OpenJ9 Large Heap (noncompressedrefs) build

[theresa-m]

OpenJ9 has created a "Large Heap" package for the non-compressedrefs mode to support users that need > ~57 gig heaps. We would like to have these built & tested with AdoptOpenJDK for xLinux for JDK8 and newer releases (JDK10+).

We would like this to also be JCK certified, though we can live without it initially.

This is the OpenJ9 issue tracking this project: eclipse-openj9/openj9#1669

[karianna]

@theresa-m do you or another OpenJ9 person know what the additional parameters are required to build this variant over and above the regular OpenJ9 build?

[theresa-m]

To build the non-compressed version:

• Add the new argument --with-noncompressedrefs during the configuration step like this:
  bash ./configure --with-freemarker-jar=/root/freemarker.jar --with-noncompressedrefs
• Build the same as the compressedrefs version
• During testing SPEC will need to be set less _cmprssptrs (linux_x86-64_cmprssptrs should be linux_x86-64)

[karianna]

OK, it may be awhile before we pick this up - we have some underlying build script fixes we need to get out before we add more variants, do poke us if it's more than a few weeks!

[gdams]

thanks for creating this @theresa-m! I'll try and take a look at setting up a test build this week

[gdams]

https://ci.adoptopenjdk.net/view/work%20in%20progress/job/openjdk8_openj9_build_x86-64_linux_largeHeap/ has been created

[theresa-m]

thanks @gdams these look great! I'm running some tests on the jdk just to be thorough but the build looks right as we discussed.

[smlambert]

If you are happy with the build @theresa-m, we can also enable some automated testing on it at ci.adoptopenjdk

[gdams]

we probably want to add a cron to it so that it builds perodically

[smlambert]

Do you want it on a weekly cadence? We can add a schedule in the Jenkins config, and I will trigger test runs from the build directly (unless we go the route of adding to full nightly pipelines, but that may be overkill).

[theresa-m]

@DanHeidinga what do you think for Shelley's question?

[DanHeidinga]

(unless we go the route of adding to full nightly pipelines, but that may be overkill).

Adding it to the nightlies would be ideal as there are code differences between the compressed and large heap builds - mostly in code having to do with the size of Object pointers.

Are there limitations (machine, etc) that prevent running this nightly?

[sxa]

I think we're probably ok from a build machine perspective in terms of running these on a regular basis - our xLinux builds are reasonably performant and not currently a limiting factor in our pipeline times so unless there are any fundamental objections (tagging in @karianna as he probably hasn't been following this) I suspect we could contain it being run nightly at the moment.

@DanHeidinga Will this only ever be required for Linux/x64 or (do you envisage | is there support for) other platforms too?

[DanHeidinga]

We've been targeting this to xLinux only based on the initial interest for the larger heap builds.

I can't rule out extending this to other platforms in the future if the demand is there but there are no immediate plans to do so.

[llxia]

Test Jenkins files need to be updated for noncompressedrefs
fyi @sophia-guo

[smlambert]

@llxia @sophia-guo, I am working on a combined PR for this and Win32 build in https://github.com/smlambert/openjdk-build/tree/addNewSpecs and https://github.com/smlambert/openjdk-tests/tree/addMoreSpecs

[sophia-guo]

@gdams The job https://ci.adoptopenjdk.net/view/work%20in%20progress/job/openjdk8_openj9_build_x86-64_linux_largeHeap/ is configured to @sxa555 personal branch create_jre. Probably need to update. I guess it was initially created by copy of https://ci.adoptopenjdk.net/job/openjdk8_openj9_build_x86-64_linux/ .

[theresa-m]

According to @smlambert this can be closed now. Thanks to all who helped put the build together!

[smlambert]

Thanks @theresa-m ! And for sure, if we want to add more large heap builds for other versions or platforms, we can either reopen or create a new issue. 👍