Groundplex node management

Groundplex and Snaplex nodes are critical components of the SnapLogic Platform, responsible for executing and managing integration pipelines. Understanding the roles and configurations of these nodes is crucial for establishing a secure, efficient, and scalable data integration environment. With proper configuration and management, organizations can create a robust, secure, and high-performing data integration environment.

A Groundplex node is a physical or virtual machine that you provision and manage. Multiple nodes can form a single Groundplex, distributing pipeline workloads across the available compute resources.

The JCC service

Each Groundplex node runs the JCC service (Java Component Container), which is the SnapLogic Snaplex software installed on the node. The JCC service is the pipeline execution engine: it connects outbound to the SnapLogic cloud, receives pipeline assignments from the load balancer, and executes them locally.

When you start, stop, or restart a Snaplex, you are controlling the JCC service on that node. The JCC service is managed by two OS-level processes:

  • The Monitor process — a watchdog that starts the JCC process and restarts it automatically if it fails.
  • The JCC process — the Snaplex execution engine that runs pipelines. Running jcc.sh restart (Linux) or jcc.bat restart (Windows) restarts both processes.

The JCC service automatically updates itself to match the version running on the SnapLogic cloud. If a version mismatch occurs, the node is unable to run pipelines.

The JVM

The JCC service runs inside a JVM (Java Virtual Machine), which is provided by the JRE (Java Runtime Environment) bundled with the SnapLogic installer. The JVM is distinct from the JCC service: it is the Java runtime environment that the JCC service runs within, not the service itself.

JVM settings — such as heap size, garbage collection behavior, and options passed via jcc.jvm_options — determine the memory available to pipeline execution and the runtime characteristics of the JCC process. These settings are configured separately from JCC service properties such as connection counts, version pins, and debug mode.