Learn how to read JVM Thread Dump and monitoring tools data
I’m sure you have noticed from my past articles and case studies that I use JVM Thread Dump a lot. This is for a reason. Thread Dump analysis is one of the most important and valuable skill to acquire for any successful Java EE production support individual. I analyzed my first Thread Dump 10 years ago when troubleshooting a Weblogic 6 problem running on JDK 1.3. 10 years and hundreds of Thread Dump snapshots later, I’m still learning new problem patterns…The good part with JVM and Thread Dump is that you will always find new patterns to identity and understand.
I can guarantee you that once you acquire this knowledge (along with JVM fundamentals), not only a lot of production incidents will be easier to pinpoint but also much more fun and self-rewarding. Given how easy, fast and non-intrusive it is these days to generate a JVM Thread Dump; there is simply no excuse not to learn this key troubleshooting technique.
My other recommendation is to learn how to use existing monitoring tools and interpret the data. Java EE monitoring tools are highly valuable weapons for any production support individual involved in day to day support. Depending of the product purchased or free tools used by your IT client, they will provide you with a performance view of your Java EE applications, middleware (Weblogic, JBoss, WAS…) and the JVM itself. This historical data is also critical when performing root cause analysis following a major production outage.

Proper knowledge and understanding of the data will allow you to understand the IT platform performance, capacity and give you opportunities to work with the IT capacity planning analysis & architect team which are accountable to ensure long term stability and scalability of the IT production environment.