Console apps are the most convenient way when it comes to administering via remote console. The JDAF Console Application class provides a good abstraction for the application logic, but it lacks in usability.
There are two features that come to mind right now:
1. Using the up/down arrows recall previous commands
2. Using tab to auto complete commands and arguments.
Both can be achieved by integrating http://jline.sourceforge.net/ or reimplementing subset of the functionality.