Configuring Java arguments

You might need to increase the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) memory allocated to Java services to improve performance in your Puppet Enterprise (PE) deployment.

Important: When you enable disaster recovery, you must use Hiera or pe.conf only — not the console — to specify configuration parameters. Using pe.conf or Hiera ensures that configuration is applied to both your master and replica.

Increase the Java heap size for PE Java services

The Java heap size is the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) memory allocated to Java services in Puppet Enterprise (PE). You can use any configuration method you choose. We will use the console to change the Java heap size for console services, Puppet Server, orchestration services, or PuppetDB in the examples below.

Note: Ensure that you have sufficient free memory before increasing the memory that is used by a service. The increases shown below are only examples.
  1. In the console, click Classification. In the PE Infrastructure node group, select the node group that corresponds to the service you're increasing heap size for.
    Service Node group
    pe-console-services PE Console
    Puppet Server PE Master
    pe-orchestration-services PE Orchestrator
    PuppetDB PE PuppetDB
    ActiveMQ PE ActiveMQ Broker
  2. Click Configuration and scroll down to the appropriate class.
    Node group Class
    PE Console puppet_enterprise::profile::console
    PE Master puppet_enterprise::profile::master
    PE Orchestrator puppet_enterprise::profile::orchestrator
    PE PuppetDB puppet_enterprise::profile::puppetdb
    PE ActiveMQ Broker puppet_enterprise::profile::amq::broker
  3. Click the Parameter name list and select java_args. Increase the heap size by replacing the parameter with the appropriate JSON string.
    Service Default heap size New heap size JSON string
    pe-console-services 256 MB 512 MB {"Xmx": "512m", "Xms": "512m"}
    Puppet Server 2 GB 4 GB {"Xmx": "4096m", "Xms": "4096m"}
    orchestration-services 192 MB 1000 MB {"Xmx": "1000m", "Xms": "1000m"}
    PuppetDB 256 MB 512 MB {"Xmx": "512m", "Xms": "512m"}
    ActiveMQ 512 MB 1024 MB {"Xmx": "1024m", "Xms": "1024m"}
  4. Click Add Parameter and then commit changes.
  5. Run Puppet on the appropriate nodes to apply the change. If you're running it on the console node, the console will be unavailable briefly while pe-console-services restarts.
    Service Node
    pe-console-services console
    Puppet Server master and compile masters
    pe-orchestration-services master
    PuppetDB PuppetDB

Disable Java garbage collection logging

Java garbage collection logs can be useful when diagnosing performance issues with JVM-based PE services. Garbage collection logs are enabled by default, and the results are captured in the support script, but you can disable them.

Use Hiera or pe.conf to disable garbage collection logging by adding or changing the following parameters, as needed: 
puppet_enterprise::console_services::enable_gc_logging: false
puppet_enterprise::master::puppetserver::enable_gc_logging: false
puppet_enterprise::profile::orchestrator::enable_gc_logging: false
puppet_enterprise::puppetdb::enable_gc_logging: false
puppet_enterprise::profile::amq::broker::enable_gc_logging: false