The OSGi Look » pax

OSGi testing with PaxExam

fdiotalevi — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:55:14 +0000

View more presentations from Toni Menzel.

No more excuses with OSGi Demos

fdiotalevi — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 08:00:07 +0000

As I already explained in my articles on Pax-Runner, installing and setting up bundles and OSGi applications with this tool is really a piece of cake.

Since I use it when I’m writing articles for the OSGi Look, I decided to publish the provisioning files I write in the new OSGi Demos section. That will give you the opportunity to try bundles and OSGi applications in less than 2 minutes, just running a one-line command.
Give it a try!

Finally, if you know any interesting (and open source) OSGi application/demo that you can run with a Pax-Runner file, just send it to me and I’ll publish it.

Easy OSGi provisioning with Pax-Runner provisioning files

fdiotalevi — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:04:05 +0000

As Craig reminded me in a comment some days ago, the best way to provision non-trivial OSGi applications with Pax Runner is to write a custom profile or a provisioning file.

In this tutorial we will go through all the steps you need to do in order to write your own provisioning file. First of all, why do you need provisioning files?
The main advantage is that the combination of Pax-Runner, basic profiles and provisioning files allows to completely automate the deployment of your OSGi-based application. For example, you can deploy your OSGi based web application in your server farm just launching a simple command like

pax-run.sh --profiles=web http://myrepository/web.txt

in all the nodes of your cluster.

Want to learn more on Pax-Runner?
Read
Starting with OSGi? Try Pax-Runner!

Let’s start by saying that a provisioning file can be as simple as a list of bundles. Let’s make a useful example building a provisioning file to install the Apache Felix Application Demo. These bundles are not available for download in the Felix website, so I uploaded a copy of them in the OSGi Look server.
Now just open any text file and type:

http://www.osgilook.com/static/samples/servicebased.circle-1.0.0.jar
http://www.osgilook.com/static/samples/servicebased.host-1.0.0.jar
http://www.osgilook.com/static/samples/servicebased.square-1.0.0.jar
http://www.osgilook.com/static/samples/servicebased.trapezoid-1.0.0.jar
http://www.osgilook.com/static/samples/servicebased.triangle-1.0.0.jar

Save the file as felix-demo.txt.

Now go back to your console, and type pax-run.sh file:///path/to/felix-demo.txt.

pax-run.sh file:////tmp/demo.txt
    ______  ________  __  __
   / __  / /  __   / / / / /
  /  ___/ /  __   / _\ \ _/
 /  /    /  / /  / / _\ \
/__/    /__/ /__/ /_/ /_/

Pax Runner (1.1.1) from OPS4J - http://www.ops4j.org
----------------------------------------------------

 -> Using config [classpath:META-INF/runner.properties]
 -> Using only arguments from command line
 -> Scan bundles from [file:////tmp/demo.txt]
 -> Scan bundles from [scan-file:file:////tmp/demo.txt]
 -> Provision bundle [http://www.osgilook.com/static/samples/servicebased.circle-1.0.0.jar, at default start level, bundle will be started, bundle will be loaded from the cache]
 -> Provision bundle [http://www.osgilook.com/static/samples/servicebased.host-1.0.0.jar, at default start level, bundle will be started, bundle will be loaded from the cache]
 -> Provision bundle [http://www.osgilook.com/static/samples/servicebased.square-1.0.0.jar, at default start level, bundle will be started, bundle will be loaded from the cache]
 -> Provision bundle [http://www.osgilook.com/static/samples/servicebased.trapezoid-1.0.0.jar, at default start level, bundle will be started, bundle will be loaded from the cache]
 -> Provision bundle [http://www.osgilook.com/static/samples/servicebased.triangle-1.0.0.jar, at default start level, bundle will be started, bundle will be loaded from the cache]
 -> Preparing framework [Felix 1.8.1]
 -> Downloading bundles...
 -> http://www.osgilook.com/static/samples/servicebased.circle-1.0.0.jar : 12051 bytes @ [ 45kBps ]
 -> http://www.osgilook.com/static/samples/servicebased.host-1.0.0.jar : 386419 bytes @ [ 51kBps ]
 -> http://www.osgilook.com/static/samples/servicebased.square-1.0.0.jar : 10705 bytes @ [ 40kBps ]
 -> http://www.osgilook.com/static/samples/servicebased.trapezoid-1.0.0.jar : 12018 bytes @ [ 89kBps ]
 -> http://www.osgilook.com/static/samples/servicebased.triangle-1.0.0.jar : 11993 bytes @ [ 65kBps ]
 -> Using execution environment [J2SE-1.6]
 -> Runner has successfully finished his job!

