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Build and Run Native Executables with JFR

JDK Flight Recorder (JFR) is a tool for collecting diagnostic and profiling data about a running Java application, built into the JVM. GraalVM Native Image supports JFR events and users can use the jdk.jfr.Event API with a similar experience to using JFR in the Java HotSpot VM.

To record JFR events when running a native executable, enable JFR support and JFR recording as described in this guide.

Note: JFR event recording is not yet supported on GraalVM JDK for Windows.

Enable JFR Support and Record Events at Run Time

To build a native executable with the JFR events support, you first need to add the --enable-monitoring=jfr option when invoking the native-image tool. Then enable the system, start a recording, and configure logging at native executable run time:

  • -XX:+FlightRecorder: use to enable JFR at run time
  • -XX:StartFlightRecording: use to start a recording on application’s startup
  • -XX:FlightRecorderLogging: use to configure the log output for the JFR system

Follow the steps below to practice building a native executable with JFR support and recording events at run time.

Note: Make sure you have installed a GraalVM JDK. The easiest way to get started is with SDKMAN!. For other installation options, visit the Downloads section.

  1. Install VisualVM by running: 
     gu install visualvm

  2. Save the following code to the file named JFRDemo.java.

     import jdk.jfr.Event;
 import jdk.jfr.Description;
 import jdk.jfr.Label;

 public class JFRDemo {

   @Label("Hello World")
   @Description("Build and run a native executable with JFR.")
   static class HelloWorldEvent extends Event {
       @Label("Message")
       String message;
   }

   public static void main(String... args) {
       HelloWorldEvent event = new HelloWorldEvent();
       event.message = "Hello, World!";
       event.commit();
   }
 }

    This demo application consists of a simple class and JDK library classes. It creates an event, labelled with the @Label annotation from the jdk.jfr.* package. If you run this application, it will not print anything and just run that event.

  3. Compile the Java file using the GraalVM JDK: 
     $JAVA_HOME/bin/javac JFRDemo.java

    It creates two class files: JFRDemo$HelloWorldEvent.class and JFRDemo.class.

  4. Build a native executable with the VM inspection enabled: 
     $JAVA_HOME/bin/native-image --enable-monitoring=jfr JFRDemo

    The --enable-monitoring=jfr option enables features such as JFR that can be used to inspect the VM.

  5. Run the executable and start recording: 
     ./jfrdemo -XX:StartFlightRecording="filename=recording.jfr"

    This command runs the application as a native executable. The -XX:StartFlightRecording option enables the built-in Flight Recorder and starts recording to a specified binary file, recording.jfr.

  6. Start VisualVM to view the contents of the recording file in a user-friendly way. GraalVM provides VisualVM in the core installation. To start the tool, run:

     $JAVA_HOME/bin/jvisualvm

  7. Go to File, then Add JFR Snapshot, browse recording.jfr, and open the selected file. Confirm the display name and click OK. Once opened, there is a bunch of options you can check: Monitoring, Threads, Exceptions, etc., but you should be mostly interested in the events browsing. It will look something like this:

    JDK Flight Recorder

    Alternatively, you can view the contents of the recording file in the console window by running this command:

     $JAVA_HOME/bin/jfr print recording.jfr

    It prints all the events recorded by Flight Recorder.

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