Profiling Java applications with DTrace on macOS

Question

I am trying to profile a Java application using DTrace on macOS Sierra 10.12. I am using the JDK8:

⋊> ~ java -version
java version "1.8.0_102"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_102-b14)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.102-b14, mixed mode)

⋊> ~ echo $JAVA_HOME
/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_102.jdk/Contents/Home

My ultimate goal is to trace all Java method entries and exits for specific packages.

DTrace Probes in HotSpot VM and Mac OS X Port Using HotSpot DTrace Probes seem to suggest that this should in fact be supported on macOS. However, even when my Java application is running, there are no hotspot probes available and jstack() appears to fail:

⋊> ~ pgrep java
24564

⋊> ~ sudo dtrace  -ln 'hotspot*:::'
dtrace: system integrity protection is on, some features will not be available

   ID   PROVIDER            MODULE                          FUNCTION NAME
dtrace: failed to match hotspot*:::: No probe matches description

⋊> ~ sudo dtrace -n 'syscall::read:entry /execname == "java"/ { jstack(); }'
dtrace: system integrity protection is on, some features will not be available

dtrace: description 'syscall::read:entry ' matched 1 probe
dtrace: error on enabled probe ID 1 (ID 153: syscall::read:entry): invalid address (0xe2e3275e) in action #1
dtrace: error on enabled probe ID 1 (ID 153: syscall::read:entry): invalid address (0xe2e3275e) in action #1
dtrace: error on enabled probe ID 1 (ID 153: syscall::read:entry): invalid address (0xe2e3275e) in action #1
…

Providing the path to libjvm.dylib to the dtrace command does not seem to help:

⋊> ~ ll "$JAVA_HOME/jre/lib/server/"
total 31616
-rw-rw-r--  1 root  wheel   1.4K Jun 22 15:02 Xusage.txt
-rwxrwxr-x  1 root  wheel    15K Jun 22 15:01 libjsig.dylib
-rwxrwxr-x  1 root  wheel    15M Jun 22 15:02 libjvm.dylib

⋊> ~ sudo dtrace -L "$JAVA_HOME/jre/lib/server/" -ln 'hotspot*:::'
dtrace: system integrity protection is on, some features will not be available

   ID   PROVIDER            MODULE                          FUNCTION NAME
dtrace: failed to match hotspot*:::: No probe matches description

So what am I missing? How do I profile a Java application using the DTrace facilities?

score 7 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 26 '16 at 20:16

Well, I was too quick to discount the System Integrity Protection as a possible cause.

After executing csrutil enable --without dtrace in the Recovery OS (press ⌘R during boot) the hotspot probes now just show up:

⋊> ~ sudo dtrace -ln 'hotspot*:::' | wc -l
    1039

Profiling Java applications with DTrace on macOS

1 Answers1