Если вы словили OutOfMemoryError, то это вовсе не значит, что ваше приложение создает много объектов, которые не могут почиститься сборщиком мусора и заполняют всю память, выделенную вами с помощью параметра -Xmx. Я, как минимум, могу придумать два других случая, когда вы можете увидеть эту ошибку. Дело в том, что память java процесса не ограничивается областью -Xmx, где ваше приложение программно создает объекты.
Область памяти, занимаемая java процессом, состоит из нескольких частей. Тип OutOfMemoryError зависит от того, в какой из них не хватило места.
1. java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space
Не хватает место в куче, а именно, в области памяти в которую помещаются объекты, создаваемые программно в вашем приложении. Размер задается параметрами -Xms и -Xmx. Если вы пытаетесь создать объект, а места в куче не осталось, то получаете эту ошибку. Обычно проблема кроется в утечке памяти, коих бывает великое множество, и интернет просто пестрит статьями на эту тему.
2. java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: PermGen space
Данная ошибка возникает при нехватке места в Permanent области, размер которой задается параметрами -XX:PermSize и -XX:MaxPermSize. Что там лежит и как бороться с OutOfMemoryError возникающей там, я уже описал подробнейшим образом тут.
3. java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: GC overhead limit exceeded
Данная ошибка может возникнуть как при переполнении первой, так и второй областей. Связана она с тем, что памяти осталось мало и GC постоянно работает, пытаясь высвободить немного места. Данную ошибку можно отключить с помощью параметра -XX:-UseGCOverheadLimit, но, конечно же, её надо не отключать, а либо решать проблему утечки памяти, либо выделять больше объема, либо менять настройки GC.
4. java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: unable to create new native thread
Впервые я столкнулся с данной ошибкой несколько лет назад, когда занимался нагрузочным тестированием и пытался выяснить максимальное количество пользователей, которые могут работать с нашим веб-приложением. Я использовал специальную тулзу, которая позволяла логинить пользователей и эмулировать их стандартные действия. На определенном количестве клиентов, я начал получать OutOfMemoryError. Не особо вчитываясь в текст сообщения и думая, что мне не хватает памяти на создание сессии пользователя и других необходимых объектов, я увеличил размер кучи приложения (-Xmx). Каково же было мое удивление, когда после этого количество пользователей одновременно работающих с системой только уменьшилось. Давайте подробно разберемся как же такое получилось.
На самом деле это очень просто воспроизвести на windows на 32-битной машине, так как там процессу выделяется не больше 2Гб.
Допустим у вас есть приложение с большим количеством одновременно работающих пользователей, которое запускается с параметрами -Xmx1024M -XX:MaxPermSize=256M -Xss512K. Если всего процессу доступно 2G, то остается свободным еще коло 768M. Именно в данном остатке памяти и создаются стеки потоков. Таким образом, примерно вы можете создать не больше 768*(1024/512)=1536 (у меня при таких параметрах получилось создать 1316) нитей (см. рисунок в начале статьи), после чего вы получите OutOfMemoryError. Если вы увеличиваете -Xmx, то количество потоков, которые вы можете создать соответственно уменьшается. Вариант с уменьшением -Xss, для возможности создания большего количества потоков, не всегда выход, так как, возможно, у вас существуют в системе потоки требующие довольно больших стеков. Например, поток инициализации или какие-нибудь фоновые задачи. Но все же выход есть. Оказывается при программном создании потока, можно указать размер стека: Thread(ThreadGroup group, Runnable target, String name,long stackSize). Таким образом вы можете выставить -Xss довольно маленьким, а действия требующие больших стеков, выполнять в отдельных потоках, созданных с помощью упомянутого выше конструктора.
Более подробно, что же лежит в стеке потока, и куда уходит эта память, можно прочитать тут.
Конечно, вам может показаться данная проблема слегка надуманной, так как большинство серверов нынче крутиться на 64-битной архитектуре, но все же считаю данный пример весьма полезным, так как он помогает разобраться из каких частей состоит память java-процесса.
Overview
An out of memory error in Java formally known as java.lang.OutOfMemoryError is a runtime error that occurs when the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) cannot allocate an object in the Java heap memory. In this article, we will be discussing several reasons behind “out of memory” errors in Java and how you can avoid them.
