How can I analyze a heap dump in IntelliJ? (memory leak)

Question

I have generated a heap dump from my java application which has been running for some days with the jmap tool -> this results in a large binary heap dump file.

How can I perform memory analysis of this heap dump within IntellIJ IDEA?

I know that there are tools for Eclipse and Netbeans but I would rather use IDEA if possible.

The basic results of the analysis would tell me the number of instances of each object in memory, per-class, to allow me to be able to start debugging memory leaks.

Charters

Answer 1

The best thing out there is Memory Analyzer (MAT), IntelliJ does not have any bundled heap dump analyzer.

Dockage

Does MAT has plugin for IntelliJ? – Successive

No, MAT is written using Eclipse's framework so I can't see it being very easy to plug into IntelliJ. However, to be honest running MAT as a standalone app is probably better. – Albertina

For now it does. – Beulabeulah

How does this compare to Java Mission Control plugin JOverflow Analyzer? – Baleen

Starting with 2020.1, IntelliJ does support analyzing heap dumps: jetbrains.com/help/idea/analyze-hprof-memory-snapshots.html – Volney

I'm using 2020.2 and there's nothing like the docs mentioned ! @EduardWirch – Porker

@Porker Do you use IntelliJ Ultimate? According to jetbrains.com/help/idea/cpu-profiler.html profiler is a feature of IntelliJ Ultimate. – Volney

Makes perfect sense @eduard. In using community edition. Never mind, Eclipse memory analyser works perfectly fine for me. Thank you – Porker

Answer 2

I would like to update the answers above to 2018 and say to use both VisualVM and Eclipse MAT.

How to use:

VisualVM is used for live monitoring and dump heap. You can also analyze the heap dumps there with great power, however MAT have more capabilities (such as automatic analysis to find leaks) and therefore, I read the VisualVM dump output (.hprof file) into MAT.

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Get VisualVM:

Download VisualVM here: https://visualvm.github.io/

You also need to download the plugin for Intellij:

Then you'll see in intellij another 2 new orange icons:

Once you run your app with an orange one, in VisualVM you'll see your process on the left, and data on the right. Sit some time and learn this tool, it is very powerful:

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Get Eclipse's Memory Analysis Tool (MAT) as a standalone:

Download here: https://www.eclipse.org/mat/downloads.php

And this is how it looks:

Hope it helps!

Univalence

Answer 3

Start from IntelliJ IDEA 2021.2, there is a feature called Open an external profiling report. The UI for the viewer like below:

You can view the heap dump by either:

1. View > Tool Windows > Profiler from main menu and click Open Snapshot
2. Run > Open Profiler Snapshot > Open from main menu
3. Drag the heap dump file into IntelliJ window

Graphology

Thanks, this helped. I would like add that this works only for IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate edition, not Community. – Bedder

Answer 4

You can also use VisualVM Launcher to launch VisualVM from within IDEA. https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/7115?pr=idea I personally find this more convenient.

Gemini

Okay, thanks. This plugin seems to require me to run the java process locally - is that correct? I want to export the heap dump from a server, copy it to my local machine and analyze it here. – Charters

This plugin only starts VisualVM and opens desired application in it. It has nothing to do with your case. You can start VisualVM manually and open the dump. – Dockage

Answer 5

You can just run "Java VisualVM" which is located at jdk/bin/jvisualvm.exe

This will open a GUI, use the "File" menu -> "Load..." then choose your *.hprof file

That's it, you're done!

Tamatamable

Please rephrase, use some formatting (stackoverflow.com/editing-help#comment-formatting) and add some explanation. Also, you probably do not want to discuss your name, even if you do not like the name of your account. – Unsound

E.g. (though I do not know the language very well) I am guess that the "done!!!" is not part of the proposed solution. Consider putting that on a different (preferrably with extended explanation). Then format the part which actually is code with the appropriate formatting. – Unsound

Answer 6

VisualVM plugin for Intellij Idea

Illusage

VisualVM Launcher: plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/7115-visualvm-launcher – Expressivity

Answer 7

There also exists a 'JVM Debugger Memory View' found in the plugin repository, which could be useful.

Timofei

The plugin is incompatible with the IDEA versions after 2017.1. The Memory View is available out of the box in the IDEA 2017.1. plugins.jetbrains.com/files/8537/screenshot_16824.png – Loricate

Answer 8

You can install the JVisualVM plugin from here: https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/3749?pr=

This will allow you to analyse the dump within the plugin.

Teacart

This plugin is outdated. – Dockage