Deploying Java Applications to WildFly/JBoss EAP

WildFly, formerly JBoss Application Server, is a free application runtime used to run Java web applications. Built on WildFly, JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP) is a paid enterprise application runtime that includes open source implementations of Jakarta EE functionality (e.g., servlets, Java Server Pages (JSP), and more). Both WildFly and JBoss EAP are commonly referred to as JBoss.

As with other Java application servers, the target output of your Java Web application must generate a WAR file. Most Java IDEs include templates (e.g., Maven archetypes) that create the project structure required to build and deploy a web application. JBoss refers to these WAR files as modules.

Overview & Concepts

WildFly can be run in standalone or domain mode. The features are the same for both; the only difference is server management.

• On Windows, WildFly can run as a console application and is controllable by batch scripts (e.g., %JBOSS_HOME%\bin\standalone.bat or %JBOSS_HOME%\bin\domain.bat) or can be hosted as a Windows Service and controlled by the Windows Service Control Manager
• On Linux, it can run as a console application and is controllable by shell scripts (e.g., $JBOSS_HOME/bin/standalone.sh or $JBOSS_HOME/bin/domain.sh) or configured on a per-distro basis to run as a daemon where starting/stopping it depends on the init script from the package.

You can customize what modules and configurations are used by the server by modifying the configuration files found in %JBOSS_HOME%\standalone\configuration or %JBOSS_HOME%\domain\configuration. You can also pass a configuration file as a parameter to the startup script:

• Standalone: --server-config
• Domain: --domain-config

WildFly includes a web-based management console, but can also be managed from the command line.

Deploying Java Web Applications to WildFly

To deploy applications to WildFly, you typically use the Web Admin Console or the Admin Console CLI. To deploy an application using CLI, you must first connect to the WildFly server and run the deploy command:

%JBOSS_HOME%\bin\jboss-cli.bat --connect 192.168.0.100 --commands="deploy ProfitCalcJava.ear"

You also have the option to specify a server list with the --server-groups parameter.

Automation with BuildMaster

Automating WildFly with BuildMaster follows the same pattern as the manual process.

Example OtterScript plan:

set $JBOSS_HOME = $EnvironmentVariable(JBOSS_HOME);

# the ProfitCalcJava artifact contains  org.inedo.profitcalc-1.2.3.war
Deploy-Artifact ProfitCalcJava
(
    To: $WorkingDirectory
);

Exec
{
    Path: PathCombine($JBOSS_HOME, bin, jboss-cli.sh)
    Arguments: --connect 192.168.0.100 --commands="deploy org.inedo.profitcalc-1.2.3.war"
}; # .bat on Windows