Java Thread Deadlock: A Case Study
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Join For FreeThis article will describe the complete root cause analysis of a recent Java deadlock problem observed from a Weblogic 11g production system running on the IBM JVM 1.6.This case study will also demonstrate the importance of mastering Thread Dump analysis skills; including for the IBM JVM Thread Dump format.
Environment specification
- Java EE server: Oracle Weblogic Server 11g & Spring 2.0
- OS: AIX 5.3
- Java VM: IBM JRE 1.6.0
- Platform type: Portal & ordering application
Monitoring and troubleshooting tools
- JVM Thread Dump (IBM JVM format)
- Compuware Server Vantage (Weblogic JMX monitoring & alerting)
As usual, a Java EE problem investigation requires gathering of technical and non-technical facts so we can either derived other facts and/or conclude on the root cause. Before applying a corrective measure, the facts below were verified in order to conclude on the root cause:
Thread Dump analysis – first pass
The first thing to do when dealing with stuck Thread problems is to generate a JVM Thread Dump. This is a golden rule regardless of your environment specifications & problem context. A JVM Thread Dump snapshot provides you with crucial information about the active Threads and what type of processing / tasks they are performing at that time.
Now back to our case study, an IBM JVM Thread Dump (javacore.xyz format) was generated which did reveal the following Java Thread deadlock condition below:
1LKDEADLOCK Deadlock detected !!! NULL --------------------- NULL 2LKDEADLOCKTHR Thread "[STUCK] ExecuteThread: '8' for queue: 'weblogic.kernel.Default (self-tuning)'" (0x000000012CC08B00) 3LKDEADLOCKWTR is waiting for: 4LKDEADLOCKMON sys_mon_t:0x0000000126171DF8 infl_mon_t: 0x0000000126171E38: 4LKDEADLOCKOBJ weblogic/jms/frontend/FESession@0x07000000198048C0/0x07000000198048D8: 3LKDEADLOCKOWN which is owned by: 2LKDEADLOCKTHR Thread "[STUCK] ExecuteThread: '10' for queue: 'weblogic.kernel.Default (self-tuning)'" (0x000000012E560500) 3LKDEADLOCKWTR which is waiting for: 4LKDEADLOCKMON sys_mon_t:0x000000012884CD60 infl_mon_t: 0x000000012884CDA0: 4LKDEADLOCKOBJ weblogic/jms/frontend/FEConnection@0x0700000019822F08/0x0700000019822F20: 3LKDEADLOCKOWN which is owned by: 2LKDEADLOCKTHR Thread "[STUCK] ExecuteThread: '8' for queue: 'weblogic.kernel.Default (self-tuning)'" (0x000000012CC08B00)
This deadlock situation can be translated as per below:
Java Thread deadlock overview
Most of you are probably familiar with Java Thread deadlock principles but did you really experience a true deadlock problem?
From my experience, true Java deadlocks are rare and I have only seen ~5 occurrences over the last 10 years. The reason is that most stuck Threads related problems are due to Thread hanging conditions (waiting on remote IO call etc.) but not involved in a true deadlock condition with other Thread(s).
A Java Thread deadlock is a situation for example where Thread A is waiting to acquire an Object monitor lock held by Thread B which is itself waiting to acquire an Object monitor lock held by Thread A. Both these Threads will wait for each other forever. This situation can be visualized as per below diagram:
Thread deadlock is confirmed…now what can you do?