The JVM manages the memory by setting aside a specific size of the heap memory to store the newly allocated objects. All the referenced objects remain active in the heap and keep that memory occupied until their reference is closed. When an object is no longer referenced, it becomes eligible to be removed from the heap by the Garbage collector to free up the occupied heap memory. In certain cases, the Java Garbage Collector (GC) is unable to free up the space required for a new object and the available heap memory is insufficient to support the loading of a Java class, this is when an “out of memory” error occurs in Java.
What causes the out of memory error in Java?
An “out of memory” error in Java is not that common and is a direct indication that something is wrong in the application. For instance, the application code could be referencing large objects for too long that is not required or trying to process large amounts of data at a time. It is even possible that the error could have nothing to do with objects on the heap and the reason behind it like because of third-party libraries used within an application or due to an application server that does not clean up after deployment.
Following are some of the main causes behind the unavailability of heap memory that cause the out of memory error in Java.
· Java heap space error
It is the most common out of memory error in Java where the heap memory fills up while unable to remove any objects.
See the code snippet below where java.lang.OutOfMemoryError is thrown due to insufficient Java heap memory available:
public class OutOfMemoryError01 { public static void main(String[] args) { Integer[] arr = new Integer[1000 * 1000 * 1000]; } }
Output:
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space at OutOfMemoryErrorExample.main(OutOfMemoryErrorExample.java:8)
In the above code, an array of integers with a very large size is attempted to be initialized. As the Java heap is insufficient to allocate such a huge array, it will eventually throw a java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space error. Initially, it might seem fine but over time, it will result in consuming a lot of Java heap space and when it fills all of the available memory in the heap, Garbage Collection will not be able to clean it as the code would still be in execution and the no memory can be freed.
Another reason for a Java heap space error is the excessive use of finalizers. If a class has a finalize() method, the GC will not clean up any objects of that class, instead, they all will be queued up for finalization at a later stage. If a finalizer thread cannot keep up with the finalization queue because of excessive usage of finalizers, the Java heap will eventually fill up resulting in an “out of memory” error in Java.
Prevention:
Developers need to use the finalize methods only when required and they must monitor all the objects for which finalization would be pending.
· GC Overhead limit exceeded:
This error indicates that the garbage collector is constantly running due to which the program will also be running very slowly. In a scenario where for minimum consecutive 5 garbage collection cycles, if a Java process utilizes almost 98% of its time for garbage collection and could recover less than 2% of the heap memory then a Java Out of Memory Error will be thrown.
This error typically occurs because the newly generated data could barely fit into the Java heap memory having very little free space for new object allocations.
Prevention:
Java developers have the option to set the heap size by themselves. To prevent this error, you must Increase the heap size using the -Xmx attribute when launching the JVM.
· PermGen space error:
JVM separates the memory into different sections. One of the sections is Permanent Generation (PermGen) space. It is used to load the definitions of new classes that are generated at the runtime. The size of all these sections, including the PermGen area, is set at the time of the JVM launch. If you do not set the sizes of every area yourself, platform-specific defaults sizes will be then set. If the Permanent Generation’s area is ever exhausted, it will throw the java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: PermGen space error.
Prevention:
The solution to this out of Memory Error in Java is fairly simple. The application just needs more memory to load all the classes to the PermGen area so just like the solution for GC overhead limit exceeding error, you have to increase the size of the PermGen region at the time of Java launch. To do so, you have to change the application launch configuration and increase or if not used, add the –XX:MaxPermSize parameter to your code.
· Out of MetaSpace error:
All the Java class metadata is allocated in native memory (MetaSpace). The amount of MetaSpace memory to be used for class metadata is set by the parameter MaxMetaSpaceSize. When this amount exceeds, a java.lang.OutOfMemoryError exception with a detail MetaSpace is thrown.
Prevention:
If you have set the MaxMetaSpaceSize on the command line, increasing its size manually can solve the problem. Alternatively, MetaSpace is allocated from the same address spaces as the Java heap memory so by reducing the size of the Java heap, you can automatically make space available for MetaSpace. It should only be done when you have excess free space in the Java heap memory or else you can end up with some other Java out of memory error.
· Out of swap space error:
This error is often occurred due to certain operating system issues, like when the operating system has insufficient swap space or a different process running on the system is consuming a lot of memory resources.
