Modifying the JVM heap size available to the EJB deployment tool

Starting in WebSphere® Application Server V8.0.0.1 release, you can modify the initial and maximum heap size for the EJB deployment tool by setting the EJBDEPLOY_JVM_HEAP environment variable. This environment variable must be set before running the ejbdeploy command. You can use the EJBDEPLOY_JVM_HEAP environment variable to overwrite the default setting of 256 megabytes for both the initial and maximum heap size (-Xms256m -Xmx256m) that is available to the EJB deployment tool.

Procedure

From a command prompt, specify the following command:
```
 export EJBDEPLOY_JVM_HEAP="-Xms<initial_size>m -Xmx<max_size>m"
```
```
 set EJBDEPLOY_JVM_HEAP=-Xms<initial_size>m -Xmx<max_size>m
```
Where <initial_size> specifies the initial heap size in megabytes and <max_size> specifies the maximum heap size in megabytes available for the EJB deployment tool.
Tip: The value set for <max_size> should never be increased above the system memory. Increasing the setting above the available system memory can cause system paging and a significant decrease in performance.
Verify if the EJBDEPLOY_JVM_HEAP environment variable is set by running the ejbdeploy command in a command prompt, and then find a statement describing the JVM heap size being used, for example "using JVM heap -Xms256m -Xmx1024m". If the statement does not appear, the EJBDEPLOY_JVM_HEAP environment variable is not set, as a result the initial and maximum heap size defaults to 256 megabytes. Here is an example of configuring and verifying the EJBDEPLOY_JVM_HEAP environment variable is set from a command prompt on a Windows operating system:
```
X:\bin>set EJBDEPLOY_JVM_HEAP=-Xms256m -Xmx1024m
X:\bin>ejbdeploy
"using JVM heap -Xms256m -Xmx1024m"
EJBDeploy (v8.0, @build@)

Syntax: EJBDeploy inputEar workingDirectory outputEar [options]
Options:
  -cp "jar1;jar2"      List of jar filenames required on classpath
  -codegen             Only generate the deployment code, do not run RMIC or Javac
  -bindear:options     Bind references within the EAR
...
```
Where X is the installation directory where WebSphere Application Server is installed. The example shows how to set the EJBDEPLOY_JVM_HEAP environment variable to increase the maximum heap size to 1024 megabytes while keeping the initial size to the default value of 256 megabytes.