Tomcat java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: PermGen space

In Java application, PermGem memory is very important, it is used to compile and optimize classes.

You might also face this issue during deployment application in tomcat, in my case, I faced it with Tomcat 6 and 7 with message of:

<code>java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: PermGen space</code>

Solutions

Increasing the PermGem memory in “catalina.bat” for windows or “catalina.sh” by passing the parameters to JAVA_OPT as following (in Windows):

set JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -Xms512m -Xmx512m 
set JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -XX:NewSize=256m -XX:MaxNewSize=256m -XX:PermSize=256m -XX:MaxPermSize=256m -XX:+DisableExplicitGC

rem ----- Execute The Requested Command ---------------------------------------

<code>java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: PermGen space</code>

Above, I set:

• Min/Max JVM memory allocation: -Xms512m -Xmx512m
• Min/Max PermGen size allocation: -XX:PermSize=256m -XX:MaxPermSize=256m

Tips & Warning

• You need to adapt the memory according to your real physical memory, (eg. my laptop has 3GB RAM) and your application resources needed. PermGem size 256MB would be enough
• If you are starting the tomcat via Eclipse, above settings might not apply, you need to set it instead in Eclipse
  • Ex: Eclipse 3.7, Windows –> Preferences –> Tomcat –> JVM Settings
  • At box of “Append to JVM Parameters”, add above value here