Java Garbage Collection Logging
Internal
Command Line Options
Java 8
Overview
In Java 8, GC logging is enabled with the -Xloggc:<file> (see below). The actual -XX values the JVM operates with are displayed at the top of the log file:
... CommandLine flags: -XX:InitialHeapSize=268435456 -XX:MaxHeapSize=4294967296 -XX:+PrintGC -XX:+PrintGCTimeStamps -XX:+UseCompressedClassPointers -XX:+UseCompressedOops -XX:+UseParallelGC ...
The recommended GC logging configuration is:
-Xloggc:<absolute-path> -XX:+PrintGCDateStamps -XX:+PrintGCDetails
In case the space of the filesystem logs are written onto is limited, log rotation can be enabled.
Options
-Xloggc:
Turns on GC logging and directs the output into the specified file. When used, -verbose:gc becomes irrelevant.
-Xloggc:<file>
where <file> can be absolute or relative. In case of a relative path, it is relative to the current directory.
If used, the option automatically turns on the following: -XX:+PrintGC, -XX:+PrintGCTimeStamps.
-XX:+PrintGC
-XX:+PrintGC
Enables printing of messages at every GC. By default, this option is disabled, but -Xloggc:<file> turns it on implicitly.
-XX:+PrintGCTimeStamps
-XX:+PrintGCTimeStamps
Enables printing of time stamps (time in seconds since the JVM started) at every GC. By default, this option is disabled. It is implicit turned on if -Xloggc:<file> is used. Time stamps recorded this way provide a chronology relative to the time the JVM started, but additional calculation is needed to translate the timestamps to normal timestamps, and it is only possible if the JVM start time is also recorded. A better way to record timestamps is to use -XX:+PrintGCDateStamps.
-XX:+PrintGCDateStamps
-XX:+PrintGCDateStamps
Records the GC event timestamps in the following format:
2017-02-12T19:26:03.328+0800:
-XX:+PrintGCDetails
Enables printing of detailed messages at every GC:
-XX:+PrintGCDetails
When used, each GC event contains information of how the event affected various heap areas such as the young generation, old generation and the metaspace. The default behavior is to report how the entire heap was modified as the result of the GC event. The difference in output is the following:
2017-02-12T19:26:03.378+0800: 0.144: [Full GC (Ergonomics) 126674K->126513K(413696K), 0.0181008 secs]
2017-02-12T19:42:35.003+0800: 0.156: [Full GC (Ergonomics) [PSYoungGen: 10721K->0K(141824K)] [ParOldGen: 115952K->126513K(270848K)] 126674K->126513K(412672K), [Metaspace: 3447K->3447K(1056768K)], 0.0182535 secs] [Times: user=0.10 sys=0.03, real=0.02 secs]
-verbose:gc
Displays GC log information at stdout. This option is rendered irrelevant by -Xloggc:<file>. When -Xloggc:<file> is used, the GC log information is redirected into the specified file.
-verbose:gc
GC Log File Rotation
-XX:+UseGCLogFileRotation
-XX:NumberOfGCLogFiles=5
-XX:GCLogFileSize=3M