Java profiler for IBM JVM 1.4.2 (WebSphere 6.0.2)

Question

I'm looking for a Java profiler that works well with the JVM coming with WebSphere 6.0.2 (IBM JVM 1.4.2). I use yourkit for my usual profiling needs, but it specifically refuses to work with this old jvm (I'm sure the authors had their reasons...).

Can anybody point to a decent profiler that can do the job? Not interested in a generic list of profilers, BTW, I've seen the other stackoverflow theread, but I'd rather not try them one by one.

I would prefer a free version, if possible, since this is a one-off need (I hope!) and I would rather not pay for another profiler just for this.

Answer 1

What are you looking to profile? Is it stuff in the JVM or the App Server? If it's the latter, there's loads of stuff in WAS 6 GUI to help with this. Assuming you really want to see stuff like the heap etc, then the IBM HeapAnalyzer might help. There are other tools listed off the bottom of this page.

Something else I've learned, ideally, youll be able to connect your IDE's profiler to the running JVM. Some let you do this to a remote one as well as the local one you are developing on. Is the JVM you wish to profile in live or remote? If so, you might have to force dumps and take them out of the live environment to look at at your leisure. Otherwise, set up something local and get the info from it that way.

Answer 2

Update: I found out that JProfiler integrates smoothly with WAS 6.0.2 (IBM JDK 1.4).