Prevention:
There is no way to prevent this error as it has nothing to do with heap memory or objects allocation. When this error is thrown, the JVM invokes the error handling mechanism for fatal errors. it generates an error log file, which contains all the useful information related to the running threads, processes, and the system at the time of the crash. this log information can be very useful to minimize any loss of data.
How to Catch java.lang.OutOfMemoryError?
As the java.lang.OutOfMemoryError is part of the Throwable class, it can be caught and handled in the application code which is highly recommended. The handling process should include the clean up the resources, logging the last data to later identify the reason behind the failure, and lastly, exit the program properly.
See this code example below:
public class OutOfMemoryError02 { public void createArr (int size) { try { Integer[] myArr = new Integer[size]; } catch (OutOfMemoryError ex) { //creating the Log System.err.println("Array size is too large"); System.err.println("Maximum JVM memory: " + Runtime.getRuntime().maxMemory()); } } public static void main(String[] args) { OutOfMemoryError02 oomee = new OutOfMemoryError02(); ex.createArr (1000 * 1000 * 1000); } }
In the above code, as the line of code that might cause an out of Memory Error is known, it is handled using a try-catch block. In case, if the error occurs, the reason for the error will be logged that is the large size of the array and the maximum size of the JVM, which will be later helpful for the caller of the method to take the action accordingly.
In case of an out of memory error, this code will exit with the following message:
Array size is too large Maximum JVM memory: 9835679212
It is also a good option to handle an out of Memory Error in Java when the application needs to stay in a constant state in case of the error. This allows the application to keep running normally if any new objects are not required to be allocated.
See Also: CompletableFuture In Java With Examples
Conclusion
In this article, we have extensively covered everything related to the “out of memory” error in Java. In most cases, you can now easily prevent the error or at least will be able to retrieve the required information after the crashing of the program to identify the reason behind it. Managing errors and exceptions in your code is always challenging but being able to understand and avoid these errors can help you in making your applications stable and robust.
In Java, all objects are stored in a heap. They are allocated using a new operator. The OutOfMemoryError Exception in Java looks like this:
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space
Usually, this error is thrown when the Java Virtual Machine cannot allocate an object because it is out of memory. No more memory could be made available by the garbage collector.
OutOfMemoryError usually means that you’re doing something wrong, either holding onto objects too long or trying to process too much data at a time. Sometimes, it indicates a problem that’s out of your control, such as a third-party library that caches strings or an application server that doesn’t clean up after deploys. And sometimes, it has nothing to do with objects on the heap.
The java.lang.OutOfMemoryError exception can also be thrown by native library code when a native allocation cannot be satisfied (for example, if swap space is low). Let us understand various cases when the OutOfMemory error might occur.
Symptom or Root cause?
To find the cause, the text of the exception includes a detailed message at the end. Let us examine all the errors.
Error 1 – Java heap space:
This error arises due to the applications that make excessive use of finalizers. If a class has a finalize method, objects of that type do not have their space reclaimed at garbage collection time. Instead, after garbage collection, the objects are queued for finalization, which occurs later.
Implementation:
- finalizers are executed by a daemon thread that services the finalization queue.
- If the finalizer thread cannot keep up with the finalization queue, the Java heap could fill up, and this type of OutOfMemoryError exception would be thrown.
- The problem can also be as simple as a configuration issue, where the specified heap size (or the default size, if it is not specified) is insufficient for the application.
Java
import
java.util.*;
public
class
Heap {
static
List<String> list =
new
ArrayList<String>();
public
static
void
main(String args[])
throws
Exception
{
Integer[] array =
new
Integer[
10000
*
10000
];
}
}
Output:
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space at Heap.main(Heap.java:11)
When you execute the above code above you might expect it to run forever without any problems. As a result, over time, with the leaking code constantly used, the “cached” results end up consuming a lot of Java heap space, and when the leaked memory fills all of the available memory in the heap region and Garbage Collection is not able to clean it, the java.lang.OutOfMemoryError:Java heap space is thrown.
Prevention: Check how to monitor objects for which finalization is pending in Monitor the Objects Pending Finalization.
Error 2 – GC Overhead limit exceeded:
This error indicates that the garbage collector is running all the time and Java program is making very slow progress. After a garbage collection, if the Java process is spending more than approximately 98% of its time doing garbage collection and if it is recovering less than 2% of the heap and has been doing so far the last 5 (compile-time constant) consecutive garbage collections, then a java.lang.OutOfMemoryError is thrown.
