java.lang.OutOfMemoryError "Cannot create GC thread. Out of system resources"

Solution Verified - Updated -

Issue

  • A fatal error was detected by the Java Runtime Environment while the jboss application server was started using a normal user name 'jboss'.
  • The hs_err fatal error log file detected the following error:
# java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Cannot create GC thread. Out of system resources.
# 
#  Internal Error (gcTaskThread.cpp:38), pid=31003, tid=1084184896
#  Error: Cannot create GC thread. Out of system resources.
  • Or:
# There is insufficient memory for the Java Runtime Environment to continue.
# Cannot create worker GC thread. Out of system resources.
# Possible reasons:
#   The system is out of physical RAM or swap space
#   In 32 bit mode, the process size limit was hit
# Possible solutions:
#   Reduce memory load on the system
#   Increase physical memory or swap space
#   Check if swap backing store is full
#   Use 64 bit Java on a 64 bit OS
#   Decrease Java heap size (-Xmx/-Xms)
#   Decrease number of Java threads
#   Decrease Java thread stack sizes (-Xss)
#   Set larger code cache with -XX:ReservedCodeCacheSize=
# This output file may be truncated or incomplete.
#
#  Out of Memory Error (workgroup.cpp:99), pid=40464, tid=0x00007efc4fa25700

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux(RHEL)

    • 6.x
    • 7.x
  • Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP)

    • 6.x
    • 7.x

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