The Snow Inventory Java Scanner not only inventories Java binaries but also detects certain Java commercial features. This article explains how each supported feature is identified by the scanner and outlines any associated configuration options. Examples are provided where available.

The Snow Inventory Java Scanner can detect the following five commercial features:

• Advanced Management Console 
• Java Flight Recorder 
• Java Usage Tracker 
• JDK Mission Control 
• MSI Enterprise JRE Installer

1. Advanced Management Console (AMC)

Detection of AMC occurs by querying the system's process table for any process named AMCAgent.

Example logging (Linux)

Trace;          Scanning paths; se.snow.javascanner.command.CmdExecutor; executePlainCommand; Executing system command: [/bin/sh, -c, ps -eaf | grep AMCAgent | grep -v grep]

Example logging (Windows)

Trace;          Scanning paths; se.snow.javascanner.command.CmdExecutor; executePlainCommand; Executing system command: [cmd, /c, "wmic process where "name like '%AMCAgent.exe%'" get Name, ExecutablePath, CommandLine /format:list <NUL"]

2. Java Flight Recorder (JFR)

JFR is detected using jcmd queries:

• First, list running processes:

/usr/lib/jvm/jdk-11-oracle-x64/bin/jcmd -l

• Then, for each process found, run:

jcmd {process_id} VM.system_properties 
jcmd {process_id} VM.check_commercial_features

Example logging (Linux):

(jcmd -l)

Trace;          Scanning paths; se.snow.javascanner.command.CmdExecutor; executeCommand; Executing system command: [/bin/sh, -c, "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk-11-oracle-x64/bin/jcmd" -l]
Trace;          Scanning paths; se.snow.javascanner.command.CmdExecutor; executeCommand; Command output: 24868 /opt/snow/sijs.jar -c snowagent.config -data-dir /opt/snow/data/ 24891 jdk.jcmd/sun.tools.jcmd.JCmd -l 24207 /tmp/simplejavatimer.jar

(jcmd <PID> VM.system_properties)

Trace;          Scanning paths; se.snow.javascanner.command.CmdExecutor; executeCommand; Executing system command: [/bin/sh, -c, "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk-11-oracle-x64/bin/jcmd" 24207 VM.system_properties]
Trace;          Scanning paths; se.snow.javascanner.command.CmdExecutor; executeCommand; Command output: 24207: #Fri Jan 23 16:14:38 GMT 2026 java.runtime.name=Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment sun.boot.library.path=/opt/alt_java/jdk1.8.0/jre/lib/amd64 java.vm.version=25.0-b70 java.vm.vendor=Oracle Corporation java.vendor.url=http\://java.oracle.com/ path.separator=\: java.vm.name=Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM file.encoding.pkg=sun.io user.country=GB sun.java.launcher=SUN_STANDARD sun.os.patch.level=unknown java.vm.specification.name=Java Virtual Machine Specification user.dir=/home/rob java.runtime.version=1.8.0-b132 java.awt.graphicsenv=sun.awt.X11GraphicsEnvironment java.endorsed.dirs=/opt/alt_java/jdk1.8.0/jre/lib/endorsed os.arch=amd64 java.io.tmpdir=/tmp line.separator=\n java.vm.specification.vendor=Oracle Corporation os.name=Linux sun.jnu.encoding=UTF-8 java.library.path=/usr/java/packages/lib/amd64\:/usr/lib64\:/lib64\:/lib\:/usr/lib sun.awt.enableExtraMouseButtons=true java.specification.name=Java Platform API Specification java.class.version=52.0 sun.management.compiler=HotSpot 64-Bit Tiered Compilers os.version=4.18.0-553.60.1.el8_10.x86_64 user.home=/home/rob user.timezone=Europe/London java.awt.printerjob=sun.print.PSPrinterJob file.encoding=UTF-8 java.specification.version=1.8 user.name=rob java.class.path=/tmp/simplejavatimer.jar java.vm.specification.version=1.8 sun.java.command=/tmp/simplejavatimer.jar java.home=/opt/alt_java/jdk1.8.0/jre sun.arch.data.model=64 user.language=en java.specification.vendor=Oracle Corporation awt.toolkit=sun.awt.X11.XToolkit java.vm.info=mixed mode java.version=1.8.0 java.ext.dirs=/opt/alt_java/jdk1.8.0/jre/lib/ext\:/usr/java/packages/lib/ext sun.boot.class.path=/opt/alt_java/jdk1.8.0/jre/lib/resources.jar\:/opt/alt_java/jdk1.8.0/jre/lib/rt.jar\:/opt/alt_java/jdk1.8.0/jre/lib/sunrsasign.jar\:/opt/alt_java/jdk1.8.0/jre/lib/jsse.jar\:/opt/alt_java/jdk1.8.0/jre/lib/jce.jar\:/opt/alt_java/jdk1.8.0/jre/lib/charsets.jar\:/opt/alt_java/jdk1.8.0/jre/lib/jfr.jar\:/opt/alt_java/jdk1.8.0/jre/classes java.vendor=Oracle Corporation file.separator=/ java.vendor.url.bug=http\://bugreport.sun.com/bugreport/ sun.font.fontmanager=sun.awt.X11FontManager sun.io.unicode.encoding=UnicodeLittle sun.cpu.endian=little sun.desktop=gnome sun.cpu.isalist=

(jcmd <PID> VM.check_commercial_features)

Trace;          Scanning paths; se.snow.javascanner.command.CmdExecutor; executeCommand; Executing system command: [/bin/sh, -c, "/usr/lib/jvm/jdk-11-oracle-x64/bin/jcmd" 24207 VM.check_commercial_features]
Trace;          Scanning paths; se.snow.javascanner.command.CmdExecutor; executeCommand; Command output: 24207: Commercial Features are unlocked. Status of individual features:   Java Flight Recorder is enabled.

3. Java Usage Tracker

Detection involves checking for a correctly configured usagetracker.properties file, which must include at least one of:

• com.oracle.usagetracker.logToFile
• com.oracle.usagetracker.logToUDP

Locations include:

• Central location:
  • Unix/Linux: /etc/oracle/java/
  • MacOS: /Library/Application Support/Oracle/Java/
  • Windows: %ProgramFiles%\Java\conf\  (Win x64)  OR %ProgramFiles(x86)%\java\conf (Win x86)
• Per JRE instance:
  • $JRE_TOP/lib/management/ (for JRE releases prior to 9)
  • $JRE_TOP/lib/conf/management/ (for JRE releases 9 and after)
• Via system property: -Dcom.oracle.usagetracker.config.file (not supported by SIJS)

Example logging (Linux)

Trace;  Scanning paths; se.snow.javascanner.file.UsageTrackingFinder; isUsageTrackingEnabled; usagetracker.properties 
found: /etc/oracle/java/usagetracker.properties

Example logging (Windows)

Trace;          Scanning paths; se.snow.javascanner.file.UsageTrackingFinder; isUsageTrackingEnabled; usagetracker.properties found: C:\Program Files\Java\conf\usagetracker.properties

4. JDK Mission Control (JMC)

Mission Control is not a JVM runtime feature in newer Oracle JDKs, so it cannot be detected at scan time except in Java 8 releases 8u40–8u202, where it appeared as a commercial feature. Detection in those versions follows the same steps as JFR.

5. MSI Enterprise JRE installer

Detection occurs when any file matching *java*.msi is found during a scan. To exclude specific filenames, define them in the JavaMsiIgnore element with wildcards:

<JavaMsiIgnore>
  <Filename>filename-1.msi</Filename>
  <Filename>java*.msi</Filename>
</JavaMsiIgnore>