There is a new PersistenceService for XMBeans, along with an XML-based AttributePersistenceManager implementation, in the upcoming 3.2.6 and 4.0.0 versions.
Use by choosing any persistencePolicy and the DelegatingPersistenceManager in your XMBean deployment descriptor, e.g.:
<descriptors> <persistence persistPolicy="OnUpdate"/> <persistence-manager value="org.jboss.mx.persistence.DelegatingPersistenceManager"/> </descriptors>