Welcome to Felix.
=================
->

The logs show that all the bundles listed in the provisioning file are installed and started in your Felix container. And after a few seconds, you will be able to play with the Apache Felix Demo application!

Provisioning from a URL

If you want to use your provisioning file to startup multiple instances of an application, the best thing you can do is to upload it in a HTTP server. For instance, you can find the provisioning file we have just written at http://www.osgilook.com/static/samples/felix-demo.txt.

You can try now to type pax-run.sh http://www.osgilook.com/static/samples/felix-demo.txt: as a result, you will create a Felix container and automatically download all the bundles defined at that URL.

Advanced features

Pax-Runner provides many advanced features; you can for instance set start levels, use different protocols (Maven) and set system properties. Please refer to the documentation for a complete overview.

Starting with OSGi? Try Pax Runner!

fdiotalevi — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 20:19:48 +0000

Check also the second article on Pax-Runner: Provisioning Files

Despite what you can read in forums or mailing lists, starting with OSGi is just a matter of minutes if you use the right tool. And the name of the right tool is Pax Runner.

Pax Runner claims to be

a tool to provision OSGi bundles in all major open source OSGi framework implementations (Felix, Equinox, Knopflerfish, Concierge).

but is actually much more. With Pax Runner you can start any OSGi container, in different versions and configurations, and with different sets of preloaded bundles. It’s particularly useful to try your bundles with all the OSGi implementations.

Let’s see now how an absolute beginner can use Pax Runner to start playing with OSGi.

First of all, you need to download the latest version of Pax Runner from the download page; in our case, we will download Pax Runner 1.1.1 for java 1.5 and beyond (zip).

Unzip the downloaded file and add to your system PATH the “bin” folder (in our case, pax-runner-1.1.1/bin/)

Now type: pax-run.sh (on Unix, or the correspondent .bat file on Windows) and see Pax Runner in action:

$ pax-run.sh
    ______  ________  __  __
   / __  / /  __   / / / / /
  /  ___/ /  __   / _\ \ _/
 /  /    /  / /  / / _\ \
/__/    /__/ /__/ /_/ /_/

Pax Runner (1.1.1) from OPS4J - http://www.ops4j.org
----------------------------------------------------

 -> Using config [classpath:META-INF/runner.properties]
 -> Using only arguments from command line
 -> Preparing framework [Felix 1.8.1]
 -> Downloading bundles...
 -> Felix 1.8.1 : 368237 bytes @ [ 141kBps ]
 -> org.osgi.compendium (4.1.0) : 514214 bytes @ [ 172kBps ]
 -> org.apache.felix.shell (1.2.0) : 59114 bytes @ [ 1642kBps ]
 -> org.apache.felix.shell.tui.plugin (1.2.0) : 12455 bytes @ [ 30kBps ]
 -> Using execution environment [J2SE-1.6]
 -> Runner has successfully finished his job!

Welcome to Felix.
=================
 ->

As you can see, Pax Runner has downloaded Apache Felix and some basic bundles; what you see is the Apache Felix Console: just type help to start playing with it.

Do you want to see how Equinox looks like? Starting Equinox and playing with its console is as simple as typing pax-run.sh –platform=equinox

pax-run.sh --platform=equinox
    ______  ________  __  __
   / __  / /  __   / / / / /
  /  ___/ /  __   / _\ \ _/
 /  /    /  / /  / / _\ \
/__/    /__/ /__/ /_/ /_/

Pax Runner (1.1.1) from OPS4J - http://www.ops4j.org
----------------------------------------------------

 -> Using config [classpath:META-INF/runner.properties]
 -> Using only arguments from command line
 -> Preparing framework [Equinox 3.5.0]
 -> Downloading bundles...
 -> Equinox 3.5.0 : 1122602 bytes @ [ 215kBps ]
 -> Eclipse utilities : 22471 bytes @ [ 387kBps ]
 -> Eclipse compendium services : 66065 bytes @ [ 359kBps ]
 -> Using execution environment [J2SE-1.6]
 -> Runner has successfully finished his job!

