Supported dump file types

Memory Analyzer works with .hprof binary heap dump files, IBM system dump files, and IBM portable heap dump (.phd) files from various platforms.

The following table lists the supported types of dump files that you can generate from an IBM J9 Java™ Virtual Machine (JVM).
Table 1. Types of IBM dump files that you can open with Memory Analyzer.
Type of dump Option in Files of Type list Description
Java dump IBM javacore files Generated by using the -Xdump:java command-line option. The default file name for a Java dump file is javacore.date.time.process_id.sequence_number.txt. The Java dump file contains a list of classes and class loaders, but does not provide object or size information.
Heap dump IBM SDK for Java Portable Heap Dumps These dump files use Portable Heap Dump (.phd) format. The dump files contain information about objects, classes, and the links between objects. The dump files do not contain information about the following items:
  • The names of fields of classes.
  • The values of primitive fields of objects.
  • The values of static primitive fields of classes.
  • The contents of primitive arrays.
If you require more detailed information, use a system dump instead.
System dump from IBM® SDK for Java, version 5.0 or later IBM SDK for Java (J9) system dumps

Before processing a system dump, you might need to use the jextract command to prepare the dump information. For more information, see Producing dumps.

These dump files have a .dmp file extension, or .zip if you processed the file by using the jextract command.
System dump from IBM SDK for Java 1.4.2 IBM 1.4.2 SDFF

Before processing a system dump, use jextract to prepare the dump information, unless the dump was generated on the z/OS® operating system. For more information, see Producing dumps.

These dump files have a .sdff file extension, unless they were generated on the z/OS operating system. If you generated a dump file on the z/OS operating system, rename the file to have a .sdff file extension.
Parent topic: Getting started



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