JDK-5042659 : hsperfdata is not being created on non-NTFS partitions
  • Type: Bug
  • Component: hotspot
  • Sub-Component: runtime
  • Affected Version: 1.4.2
  • Priority: P4
  • Status: Closed
  • Resolution: Not an Issue
  • OS: windows_2000
  • CPU: x86
  • Submitted: 2004-05-05
  • Updated: 2004-05-05
  • Resolved: 2004-05-05
Description

Name: rmT116609			Date: 05/05/2004


FULL PRODUCT VERSION :
java version "1.4.2_04"
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.4.2_04-b05)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.4.2_04-b05, mixed mode)

ADDITIONAL OS VERSION INFORMATION :
Microsoft Windows 2000 [Version 5.00.2195] SP 4

A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :
Since 1.4.2, the JDK will  create shared memory perfdata in a folder named  hsperfdata_user in the temp directory. This only works, if the temp directory is on a NTFS partition under Windows 2000. 

If I set this to "E:\Temp", where E:\ is a FAT32 partition, then shared perfdata is not available and I cannot connect to the JVM with tools like jvmstat.

STEPS TO FOLLOW TO REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM :
Create a FAT32 partition E:set TMP=E:\Temp
Start any java program.
hsperfdata_user folder is not being generated.


EXPECTED VERSUS ACTUAL BEHAVIOR :
EXPECTED -
hsperfdata should be available,  also if temp dir is on a FAT32 partition.
ACTUAL -
No hsperfdata.

REPRODUCIBILITY :
This bug can be reproduced always.

CUSTOMER SUBMITTED WORKAROUND :
Use NTFS partition for TMP directory.
(Incident Review ID: 261067) 
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Comments
WORK AROUND The feature works as designed. The following FAQ was requested to be added to the jvmstat CoolStuff website on 3/23/04 and should be available soon at http://developers.sun.com/dev/coolstuff/jvmstat/faq.html Q: I'm running on Windows and I've installed J2SE 1.4.2 and jvmstat 2.0, but when I run jvmps it does not display any java processes. I can run 'visualgc 0' and it will work, but I cannot get visualgc or any other jvmstat tool to monitor other Java processes. A: The problem is most likely that your default Windows temporary directory is on a FAT type file system. For security reasons, the shared memory exported by the HotSpot JVM is disabled whenever the JVM encounters a FAT type file system (more precisely, any file system that does not support persistent access control lists) as such file systems provide insufficient access controls. There are two potential work-arounds for this issue: 1) Set the TMP environment variable to refer to a directory on an NTFS file system, or any file system that supports persistent access control lists. Note that this file system should be local to the machine. Setting this option for target applications is application specific. To set this variable in a command prompt or in a batch script, simply enter the following: set TMP=<path> The environment variable can be set globally by adding it to the list of environment variables in the System Properties (Control Panel->System, select the "Advanced" tab and click on the "Environment Variables" button). Through this interface, you can choose to set the variable for all processes run by the current user or globally as a system variable for all processes run by the system. The TMP variable must refer to the same location for both the monitored applications and the jvmstat tools. 2) Changing the TMP environment variable to refer to an NTFS type file system is not always a viable option. For these cases, the HotSpot JVM provides a mechanism to bypass the the file system type check. However, using this mechanism instructs the HotSpot JVM to create the jvmstat shared memory without any access controls, allowing access to the instrumentation exported by the JVM to any user on the system. To bypass the file system type check, set the -XX:+PerfBypassFileSystemCheck option on the java command line for both the applications you want to monitor and for the jvmstat tools. Setting this option for target applications is application specific. For the jvmstat tools, the following environment variable can be set before running any of the commands: set VMARGS=-XX:+PerfBypassFileSystemCheck
01-09-2004
EVALUATION The feature works as designed. At the request of the security team, the shared memory backing store files is not created on Windows if th files system type for the temporary directory (as determined by the windows GetTempPath() API) does not support Persistent Access Control List. FAT type file systems do not support PACLs and NTFS file systems do. Without Persistent Access Controls, the backing store file would be readable by any user on the system. ###@###.### 2004-05-05 -----------------------------------------------------------------
05-05-2004