[[heap-dump-path]]
=== JVM heap dump path

The <<rpm,RPM>> and <<deb,Debian>> package distributions default to configuring
the JVM to dump the heap on out of memory exceptions to
`/var/lib/elasticsearch`. If this path is not suitable for storing heap dumps,
you should modify the entry `-XX:HeapDumpPath=/var/lib/elasticsearch` in
<<jvm-options,`jvm.options`>> to an alternate path.  If you specify a filename
instead of a directory, the JVM will repeatedly use the same file; this is one
mechanism for preventing heap dumps from accumulating in the heap dump path.
Alternatively, you can configure a scheduled task via your OS to remove heap
dumps that are older than a configured age.

Note that the archive distributions do not configure the heap dump path by
default. Instead, the JVM will default to dumping to the working directory for
the Elasticsearch process. If you wish to configure a heap dump path, you should
modify the entry `#-XX:HeapDumpPath=/heap/dump/path` in
<<jvm-options,`jvm.options`>> to remove the comment marker `#` and to specify an
actual path.