Did you know that OpenJDK comes with Java Flight Recorder (JFR), an embedded production time profiler? Cryostat provides easy and secure access to JFR across container boundaries so you can profile that performance bottleneck, or find that annoying bug. Join this session to learn about using Cryostat to profile Java applications in production on OpenShift.

1. DevNation Tech Talk
Profile your Java apps in production
on Red Hat OpenShift with Cryostat
Andrew Azores
Senior Software Engineer
Elliott Baron
Senior Software Engineer
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2. Agenda
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What we’ll
discuss today
▸ JDK Flight Recorder
▸ What is Cryostat?
▸ What’s new in Cryostat 2.0
▸ Installing Cryostat in OpenShift
▸ Troubleshooting with Cryostat

3. JDK Flight Recorder (JFR)
Profiling and event collection framework for Java
Gather low-level information about application behaviour
Built into OpenJDK
Available by default in OpenJDK 11+ and 8 (since 8u272, Oct. 2020)
Supports custom events
API to register and capture application-specific events
Pairs with JDK Mission Control (JMC)
JMC can manage and visualize JFR recordings
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Source:
https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/java-components/jdk-mission-control/8/user-guide/using-jdk-flight-recorder.html
JDK Flight Recorder (JFR)
About JFR

4. JDK Flight Recorder (JFR)
Designed for local use
Recordings are typically output to binary files
Remote use is possible, but difficult to secure
Use remote JMX to control and transfer recordings
Challenges scaling to large deployments
Recordings have to be managed one at a time
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Source:
https://developers.redhat.com/blog/2021/01/25/introduction-to-containerjfr-jdk-flight-recorder-for-containers
JDK Flight Recorder (JFR)
Challenges in the cloud

5. Cryostat
Manage JFR recordings within containers
Web application to create/manage/download recordings
Cloud native
Designed to work with Kubernetes pods
More secure
No need to expose remote JMX outside of cluster
Automation of recording management
Define rules to automatically create recordings for matching
JVMs
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Source:
https://cryostat.io/
https://developers.redhat.com/articles/2021/11/09/automating-jdk-flight-recorder-containers
Cryostat
How does Cryostat help

6. Cryostat
Archive recordings to persistent cloud storage
Use Kubernetes Persistent Volumes to back up recordings
Visualize metrics in-cluster with Grafana
Translates time-series metrics into Grafana dashboard
Export recording for analysis in JMC
Easily download recordings from the cloud for detailed
analysis
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Source:
https://cryostat.io/
https://developers.redhat.com/articles/2021/11/09/automating-jdk-flight-recorder-containers
Cryostat
How does Cryostat help

7. Cryostat
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Project Started
Source:
https://github.com/cryostatio/cryostat
Began as “Container JFR” project. Initial use case was
Docker/Podman with interactive CLI.
2019
10/2021
1.0 Release
First major release of the Cryostat project. Included web client,
Kubernetes operator, HTTP API, Grafana integration.
2.0 Release
First release as Red Hat supported product, included with Red
Hat build of OpenJDK subscription.
04/2021

8. Cryostat 2.0
Cryostat 2.0
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Source:
https://developers.redhat.com/articles/2021/10/18/announcing-cryostat-20-jdk-flight-recorder-containers
The Cryostat Operator is now
available to install from
OperatorHub in OpenShift
4.6 or higher
OpenShift Operator
Allow Cryostat to connect to
targets using alternate
connection protocols
Custom Targets
Use Automated Rules API to
perform recording operations
on multiple JVMs at once
Batch Operations
Automatically create
recordings based on main
Java class, labels, annotations,
and more
Automated Rules
Highlights

9. 9
Demo in
OpenShift
Try it yourself:
github.com/andrewazores/quarkus-todo-app

10. Key Takeaways
JDK Flight Recorder
JFR is a powerful tool for monitoring and profiling, and most
likely already baked in to your application - you just need to
turn it on.
Cryostat
Helps to enable, start, and stop JFR recordings and to
retrieve and analyze those recordings when running your
applications in OpenShift. Install it in OpenShift with ease
using the Cryostat Operator.
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Source:
https://cryostat.io/guides/
Cryostat
Lessons Learned Today

11. Engage with us
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Upstream resources
cryostat.io
Project Website
groups.google.com/g/cryostat-development
Google Group
github.com/cryostatio
GitHub Organization

12. Engage with us
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Red Hat resources
catalog.redhat.com/software/operators/detail/60ee049a
744684587e218ef5
Red Hat Ecosystem Catalog
developers.redhat.com/search?t=cryostat
Red Hat Developer Articles
access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/openjdk/11
Red Hat Customer Portal Documentation

13. linkedin.com/company/red-hat
youtube.com/user/RedHatVideos
facebook.com/redhatinc
twitter.com/RedHat
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