Understanding JVM Exit Status Code 143: Causes and Solutions

What does exit status code 143 mean in the Java Virtual Machine (JVM)?

Exit status code 143 from the Java Virtual Machine indicates that the program was terminated due to an external signal. Specifically, it suggests that the application received a SIGTERM (termination signal), which is a common way to stop a process in UNIX/Linux systems.

Causes

• The application was stopped manually by a user or an administrator.
• The JVM process exceeded resource limits enforced by the operating system (like memory or CPU limits).
• The operating system itself sent the termination signal in response to some condition (e.g., low memory).
• A scheduled job or script that is set to terminate the application at specific intervals.

Solutions

• Review logs to identify triggering events that led to the exit status.
• Check for manual terminations or service configurations that might be terminating the app.
• Adjust resource limits for the JVM process in the operating system settings to allow more memory or CPU usage.
• Implement a handler for graceful shutdowns if applicable, to manage resource usage before termination.

Mistake: Ignoring system logs related to process termination.

Solution: Always check system logs for signals related to termination and resource usage when the application terminates unexpectedly.

Mistake: Failing to adjust JVM memory settings for heavy applications.

Solution: Tune the JVM settings using flags like -Xms and -Xmx to allocate enough memory for your application's needs.

Mistake: Not handling shutdown signals in application code.

Solution: Implement shutdown hooks in your Java application using Runtime.addShutdownHook() to gracefully handle termination signals.