alibaba/arthas
A look at alibaba/arthas: 37.6k stars on GitHub, written primarily in Java, tracked under the AI Tools category. Alibaba Java Diagnostic Tool Arthas/Alibaba Java诊断利器Arthas
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Arthas
Arthas is a Java Diagnostic tool open sourced by Alibaba.
Arthas allows developers to troubleshoot production issues for Java applications without modifying code or restarting servers.
中文说明/Chinese Documentation
Background
Often times, the production system network is inaccessible from the local development environment. If issues are encountered in production systems, it is impossible to use IDEs to debug the application remotely. More importantly, debugging in production environment is unacceptable, as it will suspend all the threads, resulting in the suspension of business services.
Developers could always try to reproduce the same issue on the test/staging environment. However, this is tricky as some issues cannot be reproduced easily on a different environment, or even disappear once restarted.
And if you're thinking of adding some logs to your code to help troubleshoot the issue, you will have to go through the following lifecycle; test, staging, and then to production. Time is money! This approach is inefficient! Besides, the issue may not be reproducible once the JVM is restarted, as described above.
Arthas was built to solve these issues. A developer can troubleshoot your production issues on-the-fly. No JVM restart, no additional code changes. Arthas works as an observer, which will never suspend your existing threads.
Key features
- Check whether a class is loaded, or where the class is being loaded. (Useful for troubleshooting jar file conflicts)
- Decompile a class to ensure the code is running as expected.
- View classloader statistics, e.g. the number of classloaders, the number of classes loaded per classloader, the classloader hierarchy, possible classloader leaks, etc.
- View the method invocation details, e.g. method parameter, return object, thrown exception, and etc.
- Check the stack trace of specified method invocation. This is useful when a developers wants to know the caller of the said method.
- Trace the method invocation to find slow sub-invocations.
- Monitor method invocation statistics, e.g. qps, rt, success rate and etc.
- Monitor system metrics, thread states and cpu usage, gc statistics, and etc.
- Supports command line interactive mode, with auto-complete feature enabled.
- Supports telnet and websocket, which enables both local and remote diagnostics with command line and browsers.
- Supports profiler/Flame Graph
- Support get objects in the heap that are instances of the specified class.
- Supports JDK 8+ in version 4.x, including JDK 17, JDK 21, and JDK 25.
- Supports Linux/Mac/Windows.
Quick start
Use arthas-boot(Recommended)
Downloadarthas-boot.jar，Start with java command:
curl -O https://arthas.aliyun.com/arthas-boot.jar
java -jar arthas-boot.jar
Print usage:
java -jar arthas-boot.jar -h
Use as.sh
You can install Arthas with one single line command on Linux, Unix, and Mac. Copy the following command and paste it into the command line, then press Enter to run:
curl -L https://arthas.aliyun.com/install.sh | sh
The command above will download the bootstrap script as.sh to the current directory. You can move it any other place you want, or put its location in $PATH.
You can enter its interactive interface by executing as.sh, or execute as.sh -h for more help information.