Once the deadlock is confirmed (most JVM Thread Dump implementations will highlight it for you), the next step is to perform a deeper dive analysis by reviewing each Thread involved in the deadlock situation along with their current task & wait condition.Find below the partial Thread Stack Trace from our problem case for each Thread involved in the deadlock condition:
"[STUCK] ExecuteThread: '8' for queue: 'weblogic.kernel.Default (self-tuning)'" J9VMThread:0x000000012CC08B00, j9thread_t:0x00000001299E5100, java/lang/Thread:0x070000001D72EE00, state:B, prio=1
(native thread ID:0x111200F, native priority:0x1, native policy:UNKNOWN)
Java callstack:
at weblogic/jms/frontend/FEConnection.stop(FEConnection.java:671(Compiled Code))
at weblogic/jms/frontend/FEConnection.invoke(FEConnection.java:1685(Compiled Code))
at weblogic/messaging/dispatcher/Request.wrappedFiniteStateMachine(Request.java:961(Compiled Code))
at weblogic/messaging/dispatcher/DispatcherImpl.syncRequest(DispatcherImpl.java:184(Compiled Code))
at weblogic/messaging/dispatcher/DispatcherImpl.dispatchSync(DispatcherImpl.java:212(Compiled Code))
at weblogic/jms/dispatcher/DispatcherAdapter.dispatchSync(DispatcherAdapter.java:43(Compiled Code))
at weblogic/jms/client/JMSConnection.stop(JMSConnection.java:863(Compiled Code))
at weblogic/jms/client/WLConnectionImpl.stop(WLConnectionImpl.java:843)
at org/springframework/jms/connection/SingleConnectionFactory.closeConnection(SingleConnectionFactory.java:342)
at org/springframework/jms/connection/SingleConnectionFactory.resetConnection(SingleConnectionFactory.java:296)
at org/app/JMSReceiver.receive()
……………………………………………………………………
"[STUCK] ExecuteThread: '10' for queue: 'weblogic.kernel.Default (self-tuning)'" J9VMThread:0x000000012E560500, j9thread_t:0x000000012E35BCE0, java/lang/Thread:0x070000001ECA9200, state:B, prio=1
(native thread ID:0x4FA027, native priority:0x1, native policy:UNKNOWN)
Java callstack:
at weblogic/jms/frontend/FEConnection.getPeerVersion(FEConnection.java:1381(Compiled Code))
at weblogic/jms/frontend/FESession.setUpBackEndSession(FESession.java:755(Compiled Code))
at weblogic/jms/frontend/FESession.consumerCreate(FESession.java:1025(Compiled Code))
at weblogic/jms/frontend/FESession.invoke(FESession.java:2995(Compiled Code))
at weblogic/messaging/dispatcher/Request.wrappedFiniteStateMachine(Request.java:961(Compiled Code))
at weblogic/messaging/dispatcher/DispatcherImpl.syncRequest(DispatcherImpl.java:184(Compiled Code))
at weblogic/messaging/dispatcher/DispatcherImpl.dispatchSync(DispatcherImpl.java:212(Compiled Code))
at weblogic/jms/dispatcher/DispatcherAdapter.dispatchSync(DispatcherAdapter.java:43(Compiled Code))
at weblogic/jms/client/JMSSession.consumerCreate(JMSSession.java:2982(Compiled Code))
at weblogic/jms/client/JMSSession.setupConsumer(JMSSession.java:2749(Compiled Code))
at weblogic/jms/client/JMSSession.createConsumer(JMSSession.java:2691(Compiled Code))
at weblogic/jms/client/JMSSession.createReceiver(JMSSession.java:2596(Compiled Code))
at weblogic/jms/client/WLSessionImpl.createReceiver(WLSessionImpl.java:991(Compiled Code))
at org/springframework/jms/core/JmsTemplate102.createConsumer(JmsTemplate102.java:204(Compiled Code))
at org/springframework/jms/core/JmsTemplate.doReceive(JmsTemplate.java:676(Compiled Code))
at org/springframework/jms/core/JmsTemplate$10.doInJms(JmsTemplate.java:652(Compiled Code))
at org/springframework/jms/core/JmsTemplate.execute(JmsTemplate.java:412(Compiled Code))
at org/springframework/jms/core/JmsTemplate.receiveSelected(JmsTemplate.java:650(Compiled Code))
at org/springframework/jms/core/JmsTemplate.receiveSelected(JmsTemplate.java:641(Compiled Code))
at org/app/JMSReceiver.receive()
……………………………………………………………
synchronized (connectionMonitor) {
//if condition added to avoid possible deadlocks when trying to reset the target connection
if (!started) {
this.target.start();
started = true;
}
}
Solution
Our team is currently planning to integrate this Spring patch in to our production environment shortly. The initial tests performed in our test environment are positive.
Conclusion
I hope this case study has helped understand a real-life Java Thread deadlock problem and how proper Thread Dump analysis skills can allow you to quickly pinpoint the root cause of stuck Thread related problems at the code level. Please don’t hesitate to post any comment or question.
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