JVM exceeds maximum memory defined with -Xmx

Question

We have a Java webapp that we upgraded from Java 1.5.0.19 to Java 1.6.0.21

/usr/java/jdk1.6.0_21/bin/java -server -Xms2000m -Xmx3000m -XX:MaxPermSize=256m -Djav         


        

Answer 1

So long story short, my initial reaction was correct it was a bug in the JVM. We were using 1.6.0_21 and it turns out that we were experiencing the exact same error as outlined in https://confluence.atlassian.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=219023686. Upgrading to 1.6.0_37 fixed the problem and we went from daily crashes to 2 weeks without a crash.

So while the sentiment to not just blame the JVM is a good policy it seems that one should also be advised not to always assume the JVM is bug free, it like all software has the occasional bug. Plus, seems good policy to keep things up to date.

Thanks for all the help on this one!