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

By default, {es} configures the JVM to dump the heap on out of
memory exceptions to the default data directory. On <<rpm,RPM>> and
<<deb,Debian>> packages, the data directory is `/var/lib/elasticsearch`. On
<<targz,Linux and MacOS>> and <<zip-windows,Windows>> distributions,
the `data` directory is located under the root of the {es} installation.

If this path is not suitable for receiving heap dumps, modify the
`-XX:HeapDumpPath=...` entry in <<jvm-options,`jvm.options`>>:

* If you specify a directory, the JVM will generate a filename for the heap
dump based on the PID of the running instance.
* If you specify a fixed filename instead of a directory, the file must
not exist when the JVM needs to perform a heap dump on an out of memory
exception. Otherwise, the heap dump will fail.