This session was a BOF and JavaOne that explores the challenges faced and eventually overcome in extending the range of platforms directly supported by OpenJDK to include AIX and Linux PowerPC. Learn how the OpenJDK community, including new members from SAP and IBM, are working together to deliver new OpenJDK platforms. Hear about the technology challenges faced when porting Oracle’s HotSpot to a new processor architecture, and see how the changes required to support the OpenJDK on AIX and Linux PPC have increased portability for follow-on porting projects. Whether you are just interested in the technical challenges faced or are thinking about porting OpenJDK to a new operating system , this BOF will educate you on what it takes to bootstrap a new platform with OpenJDK.

1. Oct 2012
BOF8034
All Power to OpenJDK: Porting the
JDK to PowerPC and AIX
© 2012 IBM Corporation
Wednesday, 3 October 12

2. Important Disclaimers
 THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PRESENTATION IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL
PURPOSES ONLY.
 WHILST EFFORTS WERE MADE TO VERIFY THE COMPLETENESS AND ACCURACY OF THE
INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PRESENTATION, IT IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT
WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED.
 ALL PERFORMANCE DATA INCLUDED IN THIS PRESENTATION HAVE BEEN GATHERED IN A
CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT. YOUR OWN TEST RESULTS MAY VARY BASED ON HARDWARE,
SOFTWARE OR INFRASTRUCTURE DIFFERENCES.
 ALL DATA INCLUDED IN THIS PRESENTATION ARE MEANT TO BE USED ONLY AS A GUIDE.
 IN ADDITION, THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PRESENTATION IS BASED ON IBM’S
CURRENT PRODUCT PLANS AND STRATEGY, WHICH ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE BY IBM,
WITHOUT NOTICE.
 IBM AND ITS AFFILIATED COMPANIES SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGES
ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF, OR OTHERWISE RELATED TO, THIS PRESENTATION OR ANY
OTHER DOCUMENTATION.
 NOTHING CONTAINED IN THIS PRESENTATION IS INTENDED TO, OR SHALL HAVE THE EFFECT
OF:
 - CREATING ANY WARRANT OR REPRESENTATION FROM IBM, ITS AFFILIATED COMPANIES OR
ITS OR THEIR SUPPLIERS AND/OR LICENSORS
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3. About us
Steve Poole - IBM
Neil Richards - IBM
Volker Simmonis - SAP
3 © 2011 IBM Corporation
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4. Introduction
• A little history
• Starting an OpenJDK porting Project
• Porting Hotspot to PowerPC
• Current status
• Next steps
• How to get involved with the PowerPC/AIX project
4 © 2011 IBM Corporation
Wednesday, 3 October 12

5. PowerPC/AIX Porting Project - a little history
• IBM released the first Java on AIX way back in 1995
– Since then it has always been one of the fastest Java
implementations around
– IBM’s version is based on the same Java SE codebase as used
by Oracle but with a different JVM : J9
– The J9 JVM is also used in IBM’s Linux PowerPC offering as well
• SAP’s business requirements drove them to tackle the porting of
Hotspot to multiple architectures such as Itanium, PA-RISC and
PowerPC
• With the start of the OpenJDK initiative it was just a matter of time
before both companies saw the benefits of a joint project to port
OpenJDK to PowerPC and AIX
September 5, 2012 © 2012 IBM Corporation
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6. Initial Goals of the Project
■ Provide an interpreter-only version of HotSpot based on the CPP
interpreter on Linux/PPC64
■ Provide a full set of tools and class libraries for AIX and Linux on
PPC32/64
■ Provide a complete certifiable JDK 7 on Linux/PPC64
■ Provide a complete certifiable JDK 7 on AIX/PPC64
■ Provide an implementation of the C2 server compiler on both AIX/
PPC64 and Linux/PPC64
■ Integrate the new ports upstream into the main JDK8/9 branches
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7. Starting an OpenJDK Porting Project
• 3 Simple (or not) steps
– Agreement and Project sponsorship
– Creating the “Proposal”
– The vote
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8. Porting Hotspot to PowerPC - SAP perspective
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9. Current Status
• July 2012 - 1st “milestone” using Java 7 codebase
– Interpreter only version of Hotspot running on Linux/
PPC64
• Runs JVM98 Benchmark
• Able to bootstrap itself
– AIX codebase builds using IBM SDK as boot compiler
• Builds and build logs available here [1]
• [1] http://cr.openjdk.java.net/~simonis/ppc-aix-port/index.html
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10. Next steps
– Make Hotspot Interpreter work on AIX
– C2 Server JIT compiler
– Work with CVMI project to clarify the JVM/Class Library
boundary
– Get Java 8 version started
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11. How to get involved in the PowerPC/AIX Porting Project
• Show up on the mailing list
– ppc-aix-port-dev@mail.openjdk.java.net
• Help us with
– Porting
– Testing
– Building
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12. Thank you
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