--- a/jdk/src/jdk.attach/aix/classes/sun/tools/attach/VirtualMachineImpl.java	Tue Mar 17 16:04:26 2015 -0700
+++ b/jdk/src/jdk.attach/aix/classes/sun/tools/attach/VirtualMachineImpl.java	Wed Mar 18 09:13:11 2015 +0100
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2008, 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
- * Copyright 2013 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2008, 2015, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright 2015 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
  *
  * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
@@ -25,9 +25,11 @@
  */
 package sun.tools.attach;
 
+import com.sun.tools.attach.AttachOperationFailedException;
 import com.sun.tools.attach.AgentLoadException;
 import com.sun.tools.attach.AttachNotSupportedException;
 import com.sun.tools.attach.spi.AttachProvider;
+
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.File;
@@ -189,6 +191,8 @@
         }
 
         if (completionStatus != 0) {
+            // read from the stream and use that as the error message
+            String message = readErrorMessage(sis);
             sis.close();
 
             // In the event of a protocol mismatch then the target VM
@@ -203,7 +207,11 @@
             if (cmd.equals("load")) {
                 throw new AgentLoadException("Failed to load agent library");
             } else {
-                throw new IOException("Command failed in target VM");
+                if (message == null) {
+                    throw new AttachOperationFailedException("Command failed in target VM");
+                } else {
+                    throw new AttachOperationFailedException(message);
+                }
             }
         }