How much memory does DeskNow use? Can I change this?

DeskNow runs in a Java Virtual Machine process in your computer. This means that the virtual machine allocates a block of RAM up to a fixed size, and then administers memory allocation within that block.

The maximum size of the block is by default 128 Mb. This means that the DeskNow process will occupy at maximum slightly more than that (135-140 Mb, counting for the JVM overhead).

You may see the memory usage of the process growing over time, especially after start. This does not mean that the process is leaking memory. A standard JVM cannot leak memory beyond the fixed upper limit (128Mb). This simply means that the JVM initially decides to allocate more memory instead of cleaning up unused space in the block.

A maximum block size of 128Mb is ideal in most situations. On very resource limited servers, you may want to reduce this (we do not recommend anything below 64Mb). On very large servers you may want to take advantage of the spare RAM (make sure to not go overboard either - an upper limit to the block size of 512Mb is typycally very abundant even for heavy load).

How to change the maximum memory usage of DeskNow

DeskNow running as Windows Service (NB DeskNow 2.6.x and later only)

run the following commands in the Command Prompt:

cd "C:Program FilesDeskNowbin"

desknow //US//DeskNow --JvmMx 256

this will increase the limit to 256 Mb. You can also decrease the limit using a lower number.

restart DeskNow

DeskNow running in Windows console

Right-click on the "Start DeskNow in console' icon, then select "Properties". In the "Target" field, change the -Xmx128m into something like -Xmx512m

restart DeskNow

DeskNow running on Linux/Unix

edit /etc/desknow.conf and change this line:

JAVA_OPTS="-Xmx256m"

restart DeskNow