The JRE images are purging[1] everything but the `jre/bin` directory. In order to enable flight recorder[2] on demand[3], `jcmd` should also be persisted. [1] https://github.com/anapsix/docker-alpine-java/blob/8u172b11/8/172b11/server-jre/standard/Dockerfile#L40 [2] https://github.com/anapsix/docker-alpine-java/pull/6 [3] https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/technotes/guides/troubleshoot/tooldescr006.html