Using the Axis TCP Monitor (tcpmon)

The included "tcpmon" utility can be found in the org.apache.axis.utils package. To run it from the command line:

% java org.apache.axis.utils.tcpmon [listenPort targetHost targetPort]

Without any of the optional arguments, you will get a gui which looks like this:

To use the program, you should select a local port which tcpmon will monitor for incoming connections, a target host where it will forward such connections, and the port number on the target machine which should be "tunneled" to. Then click "add". You should then notice another tab appearing in the window for your new tunneled connection. Looking at that panel, you'll see something like this:

Now each time a SOAP connection is made to the local port, you will see the request appear in the "Request" panel, and the response from the server in the "Response" panel. Tcpmon keeps a log of all request/response pairs, and allows you to view any particular pair by selecting an entry in the top panel. You may also remove selected entries, or all of them, or choose to save to a file for later viewing.

The "resend" button will resend the request you are currently viewing, and record a new response. This is particularly handy in that you can edit the XML in the request window before resending - so you can use this as a great tool for testing the effects of different XML on SOAP servers. Note that you may need to change the content-length HTTP header value before resending an edited request.