VisualVM 1.3 Release Notes

Supported OS:

• Microsoft Windows (7, Vista, XP, Server): 32bit & 64bit
• Linux: Intel platform, 32bit & 64bit
• Sun Solaris: Intel & Sparc platform, 32bit & 64bit
• Mac OS X: Intel platform, 32bit & 64bit
• HP-UX 11i: PA-RISC platform, 32bit & 64bit

Required software:

• Oracle/Sun JDK 6+
• OpenJDK 6+
• IcedTea 6+
• Apple JDK 6+
• HP-UX JDK 6.0.01+

Features and enhancements:

• Sampler added to the core tool
• Introduced Sampler and Profiler presets
• Enabled taking remote heap dumps
• Enabled monitoring remote hosts via a JMX-enabled application
• Enabled custom sorting of hosts, applications, coredumps and snapshots
• Recognizing Clojure, Groovy, JRuby, Jython and Scala runtimes
• Introduced Tracer framework and probes
• Introduced Threads Inspector plugin
• Distributed also as a Mac OS X Application Bundle
• Built on NetBeans Platform & profiler 6.9:
  • Summary | Overview view in HeapWalker now displays local variables in Threads section
  • Support for opening .npss snapshots created by the NetBeans IDE's Profile Me! feature
  • Number of bugfixes and performance improvements in Profiler, HeapWalker and charts

API Changes:

• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.application.ApplicationDescriptor.<init>(application, preferredPosition) and ApplicationDescriptor.resolveApplicationName(application, applicationType) added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.coredump.CoreDumpsContainerDescriptor added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.core.datasource.descriptor.DataSourceDescriptor.getChildrenComparator(), DataSourceDescriptor.setChildrenComparator(comparator), DataSourceDescriptor.resolveName(dataSource, name) and DataSourceDescriptor.resolvePosition(dataSource, position, savePosition) added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.heapdump.HeapDumpSupport.supportsRemoteHeapDump(application) and HeapDumpSupport.takeRemoteHeapDump(application, dumpFile, customizeDumpFile) added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.tools.jmx.JmxModel.getSystemProperties(), JmxModel.isTakeHeapDumpSupported(), JmxModel.takeHeapDump(fileName), JmxModel.isTakeThreadDumpSupported(), JmxModel.takeThreadDump(), JmxModel.takeThreadDump(threadIds[]), JmxModel.getFlagValue(name) and JmxModel.setFlagValue(name, value) added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.host.LocalHostDescriptor.setChildrenComparator(comparator) added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.core.datasupport.Positionable.STRONG_COMPARATOR and Positionable.StrongPositionableComparator added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.host.RemoteHostDescriptor.setChildrenComparator(comparator) added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.host.RemoteHostsContainer made final (has only a private constructor anyway)
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.host.RemoteHostsContainerDescriptor added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.core.snapshot.Snapshot.isInSnapshot() added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.core.snapshot.SnapshotDescriptor.<init>(snapshot, description, icon), SnapshotDescriptor.<init>(snapshot, name, description, icon, position, autoExpansionPolicy) and SnapshotDescriptor.resolveSnapshotName(snapshot) added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.core.snapshot.SnapshotsContainerDescriptor added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.core.ui.components.Spacer added

Fixed bugs: IssueTracker query.

• Issue 224: Cannot memory profile JBoss AS 4.2.3.GA
• Issue 148: VisualVM hangs when lost remote connection
• Issue 120: JMX application datasource cannot be reused on application restart
• Issue 72: Running application sometimes not recognized

Warning: due to a JDK bug taking heap dump may crash the target JVM if it's running JDK 6 Update 16+ using Concurrent Mark Sweep garbage collector (CMS). A workaround is to use a different GC (for example using -XX:+UseParallelGC). Similar problem seems to affect also the JDK 7 devbuilds.

To view all known problems please use this IssueTracker query.

Features and enhancements:

• HeapWalker performance improvements
• VisualVM-Sampler performance improvements
• Profiling engine bugfixes
• BTrace4VisualVM plugin introduces BTrace 1.1
• Minor appearance improvements for Mac OS X
• Built on NetBeans Platform 6.8

Fixed bugs: IssueTracker query.

Fixed bugs: IssueTracker query.

