How to read a file from inside of a deployed war

[vsrivastav]

I am trying to access war archive from within a JMX MBean. I need to read a specific file I am adding within my war files. I need access to this information from the MBean.

How can I access the deployed war files. Some of them are deployed within ear files.

            Context ctx = new javax.naming.InitialContext();

            ObjectName obj = new ObjectName("jboss.web.deployment:*");

            MBeanServerConnection c = (MBeanServerConnection) ctx.lookup("jmx/invoker/RMIAdaptor");

            Set<ObjectInstance> set = c.queryMBeans(obj, null);

            log.info("Deploy dir is : " + deployDir);

            String ps = System.getProperty("file.separator");

            for (ObjectInstance oi : set) {

                String tmpStr = oi.getObjectName().getCanonicalName();

            } 

Thanks,

Vivek

[peterj]

You can't. The servlet spec requires that the classes in a WAR be isolated and not accessible from outside the WAR.

Having said that, look at the useJBossWebLoader entry in server/xxx/deployers/jbossweb.deployer/ META-INF/war-deployers-jboss -beans.xml, and pay careful attention to the warning in the comment that states this setting is no longer the correct way to achieve this result (the JBAS-6914 reference is to a JIRA entry).

Oh, wait a minute. You are trying to access a file, not a class. Ignore the above. Instead, use exploded deployment for the WAR, then you will be able to access the file assuming your know the name of the exploded WAR directory.

[vsrivastav]

Ok. Let's say I have this xml file in the war and maybe I can read it using http client. The idea is to read the xml file whenever a WAR is deployed.

The following two wiki websites talk about how to listen for war deployment events:

http://community.jboss.org/wiki/ReceiveJMXDeploymentNotifications

http://community.jboss.org/wiki/NotificationsEmittedByJBossMBeans

I have added the following methods to my MBean, but I don't get any notification when I deploy/undeploy a war file. What is missing?

    @Override
    protected void startService() throws Exception {
        super.startService();
        registerWithWebDeployer();
    }

    private void registerWithWebDeployer() {
        try {
            ObjectName webDeployer = new ObjectName("jboss.web:service=WebServer");
            log.info("Registering with WARDeployer=" + webDeployer);
            getServer().addNotificationListener(webDeployer, this, null, null);
        } catch (InstanceNotFoundException ex) {
            Logger.getLogger(UIMgrService.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
        } catch (MalformedObjectNameException ex) {
            Logger.getLogger(UIMgrService.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
        } catch (NullPointerException ex) {
            Logger.getLogger(UIMgrService.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void handleNotification(Notification notification, Object handback) {
        log.info("Notification: "+ notification.getMessage()+":"+handback);
    }

[peterj]

Which version of JBoss AS are you using? Both of those wiki pages are old an no longer apply to JBoss AS 5.x and beyond - deployment was moved from JMX into the microcontainer. I think there is a way of getting notified regarding deployment, but I don't know what it is off hand. Perhaps Ales will see this post and reply...

[vsrivastav]

I am using 5.1.0.GA.

[jaikiran]

Those notifications no longer work for AS-5 and above. See this previous discussion http://community.jboss.org/thread/2709

[jaikiran]

Vivek Srivastav wrote:

The following two wiki websites talk about how to listen for war deployment events:

http://community.jboss.org/wiki/ReceiveJMXDeploymentNotifications

http://community.jboss.org/wiki/NotificationsEmittedByJBossMBeans

Those wiki articles have now been updated with a note on AS-5.

[vsrivastav]

Thanks for the pointers. I guess I am still missing something. I looked through various test cases and even through the DeployImpl code but I don't see a callback mechanism for notification.

Is the new deployer architecture documented anywhere. Appreciate any help.

[jaikiran]

Vivek Srivastav wrote:

Is the new deployer architecture documented anywhere. Appreciate any help.

Section IV here http://docs.jboss.org/jbossmc/docs/2.0.x/userGuide/index.html

[jaikiran]

By the way, I'm still not sure why you want to use deployment notifications to get access to the files in your .war file.

[vsrivastav]

Jaikiran. Thanks for all your help and pointers.

I am working on a modular framework for UI needs of our application. There will be an application core and provide UI and other features. When a war  (which will be like a plugin) is deployed with layout information, the JMX service will get notified and create a consolidated UI skeleton. The UI will be generated based on this skeleton. The browser client will be polling for changes in the layout if a new war is deployed it will dynamically update the UI.

Maybe there are better ways to do this.