Adding the experimental option -H:Preserve

The `-H:Preserve` flag preserves all metadata from module, class-path entry, or a package in the image. This will allow users to more easily support third-party libraries and get more user-friendly experience with Native Image.
The flag can be used in following ways:

1. -H:Preserve=all preserves all elements from the JDK and from the classpath
2. -H:Preserve=module=<module> preserves all elements from a given module
3. -H:Preserve=module=ALL-UNNAMED preserves all elements from the classpath
4. -H:Preserve=package=<package> preserves all elements from a given package
5. -H:Preserve=package=<package-wildcard> preserves all elements from packages captured by the wildcard. For example, -H:Preserve=package=my.app.*.
6. -H:Preserve=path=<cp-entry> preserves all elements from a given class-path entry
7. A combination of any of the previous uses, for example, -H:Preserve=path=<cp-entry>,module<module>

Author: vjovanov

sdk/src/org.graalvm.nativeimage/src/org/graalvm/nativeimage/hosted/RuntimeReflection.java

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2017, 2023, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2017, 2025, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
  *
  * The Universal Permissive License (UPL), Version 1.0
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ public static void registerAllFields(Class<?> declaringClass) {
      * @since 23.0
      */
     public static void registerAllDeclaredFields(Class<?> declaringClass) {
-        ImageSingletons.lookup(RuntimeReflectionSupport.class).registerAllDeclaredFieldsQuery(ConfigurationCondition.alwaysTrue(), declaringClass);
+        ImageSingletons.lookup(RuntimeReflectionSupport.class).registerAllDeclaredFields(ConfigurationCondition.alwaysTrue(), declaringClass);
     }
 
     /**

sdk/src/org.graalvm.nativeimage/src/org/graalvm/nativeimage/impl/RuntimeReflectionSupport.java

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2017, 2024, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2017, 2025, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
  *
  * The Universal Permissive License (UPL), Version 1.0
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ public interface RuntimeReflectionSupport extends ReflectionRegistry {
 
     void registerAllFieldsQuery(ConfigurationCondition condition, Class<?> clazz);
 
-    void registerAllDeclaredFieldsQuery(ConfigurationCondition condition, Class<?> clazz);
+    void registerAllDeclaredFields(ConfigurationCondition condition, Class<?> clazz);
 
     void registerAllConstructorsQuery(ConfigurationCondition condition, boolean queriedOnly, Class<?> clazz);
 

substratevm/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -4,11 +4,12 @@ This changelog summarizes major changes to GraalVM Native Image.
 
 ## GraalVM for JDK 25
 * (GR-58668) Enabled [Whole-Program Sparse Conditional Constant Propagation (WP-SCCP)](https://github.com/oracle/graal/pull/9821) by default, improving the precision of points-to analysis in Native Image. This optimization enhances static analysis accuracy and scalability, potentially reducing the size of the final native binary.
-* (GR-59313) Deprecated class-level metadata extraction using `native-image-inspect` and removed option `DumpMethodsData`. Use class-level SBOMs instead by passing `--enable-sbom=class-level,export` to the `native-image` builder. The default value of option `IncludeMethodData` was changed to `false`.  
+* (GR-59313) Deprecated class-level metadata extraction using `native-image-inspect` and removed option `DumpMethodsData`. Use class-level SBOMs instead by passing `--enable-sbom=class-level,export` to the `native-image` builder. The default value of option `IncludeMethodData` was changed to `false`.
 * (GR-52400) The build process now uses 85% of system memory in containers and CI environments. Otherwise, it tries to only use available memory. If less than 8GB of memory are available, it falls back to 85% of system memory. The reason for the selected memory limit is now also shown in the build resources section of the build output.
 * (GR-59864) Added JVM version check to the Native Image agent. The agent will abort execution if the JVM major version does not match the version it was built with, and warn if the full JVM version is different.
 * (GR-59135) Verify if hosted options passed to `native-image` exist prior to starting the builder. Provide suggestions how to fix unknown options early on.
 * (GR-61492) The experimental JDWP option is now present in standard GraalVM builds.
+* (GR-54953) Add the experimental option `-H:Preserve` that makes the program work correctly without providing reachability metadata. Correctness is achieved by preserving all classes, resources, and reflection metadata in the image. Usage: `-H:Preserve=[all|none|module=<module>|package=<package>|package=<package-wildcard>|path=<cp-entry>][,...]`.
 
