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title: 'JPS(1) JDK @@VERSION_SHORT@@ | JDK Commands'
date: @@COPYRIGHT_YEAR@@
lang: en
---

## Name

jps - list the instrumented JVMs on the target system

## Synopsis

**Note:** This command is experimental and unsupported.

`jps` \[`-q`\] \[`-mlvV`\] \[*hostid*\]

`jps` \[`-help`\]

## Options

`-q`
:   Suppresses the output of the class name, JAR file name, and arguments
    passed to the `main` method, producing a list of only local JVM
    identifiers.

`-mlvV`
:   You can specify any combination of these options.

    -   `-m` displays the arguments passed to the `main` method. The output may
        be `null` for embedded JVMs.

    -   `-l` displays the full package name for the application's `main` class
        or the full path name to the application's JAR file.

    -   `-v` displays the arguments passed to the JVM.

    -   `-V` suppresses the output of the class name, JAR file name, and
        arguments passed to the `main` method, producing a list of only local
        JVM identifiers.

*hostid*
:   The identifier of the host for which the process report should be
    generated. The `hostid` can include optional components that indicate the
    communications protocol, port number, and other implementation specific
    data. See [Host Identifier].

`-help`
:   Displays the help message for the `jps` command.

## Description

The `jps` command lists the instrumented Java HotSpot VMs on the target system.
The command is limited to reporting information on JVMs for which it has the
access permissions.

If the `jps` command is run without specifying a `hostid`, then it searches for
instrumented JVMs on the local host. If started with a `hostid`, then it
searches for JVMs on the indicated host, using the specified protocol and port.
A `jstatd` process is assumed to be running on the target host.

The `jps` command reports the local JVM identifier, or `lvmid`, for each
instrumented JVM found on the target system. The `lvmid` is typically, but not
necessarily, the operating system's process identifier for the JVM process.
With no options, the `jps` command lists each Java application's `lvmid`
followed by the short form of the application's class name or jar file name.
The short form of the class name or JAR file name omits the class's package
information or the JAR files path information.

The `jps` command uses the Java launcher to find the class name and arguments
passed to the main method. If the target JVM is started with a custom launcher,
then the class or JAR file name, and the arguments to the `main` method aren't
available. In this case, the `jps` command outputs the string `Unknown` for the
class name, or JAR file name, and for the arguments to the `main` method.

The list of JVMs produced by the `jps` command can be limited by the
permissions granted to the principal running the command. The command lists
only the JVMs for which the principal has access rights as determined by
operating system-specific access control mechanisms.

The list of JVMs is also limited to those that use the same temporary file location as the `jps`
command.  That is normally the case but see the [`-XX:AltTempDir`](./java.html#-XX_AltTempDir) option.

## Host Identifier

The host identifier, or `hostid`, is a string that indicates the target system.
The syntax of the `hostid` string corresponds to the syntax of a URI:

>   \[*protocol*`:`\]\[\[`//`\]*hostname*\]\[`:`*port*\]\[`/`*servername*\]

*protocol*
:   The communications protocol. If the *protocol* is omitted and a *hostname*
    isn't specified, then the default protocol is a platform-specific,
    optimized, local protocol. If the protocol is omitted and a host name is
    specified, then the default protocol is `rmi`.

*hostname*
:   A host name or IP address that indicates the target host. If you omit the
    *hostname* parameter, then the target host is the local host.

*port*
:   The default port for communicating with the remote server. If the
    *hostname* parameter is omitted or the *protocol* parameter specifies an
    optimized, local protocol, then the *port* parameter is ignored. Otherwise,
    treatment of the *port* parameter is implementation-specific. For the
    default `rmi` protocol, the *port* parameter indicates the port number for
    the `rmiregistry` on the remote host. If the *port* parameter is omitted,
    and the *protocol* parameter indicates `rmi`, then the default
    `rmiregistry` port (`1099`) is used.

*servername*
:   The treatment of this parameter depends on the implementation. For the
    optimized, local protocol, this field is ignored. For the `rmi` protocol,
    this parameter is a string that represents the name of the RMI remote
    object on the remote host. See the [jstatd](jstatd.html) command `-n`
    option.

## Output Format of the jps Command

The output of the `jps` command has the following pattern:

>   *lvmid* \[ \[ *classname* \| *JARfilename* \| `"Unknown"`\] \[ *arg*\* \]
    \[ *jvmarg*\* \] \]

All output tokens are separated by white space. An `arg` value that includes
embedded white space introduces ambiguity when attempting to map arguments to
their actual positional parameters.

**Note:**

It's recommended that you don't write scripts to parse `jps` output because the
format might change in future releases. If you write scripts that parse `jps`
output, then expect to modify them for future releases of this tool.

## Examples

This section provides examples of the `jps` command.

List the instrumented JVMs on the local host:

```
jps
18027 Java2Demo.JAR
18032 jps
18005 jstat
```

The following example lists the instrumented JVMs on a remote host. This
example assumes that the `jstat` server and either the its internal RMI
registry or a separate external `rmiregistry` process are running on the remote
host on the default port (port `1099`). It also assumes that the local host has
appropriate permissions to access the remote host. This example includes the
`-l` option to output the long form of the class names or JAR file names.

```
jps -l remote.domain
3002 /opt/jdk1.7.0/demo/jfc/Java2D/Java2Demo.JAR
2857 sun.tools.jstatd.jstatd
```

The following example lists the instrumented JVMs on a remote host with a
nondefault port for the RMI registry. This example assumes that the `jstatd`
server, with an internal RMI registry bound to port `2002`, is running on the
remote host. This example also uses the `-m` option to include the arguments
passed to the `main` method of each of the listed Java applications.

```
jps -m remote.domain:2002
3002 /opt/jdk1.7.0/demo/jfc/Java2D/Java2Demo.JAR
3102 sun.tools.jstatd.jstatd -p 2002
```