This exception is typically thrown because the amount of live data barely fits into the Java heap having little free space for new allocations.
Java
import
java.util.*;
public
class
Wrapper {
public
static
void
main(String args[])
throws
Exception
{
Map m =
new
HashMap();
m = System.getProperties();
Random r =
new
Random();
while
(
true
) {
m.put(r.nextInt(),
"randomValue"
);
}
}
}
If you run this program with java -Xmx100m -XX:+UseParallelGC Wrapper, then the output will be something like this :
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: GC overhead limit exceeded at java.lang.Integer.valueOf(Integer.java:832) at Wrapper.main(error.java:9)
Prevention: Increase the heap size and turn off it with the command line flag -XX:-UseGCOverheadLimit.
Error 3 – Permgen space is thrown:
Java memory is separated into different regions. The size of all those regions, including the permgen area, is set during the JVM launch. If you do not set the sizes yourself, platform-specific defaults will be used.
The java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: PermGen space error indicates that the Permanent Generation’s area in memory is exhausted.
Java
import
javassist.ClassPool;
public
class
Permgen {
static
ClassPool classPool = ClassPool.getDefault();
public
static
void
main(String args[])
throws
Exception
{
for
(
int
i =
0
; i <
1000000000
; i++) {
Class c = classPool.makeClass(
"com.saket.demo.Permgen"
+ i).toClass();
System.out.println(c.getName());
}
}
}
In the above sample code, code iterates over a loop and generates classes at run time. Class generation complexity is being taken care of by the Javassist library.
Running the above code will keep generating new classes and loading their definitions into Permgen space until the space is fully utilized and the java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Permgen space is thrown.
Prevention : When the OutOfMemoryError due to PermGen exhaustion is caused during the application launch, the solution is simple. The application just needs more room to load all the classes to the PermGen area, so we need to increase its size. To do so, alter your application launch configuration and add (or increase if present) the -XX:MaxPermSize parameter similar to the following example:
java -XX:MaxPermSize=512m com.saket.demo.Permgen
Error 4 – Metaspace:
Java class metadata is allocated in native memory. Suppose metaspace for class metadata is exhausted, a java.lang.OutOfMemoryError exception with a detail MetaSpace is thrown.
The amount of metaspace used for class metadata is limited by the parameter MaxMetaSpaceSize, which is specified on the command line. When the amount of native memory needed for a class metadata exceeds MaxMetaSpaceSize, a java.lang.OutOfMemoryError exception with a detail MetaSpace is thrown.
Java
import
java.util.*;
public
class
Metaspace {
static
javassist.ClassPool cp
= javassist.ClassPool.getDefault();
public
static
void
main(String args[])
throws
Exception
{
for
(
int
i =
0
; i <
100000
; i++) {
Class c = cp.makeClass(
"com.saket.demo.Metaspace"
+ i)
.toClass();
}
}
}
This code will keep generating new classes and loading their definitions to Metaspace until the space is fully utilized and the java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Metaspace is thrown. When launched with -XX:MaxMetaspaceSize=64m then on Mac OS X my Java 1.8.0_05 dies at around 70, 000 classes loaded.
Prevention: If MaxMetaSpaceSize, has been set on the command line, increase its value. MetaSpace is allocated from the same address spaces as the Java heap. Reducing the size of the Java heap will make more space available for MetaSpace. This is only a correct trade-off if there is an excess of free space in the Java heap.
Error 5 – Requested array size exceeds VM limit:
This error indicates that the application attempted to allocate an array that is larger than the heap size. For example, if an application attempts to allocate an array of 1024 MB but the maximum heap size is 512 MB then OutOfMemoryError will be thrown with “Requested array size exceeds VM limit”.
Java
import
java.util.*;
public
class
GFG {
static
List<String> list =
new
ArrayList<String>();
public
static
void
main(String args[])
throws
Exception
{
Integer[] array =
new
Integer[
10000
*
10000
];
}
}
Output:
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space at GFG.main(GFG.java:12)
The java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Requested array size exceeds VM limit can appear as a result of either of the following situations:
- Your arrays grow too big and end up having a size between the platform limit and the Integer.MAX_INT
- You deliberately try to allocate arrays larger than 2^31-1 elements to experiment with the limits.