 ## GraalVM for JDK 24 (Internal Version 24.2.0)
 * (GR-59717) Added `DuringSetupAccess.registerObjectReachabilityHandler` to allow registering a callback that is executed when an object of a specified type is marked as reachable during heap scanning.

substratevm/src/com.oracle.graal.pointsto/src/com/oracle/graal/pointsto/ClassInclusionPolicy.java

@@ -56,12 +56,28 @@ public void setBigBang(BigBang bb) {
         this.bb = bb;
     }
 
+    public static boolean isClassIncludedBase(Class<?> cls) {
+        if (Feature.class.isAssignableFrom(cls)) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        if (AnnotationAccess.isAnnotationPresent(cls, TargetClass.class)) {
+            return false;
+        }
+        try {
+            Class<?> enclosingClass = cls.getEnclosingClass();
+            return enclosingClass == null || isClassIncludedBase(enclosingClass);
+        } catch (LinkageError e) {
+            return true;
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Determine if the given class needs to be included in the image according to the policy.
      */
     public boolean isClassIncluded(Class<?> cls) {
         Class<?> enclosingClass = cls.getEnclosingClass();
-        return !Feature.class.isAssignableFrom(cls) && !AnnotationAccess.isAnnotationPresent(cls, TargetClass.class) && (enclosingClass == null || isClassIncluded(enclosingClass));
+        return isClassIncludedBase(cls) && (enclosingClass == null || isClassIncluded(enclosingClass));
     }
 
     /**

substratevm/src/com.oracle.graal.pointsto/src/com/oracle/graal/pointsto/PointsToAnalysis.java

@@ -666,7 +666,7 @@ public void onTypeInstantiated(AnalysisType type) {
         /* Register the type as instantiated with all its super types. */
 
         assert type.isInstantiated() : type;
-        AnalysisError.guarantee(type.isArray() || (type.isInstanceClass() && !type.isAbstract()));
+        AnalysisError.guarantee(type.isArray() || (type.isInstanceClass() && !type.isAbstract()), "Type %s must be either an array, or a non abstract instance class", type.getName());
 
         TypeState typeState = TypeState.forExactType(this, type, true);
         TypeState typeStateNonNull = TypeState.forExactType(this, type, false);

substratevm/src/com.oracle.svm.core/src/com/oracle/svm/core/SubstrateOptions.java

@@ -1313,8 +1313,8 @@ public enum ReportingMode {
     @Option(help = "Deprecated, option no longer has any effect.", deprecated = true, deprecationMessage = "It no longer has any effect, and no replacement is available")//
     public static final HostedOptionKey<Boolean> UseOldMethodHandleIntrinsics = new HostedOptionKey<>(false);
 
-    @Option(help = "Include all classes, methods, fields, and resources from the class path", type = OptionType.Debug) //
-    public static final HostedOptionKey<Boolean> IncludeAllFromClassPath = new HostedOptionKey<>(false);
+    @Option(help = "file:doc-files/PreserveHelp.txt")//
+    public static final HostedOptionKey<AccumulatingLocatableMultiOptionValue.Strings> Preserve = new HostedOptionKey<>(AccumulatingLocatableMultiOptionValue.Strings.build());
 
     @Option(help = "Force include include all public types and methods that can be reached using normal Java access rules.")//
     public static final HostedOptionKey<Boolean> UseBaseLayerInclusionPolicy = new HostedOptionKey<>(false);

substratevm/src/com.oracle.svm.core/src/com/oracle/svm/core/doc-files/PreserveHelp.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+Makes the program work correctly without providing reachability metadata.
+This is achieved by preserving all class elements, resources, and reflection metadata in the image.
+Usage of this options can cause a large increase in image size, and a small decrease in overall performance.
+
+Usage: -H:Preserve=[all|none|module=<module>|package=<package>|package=<package-wildcard>|path=<cp-entry>][,...]
+
+The flag can be used in following ways:
+1. -H:Preserve=all preserves all elements from the JDK, the classpath, and the module path
+2. -H:Preserve=module=<module> preserves all elements from a given module
+3. -H:Preserve=module=ALL-UNNAMED preserves all elements from all class-path entries
+4. -H:Preserve=package=<package> preserves all elements from a given package
+5. -H:Preserve=package=<package-wildcard> preserves all elements from packages captured by the wildcard. For example, -H:Preserve=package=my.app.*
+6. -H:Preserve=path=<cp-entry> preserves all elements from a given class-path entry
+7. -H:Preserve=none disables all previous selections for preservation
+8. A comma-separated list of the previous cases. For example, -H:Preserve=path=<cp-entry>,module=<module>,package=<package>
+
+-H:Preserve is only allowed on the native-image command line and cannot be embedded in the native-image.properties files.

substratevm/src/com.oracle.svm.core/src/com/oracle/svm/core/hub/ClassForNameSupport.java

