Fabric3 Maven Assembly Plugin

The Fabric3 assembly plugin is used to create a runtime image as part of an automated, reproducible Maven build process. The plugin downloads the Fabric3 standalone runtime as well as required profiles and extensions and application contributions. In addition, it can apply custom configuration to the runtime image. The Fabric3 assembly plugin will use these artifacts to create a runtime distribution complete with installed application contributions. During a Maven release process, the runtime image can be uploaded to a Maven repository where it can be accessed by IT automation software during system deployment.

Plugin Setup

When executed, the Fabric3 assembly plugin will place the resulting runtime image in the project.build.directory/image directory. The Fabric3 assembly plugin is typically used in conjunction with the Maven assembly plugin to produce a compressed archive. This can be done as follows:

<plugins>
    <plugin>
        <groupId>org.fabric3</groupId>
        <artifactId>fabric3-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
        <version>${fabric3.version}</version>
        <executions>
            <execution>
                <id>fabric3-assembly</id>
                <goals>
                    <goal>fabric3-assembly</goal>
                </goals>
            </execution>
        </executions>
        <configuration>
            <runtimeVersion>${fabric3.version}</runtimeVersion>
			<contributions>
                 <dependency>
                    <groupId>org.fabric3.samples</groupId>
                    <artifactId>gateway</artifactId>
                    <version>${app.version}</version>
				</dependency>
			<contributions>
        </configuration>
    </plugin>
    <plugin>
        <artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
        <version>${assembly.version}</version>
        <executions>
            <execution>
                <id>make-assembly</id>
                <phase>package</phase>
                <goals>
                    <goal>single</goal>
                </goals>
             </execution>
        </executions>
    </plugin>
</plugins>

The Maven assembly.xml will then compress the runtime image into a ZIP file:

<assembly ....>
    <id>bin</id>
    <baseDirectory>${project.build.directory}</baseDirectory>
    <formats>
        <format>zip</format>
    </formats>
    <fileSets>
        <fileSet>
            <outputDirectory>/</outputDirectory>
            <directory>${project.build.directory}/image</directory>
        </fileSet>
    </fileSets>
</assembly>

Adding Contributions

Contributions are added using the contributions element of the plugin configuration as shown in the previous example. Note that the order of the contributions is not important: at startup, Fabric3 will introspect and order the contributions based on declared dependencies such as Java package imports (for details of dependency ordering, see Contribution Modularity).

By default, contributions are installed in the VM runtime image (i.e. under runtimes/vm/deploy). If they should be deployed to the controller or another runtime configuration, use the contributionTarget element:

<plugins>
    <plugin>
        <groupId>org.fabric3</groupId>
        <artifactId>fabric3-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
        ...
        <configuration>
            <runtimeVersion>${fabric3.version}</runtimeVersion>
            <contributionTarget>controller</contributionTarget>
			<contributions>
                 <dependency>
                    <groupId>org.fabric3.samples</groupId>
                    <artifactId>gateway</artifactId>
                    <version>${app.version}</version>
				</dependency>
			<contributions>
        </configuration>
    </plugin>
 ...
</plugins>

Adding Configuration

Typically you will need to add runtime configuration to the produced image. This can be done by creating a systemConfig.xml file in the Maven module source directory and including it in the plugin configuration under configurationFiles:

<plugins>
    <plugin>
        <groupId>org.fabric3</groupId>
        <artifactId>fabric3-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
        <version>${fabric3.version}</version>
        .....
        <configuration>
            <runtimeVersion>${fabric3.version}</runtimeVersion>
            <configurationFiles>
                <copy>
                    <source>../../../config/security.xml</source>
                    <destination>runtimes/vm/config</destination>
                </copy>
            </configurationFiles>
        </configuration>
    </plugin>
</plugins>

When creating a production system remember to disable the contribution directory scanner in systemConfig.xml by declaring a production runtime:

<config>
    ...
    <scanner production="true"/>
</config>

Profiles and Extensions

Specifying profiles and extensions to include in the runtime image is done using the profiles and extensions elements respectively:

<plugins>
    <plugin>
        <groupId>org.fabric3</groupId>
        <artifactId>fabric3-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
        <version>${fabric3.version}</version>
        <executions>
            <execution>
                <id>fabric3-assembly</id>
                <goals>
                    <goal>fabric3-assembly</goal>
                </goals>
            </execution>
        </executions>
        <configuration>
            <runtimeVersion>${fabric3.version}</runtimeVersion>
            <profiles>
                <!-- JMS support -->
                <profile>
                    <groupId>org.fabric3</groupId>
                    <artifactId>profile-jms</artifactId>
                    <version>${fabric3.version}</version>
                </profile>
                <!-- JAX-RS support -->
                <profile>
                    <groupId>org.fabric3</groupId>
                    <artifactId>profile-rs</artifactId>
                    <version>${fabric3.version}</version>
                </profile>
            </profiles>
            <!-- add contributions -->
			<contributions>
                 <dependency>
                    <groupId>org.fabric3.samples</groupId>
                    <artifactId>gateway</artifactId>
                    <version>${app.version}</version>
				</dependency>
				<dependency>
                    <groupId>org.fabric3.samples</groupId>
                    <artifactId>backend</artifactId>
                    <version>${app.version}</version>
				</dependency>
			</contributions>
            <!-- overlay configuration -->
            <configurationFiles>
                <copy>
                    <source>../../../config/security.xml</source>
                    <destination>runtimes/vm/config</destination>
                </copy>
            </configurationFiles>
        </configuration>
    </plugin>
</plugins>

Excluding Extensions

Runtime extensions included as part of the standard standalone runtime distribution can be removed using the removeExtensions element:

<plugins>
    <plugin>
        <groupId>org.fabric3</groupId>
        <artifactId>fabric3-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
        ...
        <configuration>
            <runtimeVersion>${fabric3.version}</runtimeVersion>
            <!-- add contributions -->
			<contributions>
                 <dependency>
                    <groupId>org.fabric3.samples</groupId>
                    <artifactId>gateway</artifactId>
                    <version>${app.version}</version>
				</dependency>
				<dependency>
                    <groupId>org.fabric3.samples</groupId>
                    <artifactId>backend</artifactId>
                    <version>${app.version}</version>
				</dependency>
			</contributions>
            <!-- overlay configuration -->
            <removeExtensions>
				<dependency>
                    <groupId>org.fabric3</groupId>
                    <artifactId>fabric3-management-jmx</artifactId>
                    <version>${app.version}</version>
				</dependency>
            </removeExtensions>
        </configuration>
    </plugin>
</plugins>