Error 6 – Request size bytes for a reason. Out of swap space?:
This apparent exception occurred when an allocation from the native heap failed and the native heap might be close to exhaustion. The error indicates the size (in bytes) of the request that failed and the reason for the memory request. Usually, the reason is the name of the source module reporting the allocation failure, although sometimes it is the actual reason.
The java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Out of swap space error is often caused by operating-system-level issues, such as:
- The operating system is configured with insufficient swap space.
- Another process on the system is consuming all memory resources.
Prevention: When this error message is thrown, the VM invokes the fatal error handling mechanism (that is, it generates a deadly error log file, which contains helpful information about the thread, process, and system at the time of the crash). In the case of native heap exhaustion, the heap memory and memory map information in the log can be useful.
Error 7 – reason stack_trace_with_native_method:
Whenever this error message(reason stack_trace_with_native_method) is thrown then a stack trace is printed in which the top frame is a native method, then this is an indication that a native method has encountered an allocation failure. The difference between this and the previous message is that the allocation failure was detected in a Java Native Interface (JNI) or native method rather than the JVM code.
Java
import
java.util.*;
public
class
GFG {
public
static
void
main(String args[])
throws
Exception
{
while
(
true
) {
new
Thread(
new
Runnable() {
public
void
run()
{
try
{
Thread.sleep(
1000000000
);
}
catch
(InterruptedException e) {
}
}
}).start();
}
}
}
The exact native thread limit is platform-dependent. For example, tests Mac OS X reveals that: 64-bit Mac OS X 10.9, Java 1.7.0_45 – JVM dies after #2031 threads have been created
Prevention: Use native utilities of the OS to diagnose the issue further. For more information about tools available for various operating systems, see Native Operating System tools.
This article is contributed by Saket Kumar. If you like GeeksforGeeks and would like to contribute, you can also write an article using write.geeksforgeeks.org or mail your article to review-team@geeksforgeeks.org. See your article appearing on the GeeksforGeeks main page and help other Geeks. Please write comments if you find anything incorrect, or you want to share more information about the topic discussed above.
java.lang.OutOfMemoryError:
Java heap space
Java applications are only allowed to use a limited amount of memory. This limit is specified during application startup. To make things more complex, Java memory is separated into two different regions. These regions are called Heap space and Permgen (for Permanent Generation):
The size of those regions is set during the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) launch and can be customized by specifying JVM parameters -Xmx and -XX:MaxPermSize. If you do not explicitly set the sizes, platform-specific defaults will be used.
The java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space error will be triggered when the application attempts to add more data into the heap space area, but there is not enough room for it.
Note that there might be plenty of physical memory available, but the java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space error is thrown whenever the JVM reaches the heap size limit.
What is causing it?
There most common reason for the java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space error is simple – you try to fit an XXL application into an S-sized Java heap space. That is – the application just requires more Java heap space than available to it to operate normally. Other causes for this OutOfMemoryError message are more complex and are caused by a programming error:
- Spikes in usage/data volume. The application was designed to handle a certain amount of users or a certain amount of data. When the number of users or the volume of data suddenly spikes and crosses that expected threshold, the operation which functioned normally before the spike ceases to operate and triggers the java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space error.
- Memory leaks. A particular type of programming error will lead your application to constantly consume more memory. Every time the leaking functionality of the application is used it leaves some objects behind into the Java heap space. Over time the leaked objects consume all of the available Java heap space and trigger the already familiar java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space error.
Give me an example
Trivial example
The first example is truly simple – the following Java code tries to allocate an array of 2M integers. When you compile it and launch with 12MB of Java heap space (java -Xmx12m OOM), it fails with the java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space message. With 13MB Java heap space the program runs just fine.
class OOM {
static final int SIZE=2*1024*1024;
public static void main(String[] a) {
int[] i = new int[SIZE];
}
}
Memory leak example
The second and a more realistic example is of a memory leak. In Java, when developers create and use new objects e.g. new Integer(5), they don’t have to allocate memory themselves – this is being taken care of by the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). During the life of the application the JVM periodically checks which objects in memory are still being used and which are not. Unused objects can be discarded and the memory reclaimed and reused again. This process is called Garbage Collection. The corresponding module in JVM taking care of the collection is called the Garbage Collector (GC).
