About the deployers folder

[dimar1975]

Hi all,
I'm looking for a little explanation about the new deployers folder which hash been added to JBoss 5. I have read from the docs that it contains the new VFS infrastructure: for example it can be used to create custom deployment structures, but why server configuration properties are there ?

for example the ejb-deployer-jboss-beans.xml contains EJB 3 container configuration like

<property name="callByValue">false</property>

also the web deployer contains configuration about the web application like session configuration.

I'm a bit confused, is this folder now the central point to configure the server ? this configuration overrides the one in "conf" ?

Thanks a lot
Marco

[alesj]

What server configuration properties?
What is overridden?

Each component has its custom configuration.
It wouldn't make sense to have one huge file with all properties.

This is just a simple split:
- conf/ (bootstrap); minimal needed conf to start jbossas
- deployers/; default deployers
- deploy/; dynamic services
making it cleaner on where to put things.

[dimar1975]

Hello, thanks for your reply: I'm sorry some of the text was cancelled because (I suppose) of XML tags.
For example: why war-deployers-jboss-beans.xml contains configuration related to the HTTP Session replication ...?

<!--
 The following two properties define when sessions are replicated to
 the other nodes.
 -->
 <property name="snapshotMode">INSTANT</property>
 <property name="snapshotInterval">1000</property>

 <property name="replicationGranularity">SESSION</property>
 <property name="replicationTrigger">SET_AND_NON_PRIMITIVE_GET</property>
 <property name="replicationFieldBatchMode">true</property>

How is this related to the deployment phase ?
thanks a lot
Marco

[alesj]

Where would you put it?
I guess this is where these defaults get applied to metadata that carries this info to the relevant real deployer.

What is related to which deployment phase?

[brian.stansberry]

"alesj" wrote:
I guess this is where these defaults get applied to metadata that carries this info to the relevant real deployer.

Exactly.

[brian.stansberry]

Your point is well taken, though, Marco. The configuration values that are being set in that deployer's descriptor would IMO be better externalized in a separate file, parsed, and the resulting data merged into the JBossWebMetaData object. The external file would be a jboss-web.xml equivalent to the deployers/jboss-web-deployer.jar/web.xml file, which is used to set all the default web.xml values so users don't have to. There's a JIRA for that: https://jira.jboss.org/jira/browse/JBAS-5039

What I think you're getting at is neither this new jboss-web.xml defaults file nor the deployers/jboss-web-deployer.jar/web.xml file belong in deployers. Their purpose is more like the old conf/standard-jboss.xml file used to set EJB2 defaults, and a more user-friendly place to put them is in conf.

I'm not sure what the medium/long term thinking is re: the various stuff in conf. I suspect more and more of it will get moved out, as that matches better with the general architecture of the server. But I think you raise a valid point that burying stuff in deployers is confusing.

[dimar1975]

Thank you very much for your kind contribute, now it's more clear........the files under deployers (like jboss-structure.xml) were anyway useful to me to understand how to create customized deploy structures....