@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 
 import static com.oracle.svm.core.MissingRegistrationUtils.throwMissingRegistrationErrors;
 
+import java.lang.reflect.Modifier;
 import java.util.EnumSet;
 import java.util.Objects;
 
@@ -159,7 +160,8 @@ public void registerNegativeQuery(ConfigurationCondition condition, String class
 
     @Platforms(Platform.HOSTED_ONLY.class)
     public void registerUnsafeAllocated(ConfigurationCondition condition, Class<?> clazz) {
-        if (!clazz.isArray()) {
+        if (!clazz.isArray() && !clazz.isInterface() && !Modifier.isAbstract(clazz.getModifiers())) {
+            /* Otherwise, UNSAFE.allocateInstance results in InstantiationException */
             var conditionSet = unsafeInstantiatedClasses.putIfAbsent(clazz, RuntimeConditionSet.createHosted(condition));
             if (conditionSet != null) {
                 conditionSet.addCondition(condition);

substratevm/src/com.oracle.svm.driver/src/com/oracle/svm/driver/DefaultOptionHandler.java

@@ -34,9 +34,9 @@
 import com.oracle.svm.core.option.OptionOrigin;
 import com.oracle.svm.core.option.OptionUtils;
 import com.oracle.svm.driver.NativeImage.ArgumentQueue;
-import com.oracle.svm.hosted.imagelayer.LayerOptionsSupport.ExtendedOption;
-import com.oracle.svm.hosted.imagelayer.LayerOptionsSupport.LayerOption;
-import com.oracle.svm.hosted.imagelayer.LayerOptionsSupport.PackageOptionValue;
+import com.oracle.svm.hosted.driver.IncludeOptionsSupport;
+import com.oracle.svm.hosted.driver.IncludeOptionsSupport.ExtendedOption;
+import com.oracle.svm.hosted.driver.LayerOptionsSupport.LayerOption;
 import com.oracle.svm.util.LogUtils;
 
 class DefaultOptionHandler extends NativeImage.OptionHandler<NativeImage> {
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ public boolean consume(ArgumentQueue args) {
                 List<String> layerCreateValue = OptionUtils.resolveOptionValuesRedirection(SubstrateOptions.LayerCreate, rawLayerCreateValue, OptionOrigin.from(args.argumentOrigin));
                 LayerOption layerOption = LayerOption.parse(layerCreateValue);
                 for (ExtendedOption option : layerOption.extendedOptions()) {
-                    var packageOptionValue = PackageOptionValue.from(option);
+                    var packageOptionValue = IncludeOptionsSupport.PackageOptionValue.from(option);
                     if (packageOptionValue == null) {
                         continue;
                     }

substratevm/src/com.oracle.svm.hosted/src/com/oracle/svm/hosted/ClassLoaderSupportImpl.java

@@ -116,7 +116,8 @@ public void collectResources(ResourceCollector resourceCollector) {
 
         /* Collect remaining resources from classpath */
         classLoaderSupport.classpath().stream().parallel().forEach(classpathFile -> {
-            boolean includeCurrent = classLoaderSupport.getJavaPathsToInclude().contains(classpathFile) || classLoaderSupport.includeAllFromClassPath();
+            boolean includeCurrent = classLoaderSupport.getJavaPathsToInclude().contains(classpathFile) ||
+                            classLoaderSupport.getClassPathEntriesToPreserve().contains(classpathFile) || classLoaderSupport.preserveAll();
             try {
                 if (Files.isDirectory(classpathFile)) {
                     scanDirectory(classpathFile, resourceCollector, includeCurrent);
@@ -132,7 +133,8 @@ public void collectResources(ResourceCollector resourceCollector) {
     private void collectResourceFromModule(ResourceCollector resourceCollector, ResourceLookupInfo info) {
         ModuleReference moduleReference = info.resolvedModule.reference();
         try (ModuleReader moduleReader = moduleReference.open()) {
-            boolean includeCurrent = classLoaderSupport.getJavaModuleNamesToInclude().contains(info.resolvedModule().name());
+            boolean includeCurrent = classLoaderSupport.getJavaModuleNamesToInclude().contains(info.resolvedModule().name()) ||
+                            classLoaderSupport.getJavaModuleNamesToPreserve().contains(info.resolvedModule().name());
             List<ConditionalResource> resourcesFound = new ArrayList<>();
             moduleReader.list().forEach(resourceName -> {
                 var conditionsWithOrigins = shouldIncludeEntry(info.module, resourceCollector, resourceName, moduleReference.location().orElse(null), includeCurrent);