Sun Java got added a great utility named jconsole with version 5.0. Basically it is a Swing-based JMX console. It shows a lot of the inner state of JVM processes.

Since 6.0 java defaults to allowing connects to running JVM-processes on the same computer. Fortunally this doesn´t apply to remote connects. Unfortunally jconsole just quits with a “Connection failed”.

To get jconsole to work from a remote computer, some properties must be set on start of the JVM:

java -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.local.only=false -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote JMX Auth Settings...

There are different documents for Java 5.0 and Java 6.0. Please consult them for the authentication settings.

I found the final clue at Oli’s Blog.

Below are some screenshots of this awesome application.