OpenJDK default options to always use the server VM

Question

I got a warning message:

jvm uses the client vm, make sure to run java with the server vm for best performance by adding -server to the command line

In fact, when i run java -version i get:

OpenJDK Runtime Environment (IcedTea7 2.3.2) (7u7-2.3.2a-0ubuntu0.12.04.1)
OpenJDK Client VM (build 23.2-b09, mixed mode, sharing)

How does one go about and change OpenJDK's defaults to always start under the server VM?

Answer 1

Assuming you have both the client and server VM installed, you just need to change the order of the lines in jvm.cfg to make -server first. You can find jvm.cfg like this:

find $(dirname $(dirname $(readlink -f $(which java)))) -name jvm.cfg

On my machine, it's /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/jre/lib/amd64/jvm.cfg.

Answer 2

The default Java VM is set in your jvm.cfg file. On Windows this is in your Java folder in C:\Program Files, on Linux the path may vary.

On my Ubuntu 12.04 amd64 system with Oracle Java JDK7 installed via the Webupd8 ppa, the file is in /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-oracle/jre/lib/amd64. For the default OpenJDK 6, the file is in /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/jre/lib/amd64/jvm.cfg. Note that you need the JDK and not just the JRE installed.

Edit the jvm.cfg that corresponds to your current default Java version (sudo nano /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-oracle/jre/lib/amd64/jvm.cfg). Switch -server KNOWN to -server IGNORE and -client IGNORE to -client KNOWN.

This will make the -client flag "known" to the java executable, and make it ignore the -server flag, thus making it the default.

The original file (client vm as default):

# Copyright (c) 2003, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
# ORACLE PROPRIETARY/CONFIDENTIAL. Use is subject to license terms.
#
# List of JVMs that can be used as an option to java, javac, etc.
# Order is important -- first in this list is the default JVM.
# NOTE that this both this file and its format are UNSUPPORTED and
# WILL GO AWAY in a future release.
#
# You may also select a JVM in an arbitrary location with the
# "-XXaltjvm=<jvm_dir>" option, but that too is unsupported
# and may not be available in a future release.
#
-server KNOWN
-client IGNORE
-hotspot ERROR
-classic WARN
-native ERROR
-green ERROR

Modified file (server vm as default):

# Copyright (c) 2003, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
# ORACLE PROPRIETARY/CONFIDENTIAL. Use is subject to license terms.
#
# List of JVMs that can be used as an option to java, javac, etc.
# Order is important -- first in this list is the default JVM.
# NOTE that this both this file and its format are UNSUPPORTED and
# WILL GO AWAY in a future release.
#
# You may also select a JVM in an arbitrary location with the
# "-XXaltjvm=<jvm_dir>" option, but that too is unsupported
# and may not be available in a future release.
#
#-server KNOWN
-server IGNORE
#-client IGNORE
-client KNOWN
-hotspot ERROR
-classic WARN
-native ERROR
-green ERROR

Now test to see if the change worked:

$ java -version
java version "1.7.0_07"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_07-b10)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 23.3-b01, mixed mode)

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