Java’s automatic memory management relies on GC to periodically look for unused objects and remove them. Simplifying a bit we can say that a memory leak in Java is a situation where some objects are no longer used by the application but Garbage Collection fails to recognize it. As a result these unused objects remain in Java heap space indefinitely. This pileup will eventually trigger the java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space error.
It is fairly easy to construct a Java program that satisfies the definition of a memory leak:
class KeylessEntry {
static class Key {
Integer id;
Key(Integer id) {
this.id = id;
}
@Override
public int hashCode() {
return id.hashCode();
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Map m = new HashMap();
while (true)
for (int i = 0; i < 10000; i++)
if (!m.containsKey(new Key(i)))
m.put(new Key(i), "Number:" + i);
}
}
When you execute the above code above you might expect it to run forever without any problems, assuming that the naive caching solution only expands the underlying Map to 10,000 elements, as beyond that all the keys will already be present in the HashMap. However, in reality the elements will keep being added as the Key class does not contain a proper equals() implementation next to its hashCode().
As a result, over time, with the leaking code constantly used, the “cached” results end up consuming a lot of Java heap space. And when the leaked memory fills all of the available memory in the heap region and Garbage Collection is not able to clean it, the java.lang.OutOfMemoryError:Java heap space is thrown.
The solution would be easy – add the implementation for the equals() method similar to the one below and you will be good to go. But before you manage to find the cause, you will definitely have lose some precious brain cells.
@Override
public boolean equals(Object o) {
boolean response = false;
if (o instanceof Key) {
response = (((Key)o).id).equals(this.id);
}
return response;
}
What is the solution?
In some cases, the amount of heap you have allocated to your JVM is just not enough to accommodate the needs of your applications running on that JVM. In that case, you should just allocate more heap – see at the end of this chapter for how to achieve that.
In many cases however, providing more Java heap space will not solve the problem. For example, if your application contains a memory leak, adding more heap will just postpone the java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space error. Additionally, increasing the amount of Java heap space also tends to increase the length of GC pauses affecting your application’s throughput or latency.
If you wish to solve the underlying problem with the Java heap space instead of masking the symptoms, you need to figure out which part of your code is responsible for allocating the most memory. In other words, you need to answer these questions:
- Which objects occupy large portions of heap
- where these objects are being allocated in source code
At this point, make sure to clear a couple of days in your calendar (or – see an automated way below the bullet list). Here is a rough process outline that will help you answer the above questions:
- Get security clearance in order to perform a heap dump from your JVM. “Dumps” are basically snapshots of heap contents that you can analyze. These snapshot can thus contain confidential information, such as passwords, credit card numbers etc, so acquiring such a dump might not even be possible for security reasons.
- Get the dump at the right moment. Be prepared to get a few dumps, as when taken at a wrong time, heap dumps contain a significant amount of noise and can be practically useless. On the other hand, every heap dump “freezes” the JVM entirely, so don’t take too many of them or your end users start facing performance issues.
- Find a machine that can load the dump. When your JVM-to-troubleshoot uses for example 8GB of heap, you need a machine with more than 8GB to be able to analyze heap contents. Fire up dump analysis software (we recommend Eclipse MAT, but there are also equally good alternatives available).
- Detect the paths to GC roots of the biggest consumers of heap. We have covered this activity in a separate post here. It is especially tough for beginners, but the practice will make you understand the structure and navigation mechanics.
- Next, you need to figure out where in your source code the potentially hazardous large amount of objects is being allocated. If you have good knowledge of your application’s source code you’ll be able to do this in a couple searches.
Alternatively, we suggest Plumbr, the only Java monitoring solution with automatic root cause detection. Among other performance problems it catches all java.lang.OutOfMemoryErrors and automatically hands you the information about the most memory-hungry data structres.
Plumbr takes care of gathering the necessary data behind the scenes – this includes the relevant data about heap usage (only the object layout graph, no actual data), and also some data that you can’t even find in a heap dump. It also does the necessary data processing for you – on the fly, as soon as the JVM encounters an java.lang.OutOfMemoryError. Here is an example java.lang.OutOfMemoryError incident alert from Plumbr:
Without any additional tooling or analysis you can see:
- Which objects are consuming the most memory (271 com.example.map.impl.PartitionContainer instances consume 173MB out of 248MB total heap)
- Where these objects were allocated (most of them allocated in the MetricManagerImpl class, line 304)
- What is currently referencing these objects (the full reference chain up to GC root)
Equipped with this information you can zoom in to the underlying root cause and make sure the data structures are trimmed down to the levels where they would fit nicely into your memory pools.
