The JBoss Integration Plug-in for IntelliJ
IDEA
Douglas Lyon, Fairfield University, Fairfield CT, U.S.A.
Martin Fuhrer, President of Furher Engineering AG, Biel, Switzerland
Thomas Rowland, Pitney Bowes, Shelton CT, U.S.A.
|
 |
COLUMN
PDF Version |
Take three months to prepare
your machines and three months
to complete your siege engineering.
– Sun Tzu
Abstract
This paper is the final in a series of papers that describe a new
plug-in for enabling the integration of the IntelliJ IDEA IDE with
the JBoss application server. The JBoss plug-in was first conceived
and implemented by Martin Fuhrer at Fuhrer Engineering.
Parts 11, 22 and 33 discussed how to download and install the plug-in,
how to create a project containing a web module, a session bean,
a servlet, and an application module for deployment to JBoss.
This paper discusses deployment and execution, showing how to create
a remote deployment method using SSH Transfer, and a run configuration
for both local and remote deployment.
1 PREPARING FOR DEPLOYMENT
Without an automated environment, deployment is often a painful process
resulting in developers spending a great deal of time performing application
deployment tasks. Most organizations strive for better management of
this critical phase in the development cycle. By automating these tasks,
a team can execute deployment in less time with more repeatable, predictable
and measurable results. The IntelliJ IDEA provides built-in deployment
support for J2EE applications that we will use via the JBoss plug-in.
This integrated deployment environment will allow us to connect to
the JBoss application server and copy the application module (the EAR
file) to it automatically.
For remote deployment, before deploying the application to the JBoss
server, you have to create a deployment method. Local deployment is
the simplest and does not require any additional setup, but in most
environments, the application server resides on a remote machine. There
are several remote deployment methods available. The following deployment
methods are available in IntelliJ IDEA via the JBoss plug-in:
Local
This deployment method is used when the JBoss server is running on
the developer’s machine. No additional setup is required.
SSH Transfer
Provides a secure connection between the local client and a remote
host. To make the application accessible by the JBoss server, the EAR
file is transferred to the remote machine using an SSH (Secure Shell
Client) connection prior to deployment. The SSH connection is using
SSH2 with either password or public key authentication. You have to
specify a temporary directory on the remote machine where the EAR file
is temporarily stored, e.g. /tmp.
FTP Transfer
This works exactly like the SSH transfer deployment method, but an
FTP connection is used to transfer the EAR file instead of an SSH connection.
The FTP connection may be either active or passive.
Shared Filesystem
This may be used when both the local developer’s machine and
the remote deployment machine have a common filesystem, e.g. through
NFS, Samba, or whatever. You have to specify a local path and a remote
path, both pointing to the same shared directory.
HTTP Callback
With HTTP callback the EAR file isn't transferred to the remote machine,
but the JBoss server is told to open an HTTP connection back to the
developer’s machine and load the EAR file from there. This implies
that the developer’s machine has to be visible by the remote
machine, i.e. the developer’s machine may not be connected to
the network through DHCP.
To create a new SSH Transfer deployment method select the File:Settings menu item to bring up the Settings dialog box. Select the JBoss
Plugin control device, as shown in Figure 1.1.
Figure 1.1 The JBoss Plugin Control Device Select
SSH Transer from the Add button’s dropdown in the JBoss
Plugin dialog box, as shown in Figure 1.2
Figure 1.2 Creating an SSH Transfer remote deployment
method in the JBoss Plugin dialog
Enter the connection data required to connect to the remote machine
and test the connection by selecting Test Connection, as shown in Figure
1.3.
Figure 1.3 Testing the SSH Transfer connection After the connection has succeeded, select OK.
You are now ready to create a run configuration, as shown in the
following section.
2 CREATING A RUN CONFIGURATION
The second part to preparing deployment is the setup of a run configuration.
Here, you specify application server, startup options, and the modules
that are to be deployed. You can create as many run configurations
as you like. In this section we will create a local run configuration
for a local deployment, and a remote run configuration using the SSH
Transfer deployment method we just created.
To access the run configuration setup, select the Edit Configurations menu item from the Run menu, as shown in Figure 2.1.
Figure 2.1 The Edit Configurations menu item Select
the JBoss Server tab and then select Local from the Add button’s
dropdown, as shown in Figure 2.2
Figure 2.2 Creating a new Local run configuration Enter
a name for the new configuration. On the Server panel, select the JBoss
application server and select the default server instance. Checking
the Start Browser checkbox will launch the browser when you launch
the application, so you don’t need to have the browser open at
the time.
Figure 2.3 Edit Configurations – local deployment
Server panel On the Deployment panel, you specify the modules
that are to be deployed. Select the app module and then select app.ear from the dropdown. Remember app.ear is our EAR file containing our
entire enterprise application that we want to deploy.
Figure 2.4 Edit Configurations – Deployment panel The
Startup/Connection panel allows you to configure startup and shutdown
scripts and parameters to be passed to the JBoss server. The defaults
as shown in figure 2.5 should be acceptable.
Figure 2.5 Edit Configurations – Startup/Connection
panel Select OK and your local run configuration
is complete. When you run your application the EAR file will be deployed,
JBoss
will be started and a new browser instance will be launched.
For remote deployment, select Remote from the Add button’s
dropdown in the JBoss Server tab, as shown in Figure 2.6
Figure 2.6 Creating a new Remote run configuration
Enter the host name of your remote host running the application server
in Remote Connection Settings. The name must match the host name you
entered in the remote deployment method. As soon as you entered the
correct host name the list of available deployment methods is populated
by all matching methods. Choose the deployment method you want to use
to deploy the EAR file to the application server. The complete setup
for the remote configuration is shown in Figure 2.7.
