Java – Using VisualVM with IntelliJ

intellij-ideajavajvisualvmvisualvm

I'm trying to use VisualVM with IntelliJ to profile a Java application. I have the VisualVM Launcher plugin installed inside of IntelliJ. I press the play button with the orange circle in IntelliJ that launches VisualVM and opens the process when I start the run. However, when I try to profile the CPU, it doesn't seem to profile the methods in my program. I've tried with several different programs and can't seem to get any of them to work with VisualVM. This is what VisualVM looks like this:

The profiler seems to think that the total time is 857 ms or 6.21 ms when in reality my program takes about a minute to run. It seems to be capturing "DestroyJavaVM" which is not my program. I'm using VisualVM because it is the only free Java profiler I could find. Any suggestions? Here are my VisualVM settings:

Best Answer

As others have suggested, take a look at your "Start profiling from class" setting.

But you might want to consider it being a timing issue. As you can see in the background, the process you want to debug is already finished.

Check in the call tree and in the list of processes to the left what you are debugging. In your screenshot you are debugging the destruction of the JVM. That does not include your code, so you should not see it there.

IntelliJ 14.X Onwards

From version 14.0 onwards, the path to the setting dialog is slightly different, a General submenu has been added between Editor and Appearance as shown below

enter image description here

IntelliJ 8.1.2 - 13.X

From IntelliJ 8.1.2 onwards, this option is in File | Settings¹. Within the IDE Settings section of that dialog, you'll find it under Editor | Appearance.

On a Mac, these are named IntelliJ IDEA | Preferences...

enter image description here

Java – How to create an executable JAR with dependencies using Maven

<build>
  <plugins>
    <plugin>
      <artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
      <configuration>
        <archive>
          <manifest>
            <mainClass>fully.qualified.MainClass</mainClass>
          </manifest>
        </archive>
        <descriptorRefs>
          <descriptorRef>jar-with-dependencies</descriptorRef>
        </descriptorRefs>
      </configuration>
    </plugin>
  </plugins>
</build>

and you run it with

mvn clean compile assembly:single

Compile goal should be added before assembly:single or otherwise the code on your own project is not included.

See more details in comments.

Commonly this goal is tied to a build phase to execute automatically. This ensures the JAR is built when executing mvn install or performing a deployment/release.

<plugin>
  <artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
  <configuration>
    <archive>
      <manifest>
        <mainClass>fully.qualified.MainClass</mainClass>
      </manifest>
    </archive>
    <descriptorRefs>
      <descriptorRef>jar-with-dependencies</descriptorRef>
    </descriptorRefs>
  </configuration>
  <executions>
    <execution>
      <id>make-assembly</id> <!-- this is used for inheritance merges -->
      <phase>package</phase> <!-- bind to the packaging phase -->
      <goals>
        <goal>single</goal>
      </goals>
    </execution>
  </executions>
</plugin>

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Intellij-idea – How to permanently enable line numbers in IntelliJ

IntelliJ 14.X Onwards

IntelliJ 8.1.2 - 13.X

Java – How to create an executable JAR with dependencies using Maven

Related Topic