Remote debugging a Java application

Edit: I noticed that some people are cutting and pasting the invocation here. The answer I originally gave was relevant for the OP only. Here's a more modern invocation style (including using the more conventional port of 8000):

java -agentlib:jdwp=transport=dt_socket,server=y,address=8000,suspend=n <other arguments>

Original answer follows.

Try this:

java -Xdebug -Xrunjdwp:server=y,transport=dt_socket,address=4000,suspend=n myapp

Two points here:

1. No spaces in the runjdwp option.
2. Options come before the class name. Any arguments you have after the class name are arguments to your program!

For JDK 1.3 or earlier :

-Xnoagent -Djava.compiler=NONE -Xdebug -Xrunjdwp:transport=dt_socket,server=y,suspend=n,address=6006

For JDK 1.4

-Xdebug -Xrunjdwp:transport=dt_socket,server=y,suspend=n,address=6006

For newer JDK :

-agentlib:jdwp=transport=dt_socket,server=y,suspend=n,address=6006

Please change the port number based on your needs.

From java technotes

From 5.0 onwards the -agentlib:jdwp option is used to load and specify options to the JDWP agent. For releases prior to 5.0, the -Xdebug and -Xrunjdwp options are used (the 5.0 implementation also supports the -Xdebug and -Xrunjdwp options but the newer -agentlib:jdwp option is preferable as the JDWP agent in 5.0 uses the JVM TI interface to the VM rather than the older JVMDI interface)

One more thing to note, from JVM Tool interface documentation:

JVM TI was introduced at JDK 5.0. JVM TI replaces the Java Virtual Machine Profiler Interface (JVMPI) and the Java Virtual Machine Debug Interface (JVMDI) which, as of JDK 6, are no longer provided.

Steps:

1. Start your remote java application with debugging options as said in above post.
2. Configure Eclipse for remote debugging by specifying host and port.
3. Start remote debugging in Eclipse and wait for connection to succeed.
4. Setup breakpoint and debug.
5. If you want to debug from start of application use suspend=y , this will keep remote application suspended until you connect from eclipse.

See Step by Step guide on Java remote debugging for full details.