Download
VisualVM is available in two distributions: VisualVM available at visualvm.java.net and Java VisualVM available as a JDK tool in Oracle/Sun JDK distributions starting from JDK 6 update 7 and Apple's Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 4 (see the Releases Overview page). The Java VisualVM is a stable tool tested with each JDK distribution, latest JDK update from Oracle including Java VisualVM can be downloaded here. VisualVM available on this page is a bleeding-edge distribution with the latest features and bug fixes.
Note: Be sure to read the Release Notes prior to installing VisualVM to be aware of minimal system requirements. The main prerequisite is a correctly installed JDK 7+ (JDK from Oracle is available here) which will be used for running VisualVM.
Download
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)First Steps
- Unzip the downloaded archive. The archive already contains the top-level
visualvmdirectory. - Start VisualVM by invoking the binary appropriate for your OS:
visualvm\bin\visualvm.exevisualvm/bin/visualvm
You may provide additional options to define JDK and/or VisualVM user directory:
--jdkhome "<path to JDK>" --userdir "<path to userdir>" - During first VisualVM startup the profiler performs calibration, be sure that there's no additional load on your machine and dynamic frequency switching technologies like SpeedStep and PowerNow! are disabled. After startup VisualVM should look similar to this screenshot.
- Check out the Getting Started document, it's designed to help you start using VisualVM.
Possible Problems
There are several problems which can occur when starting VisualVM for the first time:
- VisualVM doesn't start: there are several problems which could prevent VisualVM from starting without any visible reason:
- The download is broken - make sure you've got the correct bits (archive managers typically notify you when the archive is broken)
- VisualVM waits for license confirmation - make sure you haven't overlooked the License Agreement dialog
- Incorrect JDK is used for running VisualVM - if you haven't defined a JDK to run VisualVM manually, make sure that the default Java on your system is Oracle/Sun JDK 7+ (or JDK 6+ for VisualVM 1.3.6 and previous versions)
- Incorrectly set JDK for running VisualVM - if you have defined a JDK to run VisualVM manually, make sure the path to the JDK is correct and doesn't end with a slash
- Incorrectly set VisualVM user directory - if you have defined VisualVM user directory manually, make sure it is outside of VisualVM installation directory
- VisualVM has stopped working (Windows): caused by running VisualVM using an unsupported Compatibility mode, see the Troubleshooting Guide for more details and steps to fix the problem
- Java(TM) Platform SE binary has stopped working (Windows 64bit): caused by a bug in d3d rendering pipeline, see the Troubleshooting Guide for more details and steps to fix the problem
- VisualVM startup terminates by Error Starting VisualVM Dialog - unsupported version of Java: this typically happens when JRE or incorrect JDK version is used to run VisualVM, make sure VisualVM is running on Oracle/Sun JDK 7+ (or JDK 6+ for VisualVM 1.3.6 and previous versions)
- VisualVM startup terminates by Warning - could not install some modules message: this can happen if you unzip the VisualVM archive over an older VisualVM version, make sure you are unzipping the VisualVM to a new directory
- Local Applications Cannot Be Detected dialog is shown after VisualVM startup: this can happen on Windows systems, see the Troubleshooting Guide for more details and steps to fix the problem
If you are experiencing other problems or you need more details, try to find a solution in the Troubleshooting Guide. If it doesn't help, you may ask for help on a mailing list or file a bug report (you need to be registered to access the mailing list or file a bug report).