However, when your conclusion from memory analysis or from reading the Plumbr report are that memory use is legal and there is nothing to change in the source code, you need to allow your JVM more Java heap space to run properly. In this case, alter your JVM launch configuration and add (or increase the value if present) the following:
-Xmx1024m
The above configuration would give the application 1024MB of Java heap space. You can use g or G for GB, m or M for MB, k or K for KB. For example all of the following are equivalent to saying that the maximum Java heap space is 1GB:
java -Xmx1073741824 com.mycompany.MyClass
java -Xmx1048576k com.mycompany.MyClass
java -Xmx1024m com.mycompany.MyClass
java -Xmx1g com.mycompany.MyClass
A java.lang.OutOfMemoryError
is a runtime error in Java which occurs when the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) is unable to allocate an object due to insufficient space in the Java heap. The Java Garbage Collector (GC) cannot free up the space required for a new object, which causes a java.lang.OutOfMemoryError
. This error can also be thrown when the native memory is insufficient to support the loading of a Java class.
What Causes java.lang.OutOfMemoryError
The JVM’s memory management scheme sets aside a portion of the heap memory to store newly allocated objects. Any referenced objects remain active in the heap throughout their lifespan (until their reference is closed) and occupy memory. When objects are no longer referenced, they become eligible for the GC to remove them and free up the occupied heap memory.
The Java heap size is determined by two JVM attributes, which can be set when launching Java:
-Xms
to set the initial heap size-Xmx
to set the maximum heap size
The amount of heap memory used by a Java application impacts the number of objects that can be allocated and their size. If an object requires more memory than is available in the heap, the application can encounter a java.lang.OutOfMemoryError
.
A java.lang.OutOfMemoryError
usually means that something is wrong in the application — for example, the application code is referencing large objects for too long or trying to process large amounts of data at a time. The problems could also exist in third-party libraries used within an application.
java.lang.OutOfMemoryError Example
Here is an example of a java.lang.OutOfMemoryError
thrown due to insufficient Java heap space:
public class OutOfMemoryErrorExample {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Integer[] myArray = new Integer[1000 * 1000 * 1000];
}
}
In this example, an Integer
array with a very large size is attempted to be initialized. Because the Java heap is insufficient to allocate this array, it throws a java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space
at OutOfMemoryErrorExample.main(OutOfMemoryErrorExample.java:8)
A java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space
can also occur in applications that use finalizers excessively. If a class has a finalize()
method, the GC does not clean up any objects of that class and they are instead queued for finalization, which occurs at a later stage. If the finalizer thread cannot keep up with the finalization queue (due to excessive usage of finalizers), the Java heap space can fill up and a java.lang.OutOfMemoryError
can occur.
How to Catch java.lang.OutOfMemoryError
Since the java.lang.OutOfMemoryError
descends from the Throwable class
, it can be caught and handled in application code. In some cases, especially when the lines of code that may be causing the OutOfMemoryError
are known, it can be a good idea to handle the error. Where it’s possible to do so, it is best practice to clean up the resources, log the reason for the failure and exit the program gracefully. As an example:
public class OutOfMemoryErrorExample {
public void createArray(int size) {
try {
Integer[] myArray = new Integer[size];
} catch (OutOfMemoryError oome) {
//Log the info
System.err.println("Array size too large");
System.err.println("Max JVM memory: " + Runtime.getRuntime().maxMemory());
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
OutOfMemoryErrorExample oomee = new OutOfMemoryErrorExample();
oomee.createArray(1000 * 1000 * 1000);
}
}
In this case, because the line of code that may cause an OutOfMemoryError
is known, it is handled in a try-catch block and the reason for the error is logged (the large size of the array) along with the maximum size of the JVM, which helps the caller of the method to take corrective action. The program exits with the following message:
Array size too large
Max JVM memory: 4294967296
It is also a good idea to handle an OutOfMemoryError
when the application needs to be left in a consistent state in case the error occurs. This enables the program to continue running normally if new objects are not attempted to be allocated.
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