Java Power Tools

Chapter 18. Profiling and Monitoring Java Applications Using the Sun JDK Tools

The Sun JDK Profiling and Monitoring Tools

If you are using Java 5 or better, some of the most readily available profiling tools come bundled with your JDK. The Java Monitoring and Management Console tool, also known as jConsole, can be a valuable aide in monitoring your applications and identifying performance issues. The jConsole tool has a lot going for it as a first line performance profiling tool: it is readily available in any recent JDK distribution, you don’t need to instrument or modify your code in any way, and you can run it with a minimum of configuration against local or remote Java applications. Heap analysis tools such as jhat help you identify and track down memory leaks.

Note that the tools we discuss here relate in particular to the Sun JDK. Although they may work with other JVMs, such as BEA’s JRockit and the IBM virtual machines, these JVMs usually have their own more specific profiling tools.

The following articles discuss ways that you can use jConsole to monitor and analyze Java application performance on your own local machine and also on remote servers. When not otherwise stated, the tools used refer to the Java 6 versions.

Connecting To and Monitoring a Java Application with jConsole

Arguably one of the most useful of the JDK tools, JConsole is a graphical tool that uses JMX to monitor and report on the activities and resource use of Java applications. This section explains how ...