DocumentationExperience Cloud KCS

Instance becomes unresponsive with OutOfMemoryError during BPA report execution in Experience Manager Assets

Last update: August 18, 2026

In Adobe Experience Manager Assets 6.1 and later, running a Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) report exhausts the JVM heap and leaves the instance unresponsive until you restart it. The logs show java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space. To fix this, run BPA on a Stage environment or Production Author clone, confirm the memory error, analyze heap usage, and review JVM and garbage-collection settings before rerunning the report.

Description description

Environment

Adobe Experience Manager Assets 6.1 and later deployments with BPA installed and administrator access

Issue/Symptoms

When you run a Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) report on an AEM Assets instance, the instance becomes unresponsive. No pages are accessible until you restart the instance. The logs show java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space.

  • The issue recurs each time you run the BPA report.
  • You must restart the instance to restore access.
  • The error log shows that the JVM heap is exhausted during the operation.

Cause

The JVM heap is exhausted during BPA report execution. This produces java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space and leaves the AEM instance unresponsive until you restart it.

Resolution resolution

To troubleshoot the memory issue and reduce the risk of recurrence, follow these steps:

  1. Run BPA on a Stage environment that closely matches Production or on a clone of the Production Author environment instead of on a busy production author instance.

    • Note: No BPA-specific setting is documented to prevent heap exhaustion during report generation.

  2. Confirm that the instance became unresponsive because of an OutOfMemoryError.

    • Search error.log for OutOfMemoryError entries.
    • Confirm that the log contains java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space.
    • Identify the components that were active when the error occurred, such as the Oak asynchronous indexer, FileStore tasks, and schedulers.

  3. If you manage the AEM JVM startup parameters, enable heap-dump capture.

    • Ensure that AEM starts with the -XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError JVM option.
    • After the error occurs, analyze the generated .hprof file with Eclipse MAT to determine which objects consume the most memory.
    • Note: The -XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError option captures diagnostic data after an OutOfMemoryError; it doesn’t prevent heap exhaustion.
    • For additional guidance, see Steps to resolve Memory related issues in AEM.

  4. Review JVM memory and garbage collection.

    • Use the AEM Web Console at /system/console/memoryusage to inspect heap usage, particularly the Old or Tenured generation.
    • Review the garbage-collection logs to determine whether garbage collection runs frequently and whether full garbage collection reclaims sufficient memory.

  5. Schedule BPA and maintenance tasks during an off-peak or maintenance window.

    • Schedule maintenance tasks such as revision cleanup, workflow purges, and reports during a controlled window to reduce memory pressure.

  6. Review JVM heap and garbage-collection settings after analyzing the memory usage pattern.

    • Adjust the JVM heap size or garbage-collection parameters only after completing the preceding checks.
    • Review server sizing if the available memory is insufficient for the repository size and workload.
    • Note: Don’t prescribe a fixed -Xmx value or a specific garbage collector without environment-specific memory analysis and performance testing.
    • For additional guidance, see How to analyze common critical AEM issues.
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