Running java with JAVA_OPTS env variable has no effect

Question

In a shell script, I have set the JAVA_OPTS environment variable (to enable remote debugging and increase memory), and then I execute the jar file as follows:

export JAVA_OPTS="-Xdebug -Xrunjdwp:transport=dt_socket,address=8001,server=y,suspend=n -Xms512m -Xmx512m"
java -jar analyse.jar $*

But it seems there is no effect of the JAVA_OPTS env variable as I cannot connect to remote-debugging and I see no change in memory for the JVM.

What could be the problem?

PS: I cannot use those settings in the java -jar analyse.jar $* command because I process command line arguments in the application.

HEX · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-23 15:48:24Z

106

You can setup _JAVA_OPTIONS instead of JAVA_OPTS. This should work without $_JAVA_OPTIONS.

answered Jul 23, 2012 at 15:48

HEX

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10 Comments

BitwiseMan Over a year ago

This this the real answer. I went looking around for hours to find this.

HEX Over a year ago

@Nerrve Special for you installed Windows XP. Works fine. Are you sure you did everything correctly?

Hubbitus Over a year ago

You may also would use JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS (stackoverflow.com/questions/28327620/…)

geg Over a year ago

@Hubbitus your suggestion appears to be the correct answer. you should add it

Hubbitus Over a year ago

I can't. I got "Trivial answer converted to comment"

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ZoogieZork · Accepted Answer · 2010-01-06 07:08:49Z

61

I don't know of any JVM that actually checks the JAVA_OPTS environment variable. Usually this is used in scripts which launch the JVM and they usually just add it to the java command-line.

The key thing to understand here is that arguments to java that come before the -jar analyse.jar bit will only affect the JVM and won't be passed along to your program. So, modifying the java line in your script to:

java $JAVA_OPTS -jar analyse.jar $*

Should "just work".

answered Jan 6, 2010 at 7:08

ZoogieZork

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1 Comment

BitwiseMan Over a year ago

See HEX's answer. That is how you set the options using an environment variable on OS X.

t0r0X · Accepted Answer · 2024-11-20 11:21:55Z

10

In the past 14+ years some changes were made:

Environment variable JDK_JAVA_OPTIONS:
this is the recommended way to do what you wanted, since Java 9, see Using the JDK_JAVA_OPTIONS Launcher Environment Variable in the Oracle Java 9 documentation, and this comprehensive answer What is the difference between JDK_JAVA_OPTIONS and JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS when using Java 11?.
Environment variable _JAVA_OPTIONS (mentioned by HEX):
it is nowadays deprecated/undocumented, see Oracle announcement (section "Add a new launcher environment variable JDK_JAVA_OPTIONS").
Environment variable JAVA_OPTS:
it was NOT and is NOT a standardized option. Some shell script wrappers for Java based tools do evaluate it, an example of how this works is in the answer from ZoogieZork.

edited Nov 20, 2024 at 11:21

answered Sep 13, 2022 at 18:53

t0r0X

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