Can't start the Java Virtual Machine - memory problem?

[the182guy]

Hi all,

Basically I can't start the JVM on a remote Debian server. I am using SSH to issue the commands, there is no desktop UI. I am fairly sure this is a dedicated server rather than a VPS (not 100% though).

The error I'm getting is:

Error occurred during initialization of VM
Could not reserve enough space for object heap

When I check memory usage, there seems to be plenty available, but no swap:

             total       used       free     shared    buffers     cached
Mem:          3937        248       3688          0          0          0
-/+ buffers/cache:        248       3688
Swap:            0          0          0

What I'm actually doing is trying to run "Liferay Portal" which is an application that runs under Tomcat. When I execute the startup.sh the above error can be found in the log.

Any help is appreciated, thanks!

[iwanabeguru]

i think this is mostly a free space problem. Is there enough free space on your hard disk?