Native Image Inspection Tool

Native Image provides the inspection tool to list all methods included in a native executable or a native shared library. Run the command $JAVA_HOME/bin/native-image-inspect <path_to_binary> to list classes, methods, fields, and constructors in the JSON format that validates against the JSON schema defined in native-image-inspect-schema-v0.2.0.json.

Note: The inspection tool is not available in GraalVM Community Edition.

The native-image builder, by default, includes metadata in the native executable which then enables the inspection tool to list the included methods.

The amount of data included is fairly minimal compared to the overall image size, however you can set the -H:-IncludeMethodData option to disable the metadata emission. Images compiled with this option will not be able to be inspected by the tool.

Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) #

Native Image can embed a Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) at build time to detect any libraries that may be susceptible to known security vulnerabilities. Native Image provides the --enable-sbom option to embed an SBOM into a native executable.

Note: Embedding a Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) is not available in GraalVM Community Edition. The feature is currently experimental.

The tool is able to extract the compressed SBOM using an optional --sbom parameter accessible through $JAVA_HOME/bin/native-image-inspect --sbom <path_to_binary>.

Further Reading #

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