Java Remote Debugging

Start the application and tell the JVM that it will be debugged remotely
For this, add the following options to the JVM args for remote debugging:

java -Xdebug -Xrunjdwp:transport=dt_socket,address=8998,server=y,suspend=n

And then just start IDE's remote debugger to listening on port 8998

transport=dt_socket tells that the debugger connections will be made through a socket while the address=8998 parameter informs it that the port number will be 8998. For suspend=y , the JVM starts in suspended mode and stays suspended until a debugger is attached to it.

Configuring Eclipse to Debug a Remotely Running Application

• Start Eclipse
• Navigate to Run -> Debug Configurations
• Create a new Remote Java Application configuration
• Configure the remote application's details
• click Apply

See Also
JPDA
Debugging J2EE Applications
Debugging with the Eclipse Platform