A bootable JAR for WildFly 20
Introduction
Now that WildFly supports Eclipse Microprofile this seems the appropriate time to introduce a way to package a WildFly application as a bootable JAR (also known as a "fat JAR"). Bootable JAR packaging is well suited for microservices to be run on cloud and bare metal.
A bootable JAR allows us to package both the container and the application in a single JAR file and execute it with a simple
command such as java -jar myapp-wildfly.jar
Packaging the server and your app in a JAR makes sense when you can control the set of server features you want to see present. Packaging a complete WildFly server (250+MB) for a simple microservice would defeat the purpose of the bootable JAR. Galleon technology server trimming capabilities have made a bootable JAR for WildFly a valid solution.
WildFly defines a set of Galleon layers (with new Galleon layers added nearly for each major WildFly releases) that you can combine in order to tailor the server to your application needs. The tooling to build a bootable JAR relies on WildFly Galleon layers to provision the tailored server that is bundled in the JAR file.
WildFly JAR Maven plugin
The project hosted in wildfly-extras/wildfly-jar-maven-plugin defines a new Maven plugin allowing you to build a bootable JAR for WildFly (starting with version 20.0.0.Final). Although currently incubating, the project has gained enough maturity that you can start using it. Obviously, things could still evolve in the near future. It is worth noting that the project has already entered the WildFly feature process in order to become a fully qualified WildFly tooling. The new feature proposal can be found here.
A WildFly bootable JAR contains both the server and your packaged application (a JAR, an EAR or a WAR). Once the application has been built and packaged as a bootable JAR, you can start the application using the following command:
java -jar target/myapp-wildfly.jarA WildFly bootable JAR behaves in a way that is similar to a WildFly server unzipped on the file system:
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It supports the main standalone server startup arguments.
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It can be administered/monitored using the WildFly CLI.
Getting started
In order to help you start using the org.wildfly.plugins:wildfly-jar-maven-plugin
To retrieve the examples:
git clone -b 2.0.0.Alpha4 http://github.com/wildfly-extras/wildfly-jar-maven-plugin
cd wildfly-jar-maven-plugin/examplesA good example to start with is the jaxrs example. To build and run the jaxrs example:
cd jaxrs
mvn package
java -jar target/jaxrs-wildfly.jarThe plugin documentation (currently an index.html
Be sure to read the examples/README that contains required information to run the examples in an OpenShift context.
Main features
The main features are covered in detail in the plugin documentation. Here is a summary of what the Maven plugin and created bootable JAR offer.
Maven Plugin
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Supports WildFly Galleon layers to create a use-case tailored bootable JAR.
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Supports WildFly CLI script execution to fine tune your server during build (configure security, logging, …).
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Supports the ability to package extra content inside the bootable JAR (eg: a keystore)
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Supports the creation of a "hollow" JAR (a JAR containing only the WildFly server, the application to deploy being provided at runtime).
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Offers a "dev" mode to speed-up development by skipping the bootable JAR re-build.
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Offers goals to start and shutdown a bootable JAR.
Created bootable JAR
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Supports the main WildFly standalone server startup arguments.
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Can be built and deployed in OpenShift using the
registry.access.redhat.com/openjdk/openjdk-11-rhel7
To conclude
We hope that you will have an interest in using this new way to build and run your WildFly applications. Feel free to give us feedback, this will help improve tooling and bootable JAR execution.
Thank-you.