Documentation
- User manual
- Installation
- Download
- Quick start
- Advanced usage
- Commands
- WebConsole
- Docker
- Arthas Spring Boot Starter
- User cases
- FAQ
- Compile and debug/How to contribute
- Release Notes
Feature Showcase
Dashboard
- https://arthas.aliyun.com/doc/en/dashboard
Thread
- https://arthas.aliyun.com/doc/en/thread
See what is eating your CPU (ranked by top CPU usage) and what is going on there in one glance:
$ thread -n 3
"as-command-execute-daemon" Id=29 cpuUsage=75% RUNNABLE
at sun.management.ThreadImpl.dumpThreads0(Native Method)
at sun.management.ThreadImpl.getThreadInfo(ThreadImpl.java:440)
at com.taobao.arthas.core.command.monitor200.ThreadCommand$1.action(ThreadCommand.java:58)
at com.taobao.arthas.core.command.handler.AbstractCommandHandler.execute(AbstractCommandHandler.java:238)
at com.taobao.arthas.core.command.handler.DefaultCommandHandler.handleCommand(DefaultCommandHandler.java:67)
at com.taobao.arthas.core.server.ArthasServer$4.run(ArthasServer.java:276)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1145)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:615)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745)
Number of locked synchronizers = 1
- java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker@6cd0b6f8
"as-session-expire-daemon" Id=25 cpuUsage=24% TIMED_WAITING
at java.lang.Thread.sleep(Native Method)
at com.taobao.arthas.core.server.DefaultSessionManager$2.run(DefaultSessionManager.java:85)
"Reference Handler" Id=2 cpuUsage=0% WAITING on java.lang.ref.Reference$Lock@69ba0f27
at java.lang.Object.wait(Native Method)
- waiting on java.lang.ref.Reference$Lock@69ba0f27
at java.lang.Object.wait(Object.java:503)
at java.lang.ref.Reference$ReferenceHandler.run(Reference.java:133)
jad
- https://arthas.aliyun.com/doc/en/jad
Decompile your class with one shot:
$ jad javax.servlet.Servlet
ClassLoader:
+-java.net.URLClassLoader@6108b2d7
+-sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader@18b4aac2
+-sun.misc.Launcher$ExtClassLoader@1ddf84b8
Location:
/Users/xxx/work/test/lib/servlet-api.jar
/*
* Decompiled with CFR 0_122.
*/
package javax.servlet;
import java.io.IOException;
import javax.servlet.ServletConfig;
import javax.servlet.ServletException;
import javax.servlet.ServletRequest;
import javax.servlet.ServletResponse;
public interface Servlet {
public void init(ServletConfig var1) throws ServletException;
public ServletConfig getServletConfig();
public void service(ServletRequest var1, ServletResponse var2) throws ServletException, IOException;
public String getServletInfo();
public void destroy();
}
mc
- https://arthas.aliyun.com/doc/en/mc
Memory compiler, compiles .java files into .class files in memory.
$ mc /tmp/Test.java
retransform
- https://arthas.aliyun.com/doc/en/retransform
Load the external *.class files to retransform/hotswap the loaded classes in JVM.
retransform /tmp/Test.class
retransform -c 327a647b /tmp/Test.class /tmp/Test\$Inner.class
sc
- https://arthas.aliyun.com/doc/en/sc
Search any loaded class with detailed information.
$ sc -d org.springframework.web.context.support.XmlWebApplicationContext
class-info org.springframework.web.context.support.XmlWebApplicationContext
code-source /Users/xxx/work/test/WEB-INF/lib/spring-web-3.2.11.RELEASE.jar
name org.springframework.web.context.support.XmlWebApplicationContext
isInterface false
isAnnotation false
isEnum false
isAnonymousClass false
isArray false
isLocalClass false
isMemberClass false
isPrimitive false
isSynthetic false
simple-name XmlWebApplicationContext
modifier public
annotation
interfaces
super-class +-org.springframework.web.context.support.AbstractRefreshableWebApplicationContext
+-org.springframework.context.support.AbstractRefreshableConfigApplicationContext
+-org.springframework.context.support.AbstractRefreshableApplicationContext
+-org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext
+-org.springframework.core.io.DefaultResourceLoader
+-java.lang.Object
class-loader +-org.apache.catalina.loader.ParallelWebappClassLoader
+-java.net.URLClassLoader@6108b2d7
+-sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader@18b4aac2
+-sun.misc.Launcher$ExtClassLoader@1ddf84b8
classLoaderHash 25131501
vmtool
- https://arthas.aliyun.com/doc/en/vmtool
Get objects in the heap that are instances of the specified class.
$ vmtool --action getInstances --className java.lang.String --limit 10
@String[][
@String[com/taobao/arthas/core/shell/session/Session],
@String[com.taobao.arthas.core.shell.session.Session],
@String[com/taobao/arthas/core/shell/session/Session],
@String[com/taobao/arthas/core/shell/session/Session],
@String[com/taobao/arthas/core/shell/session/Session.class],
@String[com/taobao/arthas/core/shell/session/Session.class],
@String[com/taobao/arthas/core/shell/session/Session.class],
@String[com/],
@String[java/util/concurrent/ConcurrentHashMap$ValueIterator],
@String[java/util/concurrent/locks/LockSupport],
]
stack
- https://arthas.aliyun.com/doc/en/stack
View the call stack of test.arthas.TestStack#doGet:
$ stack test.arthas.TestStack doGet
Press Ctrl+C to abort.