osgi>

Finally, Pax Runner defines the concept of Profiles; a profile is a pre-defined set of bundles. Every user can define its own profiles, but the tool comes with a initial set of profiles. Let's say you can to start Knopflerfish with all the bundles implementing the OSGi Log Service; with Pax Runner you just need to type: pax-run.sh --platform=knopflerfish --profiles=log [bash] pax-run.sh --platform=knopflerfish --profiles=log ______ ________ __ __ / __ / / __ / / / / / / ___/ / __ / _\ \ _/ / / / / / / / _\ \ /__/ /__/ /__/ /_/ /_/ Pax Runner (1.1.1) from OPS4J - http://www.ops4j.org ---------------------------------------------------- -> Using config [classpath:META-INF/runner.properties] -> Using only arguments from command line -> Scan bundles from [scan-composite:mvn:org.ops4j.pax.runner.profiles/log//composite] -> Scan bundles from [scan-bundle:mvn:org.ops4j.pax.logging/pax-logging-api/1.3.0] -> Scan bundles from [scan-bundle:mvn:org.ops4j.pax.logging/pax-logging-service/1.3.0] -> Provision bundle [mvn:org.ops4j.pax.logging/pax-logging-api/1.3.0, at default start level, bundle will be started, bundle will be loaded from the cache] -> Provision bundle [mvn:org.ops4j.pax.logging/pax-logging-service/1.3.0, at default start level, bundle will be started, bundle will be loaded from the cache] -> Preparing framework [Knopflerfish 2.3.1] -> Downloading bundles... -> Knopflerfish 2.3.1 : 366660 bytes @ [ 161kBps ] -> org.osgi.compendium : 689150 bytes @ [ 195kBps ] -> Knopflerfish Console : 36329 bytes @ [ 257kBps ] -> Knopflerfish Console TTY : 6153 bytes @ [ 256kBps ] -> Knopflerfish Framework Commands : 26090 bytes @ [ 208kBps ] -> mvn:org.ops4j.pax.logging/pax-logging-api/1.3.0 : 86184 bytes @ [ 225kBps ] -> mvn:org.ops4j.pax.logging/pax-logging-service/1.3.0 : 426219 bytes @ [ 183kBps ] -> Using execution environment [J2SE-1.6] -> Runner has successfully finished his job! Knopflerfish OSGi framework, version 4.1.3 Copyright 2003-2009 Knopflerfish. All Rights Reserved. See http://www.knopflerfish.org for more information. Loading xargs url file:knopflerfish/config.ini Installed and started: file:bundles/osgi.compendium_4.0.1.jar (id#1) Installed and started: file:bundles/org.knopflerfish.bundle.console_2.0.1.jar (id#2) Installed and started: file:bundles/org.knopflerfish.bundle.consoletty-IMPL_2.0.0.jar (id#3) Installed and started: file:bundles/org.knopflerfish.bundle.frameworkcommands-IMPL_2.0.5.jar (id#4) Installed and started: file:bundles/org.ops4j.pax.logging.pax-logging-api_1.3.0.jar (id#5) Installed and started: file:bundles/org.ops4j.pax.logging.pax-logging-service_1.3.0.jar (id#6) > org.ops4j.pax.logging.pax-logging-api[org.ops4j.pax.logging.internal.Activator] : Enabling SLF4J API support. org.ops4j.pax.logging.pax-logging-api[org.ops4j.pax.logging.internal.Activator] : Enabling Jakarta Commons Logging API support. org.ops4j.pax.logging.pax-logging-api[org.ops4j.pax.logging.internal.Activator] : Enabling Log4J API support. org.ops4j.pax.logging.pax-logging-api[org.ops4j.pax.logging.internal.Activator] : Enabling Avalon Logger API support. org.ops4j.pax.logging.pax-logging-api[org.ops4j.pax.logging.internal.Activator] : Enabling JULI Logger API support. [startlevel job thread] DEBUG org.ops4j.pax.logging.pax-logging-service - BundleEvent STARTED [main] DEBUG system.bundle - FrameworkEvent STARTED Framework launched -> ps id level/state name -------------------- 0 0/active System Bundle 1 1/active osgi.compendium 2 1/active Console 3 1/active TTY-Console-IMPL 4 1/active FW-Commands-IMPL 5 5/active OPS4J Pax Logging - API 6 5/active OPS4J Pax Logging - Service

As you can see, Knopflerfish is up and running, and the Pax Logging bundles are installed.

Pax Runner offers much more than these basic functionalities; check the documentation for more details.

Pax Construct: From zero to OSGi

fdiotalevi — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 08:25:02 +0000

Craig Wells has a detailed introduction to Pax Construct on his blog:

[...] if you were to ask me what the best and quickest way to get started with OSGi development is, I’d tell you to have a look at Pax Construct. While there certainly are other ways to develop OSGi projects, I find Pax Construct to be the quickest approach with the lowest barrier to entry [..]

Read the complete post on Spring Loaded by Craig Wells