User Guide

Using BEA JRockit JVM with Other WebLogic Applications

The configuration options described elsewhere in this user guide can be set to optimize BEA JRockit JVM performance with both BEA WebLogic Server and BEA WebLogic Workshop. This chapter defines these optimal settings and discussed how to use the JVM with these applications. It includes information on the following subjects:

Using BEA JRockit JVM with BEA WebLogic Server

BEA JRockit JVM is certified for use with BEA WebLogic Server. This section includes information on the following subjects:

Certified Versions

For details on certified and supported platform combinations of WebLogic Server with BEA JRockit 8.0, please refer to the following Web pages:

http://www.bea.com/products/weblogic/server/

http://www.bea.com/products/weblogic/jrockit/

Verifying that BEA JRockit is Your JVM

BEA JRockit is the default production JVM shipped with WebLogic Server, although you can use another VM, such as Sun Microsystem's HotSpot JVM as a development VM. To ensure that BEA JRockit is the JVM running with your instance of WebLogic Server, at the command line, type:

java -version

If BEA JRockit is running, the system will respond:

java version "1.4.2_04"
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.4.2_04-b05)
BEA JRockit(TM) 1.4.2_04 JVM (build ari-29212-20040415-1348-win-ia32, Native Threads, GC strategy: parallel)

Note: This example assumes you are using the native thread method (the default) and generational concurrent garbage collector (default when maximum heap size is larger than 128 MB).

Starting JRockit from the Node Manager

If you are starting BEA JRockit JVM from the WLS Node Manager, you need to enter the fully-qualifying path, as shown above, in the Java Home field on the Remote Start Page; for example:

\bea\jrockit81_141\bin\java

Enabling the Management Server from the Node Manager

You can enable the management server from the WLS Node Manager by doing the following:

Start the Node Manager as described in Starting Node Manager with Commands or Scripts and navigate to the Remote Start page.

Ensure that you have specified an absolute pathname to BEA JRockit JVM's top-level directory in the Java Home field

In Arguments, type -Xmanagement.

For more information on using the Node Manager, please refer to the Overview of Node Manager in Configuring and Managing WebLogic Server.

Setting Options by Using the Node Manager

If you started the server or cluster of servers with the Node Manager and specified an absolute pathname to BEA JRockit JVM's top-level directory in the Java Home field on the Node Manager's Remote Start page, you can set any option from this page, too. Simply enter the option and any arguments in the Arguments field.

For more information on using the Node Manager, please refer to the Overview of Node Manager in Configuring and Managing WebLogic Server.

Tuning BEA JRockit for WebLogic Server

The parallel garbage collector strategy is used by default (set explicitly with -Xgc:parallel). If you want to improve BEA JRockit performance, you can try one of the following techniques, bearing in mind that all applications are different and you need to verify which settings give the best performance in each case:

Increase the initial (-Xms) and maximum heap size (-Xmx).
Change the garbage collector to single spaced concurrent (-Xgc:singlecon) or generational concurrent (-Xgc:gencon). Remember to set the nursery (-Xns) explicitly to ~12% of the maximum heap size when using the gencon strategy, the default nursery size is by default 10 MB/CPU, which is often too small for the average server application.

Note: The parallel strategy is single generational and the -Xns setting will have no affect on processing (see Setting the Size of the Nursery ).

For more information on tuning BEA JRockit, please refer to Tuning BEA JRockit JVM.

Monitoring BEA JRockit JVM from WebLogic Server

If you run WebLogic Server with BEA JRockit JVM, you can use the WebLogic Server Administration Console to view runtime data about the VM and the memory and processors on the computer hosting it.

To monitor BEA JRockit JVM, do the following:

Start WebLogic Server with BEA JRockit JVM as the VM.

In the left pane of the Administration Console, expand the Servers folder.

Click a server that is using the BEA JRockit JVM.

In the right pane, click the Monitoring tab. Then click the JRockit tab.

