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This picture has been further complicated by the drive toward greater modularity and designing applications as loosely coupled services. Packaging applications as a single archive, while simple, does not lend itself well to modularity. Fabric3 addresses these requirements by providing a Maven plugin for assembling a custom runtime image including application modules as part of an automated build. The produced image can then be integrated into a deployment setup managed by IT automation software. The following illustrates a typical (and recommended) Fabric3 delivery model:
The next section describes how to use the Fabric3 Assembly Plugin.