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Monitor and manage Java workloads with JDK Flight Recorder and Mission Control

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This article shows you how to monitor and manage Java workloads with JDK Flight Recorder and JDK Mission Control.

Oracle open-sourced Mission Control in 2018, and it's managed as a project under the OpenJDK umbrella. Coupled with Flight Recorder, Mission Control delivers low-overhead, interactive monitoring and management capabilities for Java workloads.

Install JDK Mission Control and connect to a JVM

Follow the steps below to install JDK Mission Control, connect to a Java Virtual Machine (JVM), and gain real-time visibility into all aspects of a running application.

  1. Make sure you have a JDK installed.

  2. Find a JDK Mission Control binary from the OpenJDK JMC Project on GitHub. Then, choose the appropriate version for your system, save it locally, and change to that directory.

  3. Expand the downloaded file. The examples below are for Azul Zulu Mission Control.

    Linux:

    Bash 
    tar -xzvf zmc8.0.0.17-ca-linux_x64.tar.gz

    Windows:

    PowerShell 
    unzip -zxvf zmc8.0.0.17-ca-win_x64.zip

    macOS:

    Bash 
    tar -xzvf zmc8.0.0.17-ca-macos_x64.tar.gz

  4. Start your Java application using one of the compatible JDKs. For example:

    Azure CLI 
    $JAVA_HOME/bin/java -jar MyApplication.jar

  5. Start Zulu Mission Control

    Linux:

    Azure CLI 
    zmc8.0.0.17-ca-linux_x64/zmc

    Windows:

    Azure CLI 
    zmc8.0.0.17-ca-win_x64\zmc.exe

    macOS:

    Azure CLI 
    zmc8.0.0.17-ca-macos_x64/Zulu\ Mission\ Control.app/Contents/MacOS/zmc

  6. Locate the JVM running your application.

    1. In the upper left pane of the Zulu Mission Control window, select the tab labeled JVM Browser.

    2. Select and expand the list item in the upper left for the JVM instance running your application.

    Expand the list item in the upper left for your JVM instance

  7. Start a Flight Recording, if necessary.

    1. If the Flight Recorder displays "No Recordings", start one. To start a recording, right-click on the Flight Recorder line in the JVM Browser tab and then select Start Flight Recording.

    2. Select either a fixed duration recording or a continuous recording, and either a Profiling configuration (fine-grained) or a Continuous configuration (lower overhead), then select Finish.

    Start a Flight Recording

  8. Dump the Flight Recording.

    1. A Flight Recording should appear below the Flight Recorder line in the JVM Browser. Right-click on the line representing the Flight Recording and select Dump whole recording.

    2. A new tab will appear in the large pane on the right side of the Zulu Mission Control window. This pane represents the Flight Recording just dumped from the JVM running your application.

  9. Examine the Flight Recording using Zulu Mission Control

    1. If not already activated, select the tab labeled Outline in the left pane of the Zulu Mission Control Window. This tab contains different views of the data collected in the Flight Recording.

    Review the Flight Recording

Resources

Azul Systems provides a demonstration video narrated by Azul Systems Deputy CTO Simon Ritter. The video walks you through the configuration and setup of both Flight Recorder and Zulu Mission Control. The Flight Recorder discussion starts at 31:30.