Affect(class-cnt:1 , method-cnt:1) cost in 286 ms.
ts=2018-09-18 10:11:45;thread_name=http-bio-8080-exec-10;id=d9;is_daemon=true;priority=5;TCCL=org.apache.catalina.loader.ParallelWebappClassLoader@25131501
@test.arthas.TestStack.doGet()
at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:624)
at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:731)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:303)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:208)
at org.apache.tomcat.websocket.server.WsFilter.doFilter(WsFilter.java:52)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:241)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:208)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:241)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:208)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invoke(StandardWrapperValve.java:220)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invoke(StandardContextValve.java:110)
...
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke(StandardHostValve.java:169)
at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:103)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invoke(StandardEngineValve.java:116)
at org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:451)
at org.apache.coyote.http11.AbstractHttp11Processor.process(AbstractHttp11Processor.java:1121)
at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol$AbstractConnectionHandler.process(AbstractProtocol.java:637)
at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.JIoEndpoint$SocketProcessor.run(JIoEndpoint.java:316)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1142)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:617)
at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.TaskThread$WrappingRunnable.run(TaskThread.java:61)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745)
Trace
- https://arthas.aliyun.com/doc/en/trace
See what is slowing down your method invocation with trace command:
Watch
- https://arthas.aliyun.com/doc/en/watch
Watch the first parameter and thrown exception of test.arthas.TestWatch#doGet only if it throws exception.
$ watch test.arthas.TestWatch doGet {params[0], throwExp} -e
Press Ctrl+C to abort.
Affect(class-cnt:1 , method-cnt:1) cost in 65 ms.
ts=2018-09-18 10:26:28;result=@ArrayList[
@RequestFacade[org.apache.catalina.connector.RequestFacade@79f922b2],
@NullPointerException[java.lang.NullPointerException],
]
Monitor
- https://arthas.aliyun.com/doc/en/monitor
Monitor a specific method invocation statistics, including the total number of invocations, average response time, success rate, and every 5 seconds:
$ monitor -c 5 org.apache.dubbo.demo.provider.DemoServiceImpl sayHello
Press Ctrl+C to abort.
Affect(class-cnt:1 , method-cnt:1) cost in 109 ms.
timestamp class method total success fail avg-rt(ms) fail-rate
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018-09-20 09:45:32 org.apache.dubbo.demo.provider.DemoServiceImpl sayHello 5 5 0 0.67 0.00%
timestamp class method total success fail avg-rt(ms) fail-rate
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018-09-20 09:45:37 org.apache.dubbo.demo.provider.DemoServiceImpl sayHello 5 5 0 1.00 0.00%
timestamp class method total success fail avg-rt(ms) fail-rate
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018-09-20 09:45:42 org.apache.dubbo.demo.provider.DemoServiceImpl sayHello 5 5 0 0.43 0.00%
Time Tunnel(tt)
- https://arthas.aliyun.com/doc/en/tt
Record method invocation data, so that you can check the method invocation parameters, returned value, and thrown exceptions later. It works as if you could come back and replay the past method invocation via time tunnel.
$ tt -t org.apache.dubbo.demo.provider.DemoServiceImpl sayHello
Press Ctrl+C to abort.
Affect(class-cnt:1 , method-cnt:1) cost in 75 ms.
