--- a/mxtool/mx.py	Tue Sep 02 10:30:28 2014 +0200
+++ b/mxtool/mx.py	Tue Sep 02 14:45:51 2014 +0200
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
 Full documentation can be found at https://wiki.openjdk.java.net/display/Graal/The+mx+Tool
 """
 
-import sys, os, errno, time, subprocess, shlex, types, StringIO, zipfile, signal, xml.sax.saxutils, tempfile, fnmatch
+import sys, os, errno, time, subprocess, shlex, types, StringIO, zipfile, signal, xml.sax.saxutils, tempfile, fnmatch, platform
 import multiprocessing
 import textwrap
 import socket
@@ -1207,6 +1207,22 @@
     else:
         abort('Unknown operating system ' + sys.platform)
 
+def get_arch():
+    machine = platform.uname()[4]
+    if machine in ['amd64', 'AMD64', 'x86_64', 'i86pc']:
+        return 'amd64'
+    if machine in ['sun4v', 'sun4u']:
+        return 'sparcv9'
+    if machine == 'i386' and get_os() == 'darwin':
+        try:
+            # Support for Snow Leopard and earlier version of MacOSX
+            if subprocess.check_output(['sysctl', '-n', 'hw.cpu64bit_capable']).strip() == '1':
+                return 'amd64'
+        except OSError:
+            # sysctl is not available
+            pass
+    abort('unknown or unsupported architecture: os=' + get_os() + ', machine=' + machine)
+
 def _loadSuite(mxDir, primary=False):
     """
     Load a suite from 'mxDir'.