Openjdk Java 17 JMX without authentication still looking for password file

Question

I cannot figure out how to start java with JMX without authentication. It still fails because it cannot find password file:

> java -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.port=7091 ‑Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.authenticate=false -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.ssl=false -version

Error: Password file not found: /usr/lib/jvm/java-17-openjdk-amd64/conf/management/jmxremote.password

jdk.internal.agent.AgentConfigurationError
    at jdk.management.agent/sun.management.jmxremote.ConnectorBootstrap.checkPasswordFile(ConnectorBootstrap.java:595)
    at jdk.management.agent/sun.management.jmxremote.ConnectorBootstrap.startRemoteConnectorServer(ConnectorBootstrap.java:437)
    at jdk.management.agent/jdk.internal.agent.Agent.startAgent(Agent.java:447)
    at jdk.management.agent/jdk.internal.agent.Agent.startAgent(Agent.java:599)

> java -version
openjdk version "17.0.15" 2025-04-15
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 17.0.15+6-Ubuntu-0ubuntu122.04)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 17.0.15+6-Ubuntu-0ubuntu122.04, mixed mode, sharing)

There are no environment vars like JAVA_OPTIONS etc set.

Is unauthenticated access even still possible?

Robert · Accepted Answer · 2025-08-06 11:59:45Z

5

One of the characters in your command-line is not the character - you expect but an unicode char which will probably be ignored by the Java interpreter, according to hexed. It it is the one that looks like a dash/minus character one before Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.authenticate:

java -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.port=7091 ‑Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.authenticate=false ...
                                              ^
              this character is not a dash/minus, but a unicode character

edited Aug 6 at 11:59

Robert

43.4k18 gold badges113 silver badges180 bronze badges

answered Aug 6 at 8:34

Raul Lapeira Herrero

1,0467 silver badges25 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

4 Comments

alespour Aug 6 at 13:46

Holy cow, what a stupid copy &paste error. Thank you so much!

Raul Lapeira Herrero Aug 7 at 10:30

Happens all the time, usually related with people copy pasting on enriched HTML web editors when they make webpages and blogs. Thanks for accepting the answer

Robert Aug 6 at 19:36

I just noticed that some web browsers show this character as minus others as something similar to an short underscore. So for some users it is obvious and other can't distinguish it from a minus sign.

Raul Lapeira Herrero Aug 7 at 10:30

I think it is because of the used charset, which AFAIK is a combo os OS settings and browser

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Openjdk Java 17 JMX without authentication still looking for password file

1 Answer 1

4 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

4 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related