How do I attach VisualVM to a simple Java process running in a Docker container

Question

Actually I wanted a solution working for JEE containers, specifically for Glassfish, but after I tried many combinations of settings and did not succeed, I reduced the setup

Answer 1

At first you should run you application with these JVM params:

-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.port=9010
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.local.only=false
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.authenticate=false
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.ssl=false

Then you should expose port for docker:

EXPOSE 9010

Also specify port binding with docker run command:

docker run -p 9010:9010 -it --rm --name hwd hello-world-daemon

After that you can connect with Jconsole to local 9010 port and manage application run in Docker.

Answer 2

I followed an other SO response to a similar question and it worked.

I started my Java process inside the container by adding those JVM params:

-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.port=<port> \
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.authenticate=false \
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.ssl=false \
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.rmi.port=<port> \
-Djava.rmi.server.hostname=$HOST_HOSTNAME

and started the Docker container specifying -e HOST_HOSTNAME=$HOSTNAME -p <port> to the docker run command.

Then I've been able to access to this remote Java app from my local JVisualVm by adding a remote JMX connection ("File" > "Add a JMX Connection...") and specifying <dockerhostname>:<port> in the "Connection" input, and checking "Do not require SSL connection".

Answer 3

Thanks to all of you for routing me to the right direction. Finally I got it working in more complex config: Kubernetes via Docker Desktop under Windows 10 on local machine.

My app's config:

-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.local.only=false -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.authenticate=false
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.ssl=false
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.port=30491
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.rmi.port=30491
-Djava.rmi.server.hostname=localhost

Pod's port:

ports:
- name: jmx
  containerPort: 30491
  protocol: TCP

Service's port:

ports:
- name: jmx
  nodePort: 30491
  port: 9010
  protocol: TCP
  targetPort: jmx

Answer 4

To all of you that still suffer from an error like the below:

In my case it was that i used in my Docker YML different port mappings for the ports:

e.g:

15100:9090

but apparently in your port bindings you must assign the SAME port for external port and internal port !

Reference: https://forums.docker.com/t/exposing-mapped-jmx-ports-from-multiple-containers/5287/5

Answer 5

As answered by Anthony. I had to use the -Djava.rmi.server.hostname java option on my Windows machine.

Just be sure not to use the CMD in JSON format in your Dockerfile as this doesn't support shell expansion.

Dockerfile example:

FROM java:8
COPY . /usr/src/myapp
WORKDIR /usr/src/myapp
RUN javac Main.java
#Do not use CMD in JSON format here because shell expansion doesn't work in JSON format
#Shell expansion is needed for the ${HOST} variable.
CMD java -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote=true \
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.rmi.port=9010 \
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.port=9010 \
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.ssl=false \
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.authenticate=false \
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.local.only=false \
-Djava.rmi.server.hostname=${HOST} \
Main

Answer 6

FWIW, this is how I was able to attach VisualVM to a Java process inside a Docker container running on macOS:

Main.java:

public class Main {
    public static void main(String args[]) throws Exception {
        while (true) {
            System.out.print("Hello ");
            System.out.println("world");
            Thread.sleep(1000);
        }
    }
}

Dockerfile:

FROM openjdk:11.0.2-slim
COPY Main.class /
WORKDIR /
ENTRYPOINT ["java", \
"-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote=true", \
"-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.port=9010", \
"-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.local.only=false", \
"-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.authenticate=false", \
"-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.ssl=false", \
"-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.rmi.port=9010", \
"-Djava.rmi.server.hostname=localhost", \
"Main"]

Compile the Java code, build the image and run the container like this:

$ javac Main.java
$ docker build -t main .
$ docker run -p 9010:9010 -it main

Then attach VisualVM using JMX to localhost:9010