Introduction to Java Mission Control for JVM Monitoring

Java Mission Control (JMC) is a powerful monitoring, diagnostics, and performance analysis tool. Oracle provides this to run the Java applications on the Java Virtual Machine. It is part of the Java Development Kit and offers developers and administrators insights into the runtime behaviour of Java applications. The JMC is useful for identifying performance and other issues affecting the application’s efficiency.

Key Features of Java Mission Control

  • Flight Recorder (JFR): The JMC leverages the Java Flight Recorder to capture detailed information about JVM’s operation. This includes events related to garbage collection and more. The JFR provides low-overhead continuous recording without a significant performance impact.
  • Mission Control Console: The Mission Control Console is the user interface for analyzing the recorded data. It offers a comprehensive set of visualizations and tools for inspecting different aspects of the JVM behaviour. Users can navigate timelines view detailed event information and analyze patterns.
  • Diagnostics Commands: The Java Mission Control includes a set of diagnostic commands that allow users to interact with the running JVM. These commands provide real-time insights into JVM’s state, thread activity and more. It is a valuable tool for on-the-fly monitoring and issue identification.
  • Advanced Profiling: The JMC supports advanced profiling capabilities allowing developers to identify the performance hotspots in their code. The tool provides detailed information about method execution times thread synchronization and I/O operations aiding in performance optimization.

Steps to Start with Java Mission Control:

To use Java Mission Control follow these basic steps:

  • Enable Flight Recorder: To configure our Java application, we need to enable Flight Recorder. This involves setting the JVM flags to activate JFR and specify the recording settings such as duration and destination.
  • Run Mission Control Console: Launch the Mission Control Console either stand-alone or as part of the Java VisualVM tool. Connect to run Java process that has the Flight Recorder enabled.
  • Analyze Recorded Data: Use the Mission Control Console to analyze the recorded data. To navigate through timelines, inspect events and leverage the various tools provided to identify areas for improvement.

Configurations and Usage of JMC

  • Installation: The Java Mission Control is included with the Oracle JDK distributions. Simply download and install the JDK package and JMC will be available in the bin directory.
  • Launching JMC: To launch Java Mission Control execute the jmc command from the command line or navigate to the JMC executable in the JDK installation directory.
  • Connecting to JVM: The JMC can connect to local or remote JVM instances for the monitoring. Specify the target JVM process ID or hostname and port number to the establish a connection.
  • Analyzing Flight Recordings: Use the Flight Recorder to the capture runtime data and analyze it using the JMC’s visualization tools. Configure recording settings such as the duration, frequency and event types to the capture relevant data.

Program for Java Mission Control for JVM Monitoring

Now we will write a Java program to monitor CPU usage by performing CPU-intensive operations in a loop. The program should iterate for a specified number of times and print the CPU usage iteration number at each iteration. And, the program should include a short delay to reduce CPU load between iterations.

Below is the program to demonstrate Java Mission Control for JVM Monitoring:

Java
// Java Program to demonstrate Java Mission Control
// for JVM Monitoring
import java.io.*;
import java.lang.management.ManagementFactory;
import java.lang.management.ThreadMXBean;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;

// Driver Class
public class GFG {
      // Main Function
    public static void main(String[] args)
          throws InterruptedException {
        
          // Start monitoring CPU usage using
          // the Java Mission Control (JMC)
        ThreadMXBean threadMXBean = ManagementFactory.getThreadMXBean();
        long startCpuTime = threadMXBean.getCurrentThreadCpuTime();      
        int iteration = 0;
      
        while (iteration < 10) {
            // Perform some CPU-intensive operation
            int sum = 0;
            for (int i = 0; i < Integer.MAX_VALUE; i++) {
                sum += i;
            }
              
            // Print output at each iteration
            System.out.println("CPU usage iteration: " + iteration);
            
              // Add a short delay to reduce CPU load
            TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.sleep(100);
            iteration++;
        }        
      
        // Stop monitoring CPU usage
        long endCpuTime = threadMXBean.getCurrentThreadCpuTime();
        long cpuUsageMs = TimeUnit.NANOSECONDS.toMillis(endCpuTime - startCpuTime);
        System.out.println("Total CPU usage: " + cpuUsageMs + " milliseconds");
    }
}

Output :

Below we can refer the output image for better understanding.

Explanation of the above Program:

  • Initialize a loop to iterate a specified number of times.
  • Within the loop, perform a CPU-intensive operation, such as calculating the sum of integers up to Integer.MAX_VALUE.
  • Print the CPU usage iteration number at each iteration.
  • Add a short delay using Thread.sleep() to reduce CPU load between iterations.
  • Increment the iteration counter.
  • Continue the loop until the specified number of iterations is reached.
  • After completing all iterations, end the program.

Advantages of Java Mission Control

  • Improved Performance: By analyzing JVM metrics and diagnosing performance issues developers can optimize the performance of the Java applications resulting in reduced latency and enhanced scalability.
  • Efficient Resource Utilization: JMC helps in the identifying memory leaks inefficient garbage collection patterns and CPU allowing the administrators to the allocate resources effectively and improve system stability.
  • Streamlined Troubleshooting: With comprehensive monitoring and diagnostic capabilities JMC simplifies the troubleshooting process by providing the actionable insights into the application behavior and performance.

FAQ’s in JMC

1. Is Java Mission Control available in all JDK distributions?

Yes, Java Mission Control is included in the Oracle JDK distributions starting from the JDK 7u40.

2. Can I use Java Mission Control with non-Oracle JDKs?

While it is primarily associated with the Oracle JDK efforts have been made to make Java Mission Control compatible with the other JDK distributions.

3. Does Java Mission Control have a command-line interface?

The Java Mission Control primarily relies on the graphical user interface. However, certain diagnostic commands can be used via the command line.