To reduce the likelihood of method server heap exhaustion due to an unbounded memory operation, the assistant configures a feature known as Garbage Collection Baiting (GCBaiter). When the method server heap is 100% utilized, the JVM will generally crash with an OutOfMemoryError. The GCBaiter attempts to identify the user operation that is consuming most of the available heap prior to the OutOfMemoryError and then terminates it. The GCBaiter is initiated automatically by the JVM when it detects a low memory condition (for example, when the JVM Garbage Collector needs to collect SoftReferences). The GCBaiter uses the MethodServer.gcBaiting.suggestedMinAvailableHeapPercent property to detect when the method server available heap space has fallen below the minimum requirement.

The Windchill Configuration Assistant calculates the minimum available heap value used by GCBaiter as a percentage of the maximum method server heap size. The default value is 5% and is governed by property MethodServer.gcBaiting.suggestedMinAvailableHeapPercent. Note that the assistant does not set the DisableExplicitGC Java command line option when GCBaiting is enabled.

The following example shows the prompts that are displayed to set up Garbage Collection Baiting target configureGCBaiter: