }
        }

        prometheus.scrape "activemq" {
            targets      = discovery.relabel.activemq.output
            honor_labels = true
            forward_to   = [prometheus.remote_write.grafana_cloud_metrics.receiver]
        }
```

#### Logs snippets

Alloy ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```alloy
podLogs:
    extraDiscoveryRules: |-
        rule {
            source_labels = ["__meta_kubernetes_pod_label_<activemq_pod_label>"]
            regex         = "<activemq_pod_label_value>"
            replacement   = "activemq"
            target_label  = "integration"
        }

    extraLogProcessingStages: |-
        stage.match {
            selector = "{integration=\\"activemq\\"}"

            stage.multiline {
                firstline     = "(TRACE|DEBUG|INFO|WARN|ERROR|FATAL)"
                max_lines     = 0
                max_wait_time = "3s"
            }
        
            stage.regex {
                expression = "(?P<level>TRACE|DEBUG|INFO|WARN|ERROR|FATAL)\\\\s*[\\\\|:]\\\\s*(?P<message>.+)"
            }

            stage.template {
                source   = "instance"
                template = "{{ .namespace }}-{{ .container }}"
            }

            stage.static_labels {
                values = {
                    activemq_cluster = "<your-activemq-cluster-name>",
                    job              = "integrations/apache-activemq",
                }
            }
        
            stage.labels {
                values = {
                    instance = null,
                    level = null,
                }
            }
        }
```

## Dashboards

The Apache ActiveMQ integration installs the following dashboards in your Grafana Cloud instance to help monitor your system.

- Apache ActiveMQ cluster overview
- Apache ActiveMQ instance overview
- Apache ActiveMQ logs
- Apache ActiveMQ queue overview
- Apache ActiveMQ topic overview

**Apache ActiveMQ cluster overview**

**Apache ActiveMQ instance overview**

**Apache ActiveMQ instance overview (jvm)**

## Alerts

The Apache ActiveMQ integration includes the following useful alerts:

Expand table

| Alert                                  | Description                                                                                                                    |
|----------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| ApacheActiveMQHighTopicMemoryUsage     | Warning: Topic destination memory usage is high, which may result in a reduction of the rate at which producers send messages. |
| ApacheActiveMQHighQueueMemoryUsage     | Warning: Queue destination memory usage is high, which may result in a reduction of the rate at which producers send messages. |
| ApacheActiveMQHighStoreMemoryUsage     | Warning: Store memory usage is high, which may result in producers unable to send messages.                                    |
| ApacheActiveMQHighTemporaryMemoryUsage | Warning: Temporary memory usage is high, which may result in saturation of messaging throughput.                               |

## Metrics

The most important metrics provided by the Apache ActiveMQ integration, which are used on the pre-built dashboards and Prometheus alerts, are as follows:

- activemq\_memory\_usage\_ratio
- activemq\_message\_total
- activemq\_queue\_average\_enqueue\_time
- activemq\_queue\_average\_message\_size
- activemq\_queue\_consumer\_count
- activemq\_queue\_dequeue\_count
- activemq\_queue\_enqueue\_count
- activemq\_queue\_expired\_count
- activemq\_queue\_memory\_percent\_usage
- activemq\_queue\_producer\_count
- activemq\_queue\_queue\_size
- activemq\_store\_usage\_ratio
- activemq\_temp\_usage\_ratio
- activemq\_topic\_average\_enqueue\_time
- activemq\_topic\_average\_message\_size
- activemq\_topic\_consumer\_count
- activemq\_topic\_dequeue\_count
- activemq\_topic\_enqueue\_count
- activemq\_topic\_expired\_count
- activemq\_topic\_memory\_percent\_usage
- activemq\_topic\_producer\_count
- activemq\_topic\_queue\_size
- jvm\_gc\_collection\_count
- jvm\_gc\_duration\_seconds
- up

## Changelog

md ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```md
# 1.1.0 - April 2026

* Updated dashboards to follow new stylistic standards

# 1.0.1 - November 2024

- Update status panel check queries

# 1.0.0 - October 2023

- Initial release
```

## Cost

By connecting your Apache ActiveMQ instance to Grafana Cloud, you might incur charges. To view information on the number of active series that your Grafana Cloud account uses for metrics included in each Cloud tier, see [Active series and dpm usage](/docs/grafana-cloud/fundamentals/active-series-and-dpm/) and [Cloud tier pricing](/products/cloud/pricing/).