Figure 2.7 Edit Configurations – remote deployment
Server panel
Select the Deployment tab and use the settings as shown in Figure
2.4 for the local deployment method, as they will be the same. The
Startup/Connection panel contains no settings for a remote run configuration.
You have now finished creating a run configuration and are ready
to run and deploy your application.
3 RUNNING AND DEPLOYING THE APPLICATION (WHAT COULD GO WRONG?)
This section discusses deployment and execution. We will use the remote
configuration in our examples.
Before the application can be deployed, you should make sure that
JBoss is up and running if you are using remote deployment. Typically,
you will invoke a run script in the JBoss bin directory (run.bat
for windows, run.sh for Unix, etc). For example:
sh run.sh
If you are using the local deployment method created above, JBoss
will automatically be started. In both cases, a new browser
session will be launched.
After a few messages are emitted from the console, you should
see a message that looks something like:
It is a good sign if there are no exceptions during startup.
If there are, you may have a configuration problem (e.g.,
4.0.1RC1 is not
compatable with JDK1.5, etc.). To further confirm the
correct operation of JBoss, you should visit the application server
at the default port
of 8080.
If JBoss is running, you should be able to see the JBoss
console, as shown in Figure 3.1.
Figure 3.1. The JBoss Console Select Run from the IntelliJ IDE and, if all goes well, you should see some messages
like the ones shown in Figure 3.2.
Figure 3.2 Successful Deployment Before the
application is deployed into the JBoss server, the EAR file is
transferred by SSH into the temporary folder configured in the deployment
method,
e.g. /tmp. The EAR file is then picked up by the JBoss server from
there. Any exceptions or errors occurring during deployment are logged
in the
run window of the IntelliJ IDE.
One common problem is that the web browser is started by the IntelliJ
IDE before the deployment of the application has completely finished.
This results in a missing resource error displayed in the browser
as shown in Figure 3.3. Reload the web page manually after deployment
has
finished to display the servlet correctly.
Figure 3.3 Missing Resource Error If the
web server is running properly, the application is deployed, but
the servlet is still not displaying in the browser, you must start to
examine
log files. There are log files on the development machine and log
files on the application server.
To examine the development machine’s log files, look at:
<
userHome>/.IntelliJIdea/system/log
To examine the application server’s log files, look at:
<
jbossHome>/server/default/log
Sometimes an error will occur and the exception will be emitted
by the servlet. One common error is a JNDI lookup failure that
results in a message like:
“ejb not bound” or less likely “Could
not dereference object”.
Check for any JNDI name mismatches in the EJB and/or servlet
configuration to solve the problem. Make sure you are using
the correct ejb logical
reference name in your servlet code.
Check that jboss.xml (the JBoss-specific EJB deployment descriptor)
has the correct mapping of the ejb name to the JNDI name:
Check that jboss-web.xml (the JBoss-specific web
deployment descriptor) has the correct mapping of the ejb logical reference
to the JNDI name:
If all goes well, you should see a reply, like
that of Figure 3.4.
Figure 3.4 The Sample Greeting Applet 4
CONCLUSION
The JBoss plug-in is freely available and its download is integrated
into the IntelliJ IDEA IDE. The process of creating modules and entering
in data is error-prone and tedious. Ideally, there should be an easier
way to incorporate EJB’s into the development environment.
A common source of fragility is the JNDI lookup:
If the mapping, at run-time, should fail,
an ejb not bound exception will be thrown by the servlet. It would probably
be better software
engineering if such an error were a syntax error and not a run-time
error. This would probably mean having to engineer JNDI out of the
process, an activity that is beyond the scope of this paper.
1 Part
1 http://www.jot.fm/issues/issue_2005_07/column1
2 Part 2 http://www.jot.fm/issues/issue_2005_09/column3
3 Part 3 http://www.jot.fm/issues/issue_2006_03/column2 and Part 4 http://www.jot.fm/issues/issue_2005_11/column2
About the authors
|
 |
After receiving his Ph.D. from
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Dr. Lyon worked
at AT&T Bell Laboratories. He has also worked for the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of
Technology. He is currently the Chairman of the Computer
Engineering Department at Fairfield University, a senior
member of the IEEE and President of DocJava, Inc., a consulting
firm in Connecticut. E-mail Dr. Lyon at Lyon@DocJava.com.
His website is http://www.DocJava.com. |
|
|
Martin Fuhrer has
a degree as engineer in computer science from the School
of Engineering and Information Technology in Biel/Switzerland.
He is founder and president of Fuhrer Engineering Inc.,
a software development company located in Biel/Switzerland.
He's mainly working in the field of web-based financial
services and the online processing of realtime stock exchange
data. He can be reached at info@fuhrer.com or
through http://www.fuhrer.com. |
 |
|
Thomas Rowland has
a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and an M.S. in Software
Engineering. He has been consulting as a Software Engineer
for the past four years, working for Pfizer Pharmaceutical,
Travelers Life & Annuity, and currently at Pitney Bowes.
He has also worked for Hyperion Solutions for over 5 years.
Mr. Rowland has also had some teaching stints along the
way. He is listed in the National Register’s 2005-2006
edition of the Who’s Who in Executives and Professionals.
He resides in Connecticut and can be reached at rowlandtf@netscape.net. |
Cite this column as follows: D. Lyon, M. Fuhrer and T. Rowland: “The
JBoss Integration Plug-in for IntelliJ IDEA”, in Journal of Object
Technology, vol. 4, no. 9, November-December 2005, pp. 11-21, http://www.jot.fm/issues/issue_2005_11/column2
|
