VisualVM 1.3.8 Release Notes

Supported OS:

• Microsoft Windows (8, 7, Vista, Server): 32bit & 64bit
• Linux: Intel platform, 32bit & 64bit
• Linux ARM HFLT (Raspberry Pi), JDK 8+ only
• Sun Solaris: Intel & Sparc platform, 32bit & 64bit
• Mac OS X: Intel platform, 64bit
• HP-UX 11i: PA-RISC platform, 32bit & 64bit

Required software:

• Oracle JDK 7+
• OpenJDK 7+
• IcedTea 7+
• HP-UX JDK 7.0.x+

Features and enhancements:

• Monitor graphs in Application Snapshots can now be zoomed and scrolled.
• NB Issue 238028: Add support for profiling Java SE Embedded on ARM-VFP-HFLT platform
• NB Issue 238594: Improve Threads view
• NB Issue 235168: Warn the user when comparing 32bit vs. 64bit heap dumps or memory snapshots
• NB Issue 237308: [heapwalker] binary export
• NB Issue 237864: [heapwalker] heap model can use less memory
• Built on NetBeans Platform & profiler 8.0

API Changes:

• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.application.jvm.Jvm.is19() added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.charts.xy.SimpleXYChartUtils.setZoomingEnabled(boolean enabled) added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.charts.xy.SimpleXYChartUtils.isZoomingEnabled() added

Fixed bugs:

• Issue 478: Spikey and sometimes scattered graph
• Issue 553: Rendering issues with charts after long data display
• Issue 592: use jcmd to enable local JMX agent
• Issue 595: Broken graph mesh in Application snapshots
• Issue 596: Missing default root methods
• Issue 597: Remove "PermGen histogram" on JDK 8+
• IssueTracker query to list all changes in NetBeans profiler affecting VisualVM

• NB Issue 245522: Instrumented CPU profiling fails on JDK7u65 with -target >=1.7
• Issue 148: VisualVM hangs when lost remote connection
• Issue 120: JMX application datasource cannot be reused on application restart

To view all known problems please use this IssueTracker query.

Features and enhancements:

• Issue 576: Add memory sampling functionality for remote applications
• Issue 583: Improve handling profiler calibration
• NB Issue 225710: [heapwalker] Display logical values of instances where feasible
• NB Issue 227292: Enhance Thread display with info about java.util.concurrent locks
• NB Issue 228403: Sort methods by inclusive time
• Built on NetBeans Platform & profiler 7.4

API Changes:

• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.application.jvm.Jvm.takeHeapHistogram() added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.tools.jmx.JmxModel.takeHeapHistogram() added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.jmx.DefaultCustomizer.allowsInsecureConnection() added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.jmx.JmxApplicationsSupport.createJmxApplicationInteractive(..., boolean allowsInsecure) added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.jmx.JmxConnectionCustomizer.Setup(..., boolean allowsInsecureConnection) added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.jmx.JmxConnectionCustomizer.Setup.allowsInsecureConnection() added

Fixed bugs:

• Issue 571: MissingResourceException when starting CPU profiler
• Issue 572: Cannot connect to remote jmx agent discovered via jstatd
• Issue 577: Profiler class sharing warning displayed incorrectly for JDK 7 and JDK 6
• Issue 579: Deadlock after startup
• Issue 581: Network Options - Manual settings
• Issue 582: Undocked Applications view is semi-transparent
• IssueTracker query to list all changes in NetBeans profiler affecting VisualVM

Features and enhancements:

• Issue 415: Don't check&delete the remote sites at startup
• Issue 522: Update VisualVM to reflect metaspace changes
• Issue 564: Make sure VisualVM works with read-only JMX connection
• NB Issue 134787: Ability to compare CPU snapshots
• NB Issue 212357: Show retained size by classes
• Built on NetBeans Platform & profiler 7.3.1

API Changes:

• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.application.jvm.Jvm.getGenName() added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.tools.jvmstat.JvmJvmstatModel.getGenName() added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.modules.startup.dialogs.StartupDialog added

Fixed bugs:

• Issue 153: Random deadlock when starting VisualVM
• Issue 545: Loading profiler for OC4J fails with NullPointerException - easy fix
• Issue 548: Snapshot text is missing
• Issue 555: Cannot see local Java applications if Eclipse Juno Service Release 2 is running on Mac OS X 10.8.3
• Issue 558: java.util.MissingResourceException: MSG_Broken_Jsp_NoLink
• Issue 559: Need user feedback when determined that username/password may be sent via an insecure connection
• Issue 563: No error message if "Monitor" / "Perform GC" fails because of insufficient privilege
• Issue 565: [OQL] instance field named "map" cannot be displayed
• BTrace issue 90: BTrace does not work for JDK7u25
• IssueTracker query to list all changes in NetBeans profiler affecting VisualVM

Features and enhancements:

• Issue 526: Update visualvm launchers
• Issue 520: Extend KillApplication action to also use kill -9
• Issue 517: Open .npss files in timeline
• UI appearance improvements
• NB Issue 55485: Allow filtering treetable results
• NB Issue 139305: ability to define name and add metadata to snapshots
• NB Issue 181194: Speed-up computation of retained sizes
• NB Issue 205250: UI to copy nearest GC root trace to clipboard
• Built on NetBeans Platform & profiler 7.2.1

Fixed bugs:

• Issue 530: Random deadlock when starting VisualVM
• Issue 529: Deadlock detector throws NoSuchMethodException on JDK 1.5
• Issue 528: SysTray plugin throwing AWTException on VisualVM startup on Ubuntu 12.04
• Issue 527: NPE when restoring saved core dumps
• Issue 525: CSV Export colums incorrect and values shouldn't have a unit
• Issue 519: Sample action incorrectly enabled
• Issue 518: MBeans: Improve error message when invoke operation failed
• Issue 516: VisualVM does not recognize itself
• Issue 513: Unidentified developer when run on OS X Mountain Lion
• Issue 512: Cannot open a snapshot
• Issue 510: snapshot save don't use filename
• Issue 507: Cannot see local Java applications if NetBeans 7.1.2 is running on Mac OS X
• Issue 505: Name of Eclipse applications is shown as "null"
• Issue 467: Thread CPU Time: clicking Deltas doesn't refresh data
• IssueTracker query to list all changes in NetBeans profiler

Features and enhancements:

• Issue 490: Support for JDK 8.
• Issue 495: '<Unknown Application>' now displayed as 'Local Application' and 'Remote Application'
• Issue 498: Recognizing IntelliJ platform applications
• Issue 499: Recognizing Eclipse IDE process
• Built on NetBeans Platform & profiler 7.1.1

API Changes:

• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.application.jvm.Jvm.is18() added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.application.type.ApplicationType.PROPERTY_SUGGESTED_NAME added
• Compatible: com.sun.tools.visualvm.charts.SimpleXYChartSupport.setLegendVisible(visible) and SimpleXYChartSupport.isLegendVisible() added

Fixed bugs:

• Issue 471: Cannot access heapdump/threadump from application snapshot
• Issue 486: ML build does not preserve execute permission
• Issue 494: Sampler settings UI disabled when application terminates
• Issue 496: Applications added by JMX connection don't display application type/custom name
• Issue 497: JMX Connection tab not available for applications added using '--openjmx'
• IssueTracker query to list all changes in NetBeans profiler

Features and enhancements:

• Eclipse VisualVM Launcher now supports Eclipse IDE 3.6 and newer.
• Issue 337: JUnit support for Eclipse VisualVM Launcher
• Issue 443: Automatic deadlock detector
• Issue 452: Add support for tracking of cumulative Java heap bytes allocated on a per-thread basis
• Issue 455: Add 'Pending Finalizers Count' probe
• Issue 463: Add support for tracking of CPU time on a per-thread basis
• NetBeans issue 191779: Detect heap dump caused by OOME and indicate which thread is throwing OOME
• Built on NetBeans Platform & profiler 7.0.1

Fixed bugs:

• Issue 416: VisualVM does not start on Windows
• Issue 419: Swing/AWT code invoked out of EDT
• Issue 442: Fields in Proxy settings are not trimmed
• Issue 446: Perm Gen information is missing
• Issue 454: Installation of Kill Application plugin timeouts in 2nd+ session
• Issue 460: NetBeans 7.0 recognized as 6.9+
• Issue 462: Open references to all files > 1MB after loading a heap dump
• Issue 465: VisualVM Eclipse plugin can't launch VisualVM with JDK 1.7.0
• Issue 466: libprofilerinterface.so files on Solaris and Linux are not executable
• IssueTracker query to list all changes in NetBeans profiler

Features and enhancements:

• Issue 428: Show CompositeType field descriptions in tooltips
• tracking (hash)map resize events by Tracer-Collections plugin

Fixed bugs:

• Issue 412: Malicious code vulnerability warnings reported by findbugs
• Issue 430: Stack overflow at disconnect of JMX application
• Issue 432: Profiler tab is not available for OpenJDK 7
• Issue 434: java.lang.NoSuchMethodError from Tracer Jvmstat
• NetBeans issue 191297: Profiling fails with 'Redefinition failed with error 62'
• NetBeans issue 194407: Installed Plugin Tab does not show list of plugins installed
• NetBeans issue 195955: [HeapWalker] deadlock in processing of OQL query
• Threads not displayed in Threads Inspector in JDK 7
• Tracer timeline layout oscillates in JDK 7
• http links updated: sun.com -> oracle.com

Features and enhancements:

• Added Java version and vendor information to the application Overview view
• Built on NetBeans Platform & profiler 6.9.1

Fixed bugs: IssueTracker query.

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.

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.