The JRockit tab displays monitoring information. Table 7-1 BEA JRockit Attributes Monitored by the WebLogic Server Administration Console Attribute Description Total Nursery Size Indicates the amount (in bytes) of memory that is currently allocated to the nursery. The nursery is the area of the Java heap where objects are initially allocated. Instead of garbage collecting the entire heap, generational garbage collectors focus on the nursery. Because most objects die young, most of the time it is sufficient to garbage collect only the nursery and not the entire heap. If you are not using a generational garbage collector, the nursery size is 0. Max Heap Size Indicates the maximum amount of memory (in bytes) that the VM can allocate for its Java heap. This number is fixed at startup time of the VM, typically by the -Xmx option. Gc Algorithm Indicates the type of garbage collector that BEA JRockit JVM is using. Total Garbage Collection Count Indicates the number of garbage collection runs that have occurred since the VM was started. GCHandles Compaction Indicates whether the VM's garbage collector compacts the Java heap. Usually the heap is scattered throughout available memory. A garbage collector that compacts the heap defragments the memory space in addition to deleting unused objects. Values: true false Concurrent Indicates whether JRockit's garbage collector runs in a separate Java thread concurrently with other Java threads. Values: true false Generational Indicates whether JRockit's garbage collector uses a nursery space. Instead of garbage collecting the entire heap, generational garbage collectors focus on the nursery. Because most objects die young, most of the time it is sufficient to garbage collect only the nursery and not the entire heap. Values: true false Incremental Indicates whether JRockit's garbage collector collects only a small portion of the heap during each old collection (incremental) or collects the whole heap during each collection (non-incremental). Values: true false Parallel Indicates whether the JRockit's garbage collector is able to run in parallel on multiple processors if multiple processors are available. Values: true false Number Of Processors Displays the number of processors on JRockit's host computer. If this is not a Symetric Multi Processor (SMP) system, the value will be 1. Total Number Of Threads Indicates the number of Java threads (daemon and non-daemon) that are currently running on JRockit across all processors. Number Of Daemon Threads Indicates the number of daemon Java threads currently running on JRockit across all processors.

Attribute	Description
Total Nursery Size	Indicates the amount (in bytes) of memory that is currently allocated to the nursery. The nursery is the area of the Java heap where objects are initially allocated. Instead of garbage collecting the entire heap, generational garbage collectors focus on the nursery. Because most objects die young, most of the time it is sufficient to garbage collect only the nursery and not the entire heap. If you are not using a generational garbage collector, the nursery size is 0.
Max Heap Size	Indicates the maximum amount of memory (in bytes) that the VM can allocate for its Java heap. This number is fixed at startup time of the VM, typically by the `-Xmx` option.
Gc Algorithm	Indicates the type of garbage collector that BEA JRockit JVM is using.
Total Garbage Collection Count	Indicates the number of garbage collection runs that have occurred since the VM was started.
GCHandles Compaction	Indicates whether the VM's garbage collector compacts the Java heap. Usually the heap is scattered throughout available memory. A garbage collector that compacts the heap defragments the memory space in addition to deleting unused objects. Values: true false
Concurrent	Indicates whether JRockit's garbage collector runs in a separate Java thread concurrently with other Java threads. Values: true false
Generational	Indicates whether JRockit's garbage collector uses a nursery space. Instead of garbage collecting the entire heap, generational garbage collectors focus on the nursery. Because most objects die young, most of the time it is sufficient to garbage collect only the nursery and not the entire heap. Values: true false
Incremental	Indicates whether JRockit's garbage collector collects only a small portion of the heap during each old collection (incremental) or collects the whole heap during each collection (non-incremental). Values: true false
Parallel	Indicates whether the JRockit's garbage collector is able to run in parallel on multiple processors if multiple processors are available. Values: true false
Number Of Processors	Displays the number of processors on JRockit's host computer. If this is not a Symetric Multi Processor (SMP) system, the value will be 1.
Total Number Of Threads	Indicates the number of Java threads (daemon and non-daemon) that are currently running on JRockit across all processors.
Number Of Daemon Threads	Indicates the number of daemon Java threads currently running on JRockit across all processors.

To view additional data about BEA JRockit, such as how long it spends in a specific method, use the BEA JRockit Management Console, as described in Using the BEA JRockit JVM Management Console.

Switching to BEA JRockit JVM in WebLogic Server

When you switch to BEA JRockit JVM in WebLogic Server, any changes to the VM and start-up setting, should be handled by the WLS Configuration Wizard. Additionally, if any installation-wide scripts must be updated due to the switch, these will also be handled by the WLS Configuration Wizard.

Among information that needs to be changed when switching to BEA JRockit JVM are:

The value for the JAVA_HOME variable needs to be changed to the absolute pathname to the top BEA directory; for example, c:\bea\jrockit81.

You can also change the JAVA_HOME variable from the Node Manager's Remote Start page by entering the absolute pathname in the Java Home field.

Change the value of the JAVA_VENDOR variable to BEA.

You will also need to restart any servers that are currently running.

For complete details on switching to BEA JRockit JVM from another JVM, please refer to Migrating to BEA JRockit. For more information on using the Configuration Wizard when switching to BEA JRockit, please refer to Changing the JVM that Runs Servers.

Switching VMs When WebLogic Server is Running as a Service

To switch the virtual machine when WebLogic Server is running as a service, do the following:

Stop the service.

Start regedit and find the service keys corresponding to your service

(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/ControlSet001/Services/{ServiceName}).

In the Parameters folder, change the value of the key JavaHome from the default VM to your BEA JRockit SDK directory.

Here you can also alter the arguments sent to the VM by editing the values of the key CmdLine.

Restart the service.

Configuring JRockit for BEA WebLogic Workshop

If you are running JRockit with BEA WebLogic Workshop, we recommend that you use the same configuration parameters specified for WebLogic Server in Tuning BEA JRockit for WebLogic Server.