This is example code for how to "correctly" start the JVM via JNI. I had an issue where -Xss and -XX:NativeMemoryTracking=<detail|summary> wasn't working. Digging through the launcher code and asking Oracle led to the fix which is what this code outlines.
Basically you need to scan for these 2 options in the command line, and if you see them set up things before you start the jvm so it can use them. You also must call the jvm functions via function pointers from loading the library dynamically and not from linking with it.
https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/technotes/guides/vm/nmt-8.html http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/technotes/guides/jni/spec/invocation.html