INDEX TIMESTAMP COST(ms) IS-RET IS-EXP OBJECT CLASS METHOD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1000 2018-09-20 09:54:10 1.971195 true false 0x55965cca DemoServiceImpl sayHello
1001 2018-09-20 09:54:11 0.215685 true false 0x55965cca DemoServiceImpl sayHello
1002 2018-09-20 09:54:12 0.236303 true false 0x55965cca DemoServiceImpl sayHello
1003 2018-09-20 09:54:13 0.159598 true false 0x55965cca DemoServiceImpl sayHello
1004 2018-09-20 09:54:14 0.201982 true false 0x55965cca DemoServiceImpl sayHello
1005 2018-09-20 09:54:15 0.214205 true false 0x55965cca DemoServiceImpl sayHello
1006 2018-09-20 09:54:16 0.241863 true false 0x55965cca DemoServiceImpl sayHello
1007 2018-09-20 09:54:17 0.305747 true false 0x55965cca DemoServiceImpl sayHello
1008 2018-09-20 09:54:18 0.18468 true false 0x55965cca DemoServiceImpl sayHello
Classloader
- https://arthas.aliyun.com/doc/en/classloader
$ classloader
name numberOfInstances loadedCountTotal
BootstrapClassLoader 1 3346
com.taobao.arthas.agent.ArthasClassloader 1 1262
java.net.URLClassLoader 2 1033
org.apache.catalina.loader.ParallelWebappClassLoader 1 628
sun.reflect.DelegatingClassLoader 166 166
sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader 1 31
com.alibaba.fastjson.util.ASMClassLoader 6 15
sun.misc.Launcher$ExtClassLoader 1 7
org.jvnet.hk2.internal.DelegatingClassLoader 2 2
sun.reflect.misc.MethodUtil 1 1
Web Console
- https://arthas.aliyun.com/doc/en/web-console
Profiler/FlameGraph
- https://arthas.aliyun.com/doc/en/profiler
$ profiler start
Started [cpu] profiling
$ profiler stop
profiler output file: /tmp/demo/arthas-output/20211207-111550.html
OK
View profiler results under arthas-output via browser:
Arthas Spring Boot Starter
- Arthas Spring Boot Starter
Known Users
Arthas has more than 120 registered users, View All.
Welcome to register the company name in this issue: https://github.com/alibaba/arthas/issues/111 (in order of registration)
Derivative Projects
- Bistoury: A project that integrates Arthas
- A fork of arthas using MVEL
Credits
Contributors
This project exists, thanks to all the people who contributed.
Projects
- bytekit Java Bytecode Kit.
- greys-anatomy: The Arthas code base has derived from Greys, we thank for the excellent work done by Greys.
- termd: Arthas's terminal implementation is based on termd, an open source library for writing terminal applications in Java.
- crash: Arthas's text based user interface rendering is based on codes extracted from here
- cli: Arthas's command line interface implementation is based on cli, open sourced by vert.x
- compiler Arthas's memory compiler.
- Apache Commons Net Arthas's telnet client.
- async-profiler Arthas's profiler command.
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Quick answers
Is alibaba/arthas open source?
Yes — alibaba/arthas ships under the Apache-2.0 license, which makes its source code freely readable (and, depending on license terms, forkable and reusable). Source: github.com/alibaba/arthas.
What else is in the AI Tools space?
alibaba/arthas is tracked by TopGit under the AI Tools category, alongside 9 GitHub-tagged topics. Trending and Topics pages list peer repositories of comparable stars and language.
What is alibaba/arthas?
alibaba/arthas (alibaba/arthas) is a Java project on GitHub. From the project's own README: Alibaba Java Diagnostic Tool Arthas/Alibaba Java诊断利器Arthas
What license does alibaba/arthas use?
alibaba/arthas is released under the Apache-2.0 license. Always verify the LICENSE file directly on GitHub for the authoritative terms — license strings can be edited out of sync with a project's actual stance.
Where can I see alibaba/arthas in action?
The project maintains a homepage at https://arthas.aliyun.com/. The README tab on this page also usually contains screenshots and a quickstart.
Where do I read more about alibaba/arthas?
This TopGit page is a snapshot — the READ ME tab shows the project's own README content (links stripped, images preserved). The GitHub repository at github.com/alibaba/arthas is the definitive source.
Why is alibaba/arthas categorized under AI Tools?
TopGit places alibaba/arthas in the AI Tools category based on its GitHub topics and description (tagged: "agent", "alibaba", "arthas"). Categories are assigned from real repository metadata, not editorial guesswork.
Read full README in the tab above.
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