Is there a specific sourcetype extractor for Java Garbage Collection log?

[schrepfler]

Java's gc.log format offers a wealth of information about the Java Garbage Collection lifecycle. There are many tools which deal with the format historical and implementation specific differences. Would it be possible for Splunk to provide an extractor specifically for that sourcetype and expose the GC specific metrics/fields automatically as some extracted values require operations which can be implemented in code much more efficiently?

[koshyk]

It depends on your application server (Websphere, weblogic etc). There is Websphere TA addon for Splunk which caters for the gc.log as ibm:was:gcLog automatically as per this documentation and with relevant Inventory, Performance CIM model

ibm:was:gcLog   Garbage collection log (gc.log) Inventory, Performance  Application Server, OS

[koshyk]

can you please provide sample of gc.log ? do you know which application server generates it? Websphere/weblogic etc..?

[schrepfler]

gc.log should not be application server specific, it's java version/GC used/vendor specific (I would guess tat websphere would be using the IBM JVM)

Examples: https://plumbr.eu/blog/garbage-collection/understanding-garbage-collection-logs
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/895444/java-garbage-collection-log-messages
https://blog.codecentric.de/en/2014/01/useful-jvm-flags-part-8-gc-logging/
https://blog.gceasy.io/2016/07/07/understanding-g1-gc-log-format/