Features and enhancements:

• Sampling CPU and Memory profiler plugin (VisualVM-Sampler available on Plugins Center)
• Support for multiple jstatd connections on a single local/remote host
• New charts with dynamic tooltips, public Charts API for plugins
• Monitor and Threads tab are saved into Application Snapshot
• Application Snapshots can be opened using the Load action or --openfile parameter
• Properties UI for Applications, Hosts and Snapshots, public Properties API for plugins
• Customizable proxy settings in Options dialog
• UI for customizing SSL certificates in Options dialog (VisualVM-Security available on Plugins Center)
• Enhanced JMX API to enable customizing JMX environment/connections by plugins
• Display name defined by the monitored application: visualvm.display.name property
• Improved performance for remote X sessions
• Automatic detection of broken jvmstat on Windows (username capitalization vs. hsperfdata file)
• Various UI improvements: main menu, toolbar and context menu; system (theme) colors; About dialog, profiler snapshots, HeapWalker
• Built on NetBeans Platform & profiler 6.7.1:
  • Exporting profiler snapshots to HTML, XML and CSV
  • Computing retained size in HeapWalker
  • OQL scripting support in HeapWalker (OQL Syntax Support [enhanced OQL editor] available on Plugins Center)
  • Thread stack traces at the heap dump in HeapWalker
  • Improved appearance on Mac OS X

API Changes:

• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.charts.* added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.core.properties.* added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.core.datasource.descriptor.DataSourceDescriptor.providesProperties() added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.core.ui.DataSourceWindowManager.openDataSource(dataSource, selectView) added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.core.datasource.Storage() added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.core.datasource.Storage.clearCustomProperty(property), Storage.clearCustomProperties([] properties) and Storage.hasCustomProperties() added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.application.views.ApplicationViewsSupport.getSnapshotMonitorView() and ApplicationViewsSupport.getSnapshotThreadsView() added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.jmx.CredentialsProvider, DefaultCustomizer, EnvironmentProvider, JmxConnectionCustomizer and JmxConnectionSupport added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.jmx.JmxApplicationsSupport.createJmxApplication(connectionString, displayName, environmentProvider, persistent) and JmxApplicationsSupport.createJmxApplicationInteractive(connectionString, displayName, environmentProvider, persistent) added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.application.jvm.Jvm.getMonitoredData() added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.application.jvm.HeapHistogram added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.tools.attach.AttachModel.takeHeapHistogram() added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.tools.jvmstat.JvmstatModel.getConnectionId() added

Fixed bugs: IssueTracker query.

Features and enhancements:

• Introduced the Memory Sampler plugin
• Improved integration of the Visual GC tool
• Added version info to the Windows launcher visualvm.exe

API Changes:

• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.host.HostsSupport.getOrCreateHost(hostname, interactive) added

Fixed bugs: IssueTracker query.

Features and enhancements:

• CPU usage and GC activity graph in Monitor tab
• Table view in Threads tab
• Commandline options: --openpid, --openjmx, --openfile
• Compare Memory Snapshots action in context menu
• Copy To Clipboard / Save To File buttons in About dialog
• Monitoring IBM JVM via JMX connection
• Experimental support for HP-UX PA-RISC
• Integration plugin for Eclipse IDE
• NetBeans Platform 6.5 as a basis

API Changes:

• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.host.HostsSupport.createHost(hostname, displayname) added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.jmx.application.JmxApplicationsSupport added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.application.jvm.Jvm.isCpuMonitoringSupported() and isCollectionTimeSupported() added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.application.jvm.MonitoredData.getProcessCpuTime() and getCollectionTime() added
• Incompatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.host.model.HostOverviewFactory made final
• Incompatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.core.datasource.descriptor.DataSourceDescriptor.<init>() removed
• Incompatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.coredump.CoreDumpSupport.register() is no more public
• Incompatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.host.HostsSupport.getStorageDirectoryString() and getHostProvider() are no more public

Fixed bugs: IssueTracker query.

Features and enhancements:

• Profiler supports OpenJDK
• Profiler is silently disabled on unsupported platforms, the rest of the tool can run unaffected
• Minor improvements of warning messages in the tool and plugins to better describe reported problems
• New plugins available on the Plugin center: JvmCapabilities, KillApplication, SysTray

Fixed bugs: IssueTracker query.