[wildfly-dev] Embedding a WF instance in the CLI

Brian Stansberry brian.stansberry at redhat.com
Wed Feb 11 11:21:59 EST 2015 

Yes; you should be able to do basically anything you could do with the 
CLI with a remote standalone server.

Only exception that comes to mind is

shutdown --restart=true

That relies on the startup scripts to relaunch the process. Could be 
done inside the CLI, but I don't think it's worth making it a priority.

On 2/11/15 9:19 AM, Stan Silvert wrote:
> Can you upload deployments and overlays in offline mode?  That would
> make this something that you can't do by just editing the standalone.xml.
>
> On 2/10/2015 4:12 PM, Brian Stansberry wrote:
>> I had some time over the holidays and on planes to progress quite a bit
>> on this. A standalone server protype is at [1]. A fairly in depth
>> description is on the WildFly Development wiki at [2].
>>
>> I tried pretty hard to have clean commits on that branch, one per issue
>> I faced. So looking at the commits is worthwhile to get a better
>> understanding of particular aspects.
>>
>> Some notes on what I did / issues to discuss:
>>
>> 1) I semi-ported the "embedded" module from WildFly full to WildFly
>> Core. "Semi" in the sense that the code is now in both places, under
>> different maven GAVs and ending up in differently named modules in full.
>> We need to regularize this; decide if there's any point in a "full"
>> version of embedded, decide what to do about any APIs we don't want in
>> the core version. (There are some deprecated methods, and one method
>> "Context getContext()" that doesn't mean much in core, which has no JNDI.)
>>
>> 2) The CLI's use of stdio needed to be tweaked a bit to make it possible
>> to control what the embedded server does with stdout. That's in the
>> "Remove direct use of System.out by most CLI code" commit at [1].
>>
>> 3) I needed to deal with some general embedding issues in the server;
>> i.e. things that would probably pop up in any embedded use case:
>>
>> a) controlling the LogContext so the embedded server logging can be
>> managed independent of the embedding app. See "Let apps that embed
>> WildFly control the LogContext" commit at [1].
>>
>> I don't think this is real solid though. For example, I expect CLI-side
>> loggers that happen to get created after the embedded server starts will
>> end up using the server LogContext.
>>
>> b) the server was calling System.exit in some places. See "[WFCORE-528]
>> Use SystemExiter, not System.exit" commit at [1].
>>
>> c) the embedded server code didn't deal with reload, leaving behind a
>> broken ModelControllerClient. See "[WFCORE-511] Support reload in the
>> embedded server" commit at [1].
>>
>> 4) The modular vs non-modular environment aspects discussed at "Modular
>> vs Non-Modular Classloading and JBOSS_HOME" in [2] are not ideal. I'm
>> not sure how far we can/should go in improving this though.
>>
>> 5) This is painfully lacking in tests!
>>
>> Comments and suggestions are welcome!
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Brian
>>
>> [1] https://github.com/bstansberry/wildfly-core/commits/cli-embed-server
>>
>> [2] https://developer.jboss.org/docs/DOC-53050
>>
>> On 5/14/14 9:53 AM, John Mazzitelli wrote:
>>> How topical :) The RHQ installer could use this - just this very second I'm debugging and trying to figure out why the RHQ installer can't connect to the running app server instance to do its initial config setup - having to try to figure out what port its running on and why I can't connect is a pain.
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> Moving a thread to the dev list.
>>>>
>>>> This is about some prototyping I've been doing on weekends 'cause I'm
>>>> bored with my regular tasks. I've been playing with direct local
>>>> administration of a WF installation via the CLI without requiring a
>>>> socket-based connection. The general use case is initial setup type
>>>> activities where the user doesn't want to have to launch a WF server or
>>>> HC process and potentially have it be visible on the network.
>>>> https://issues.jboss.org/browse/WFLY-3288 is one use case; another is a
>>>> desire some folks have expressed in being able to do configuration
>>>> without first having to edit any xml to avoid port conflicts on 9990 or
>>>> 9999.
>>>>
>>>> This isn't a major initiative or big priority or anything at this point.
>>>> Just something I find interesting and perhaps you will too.
>>>>
>>>> On 5/14/14, 8:54 AM, Alexey Loubyansky wrote:
>>>>> Neat :) Yes, figuring out the module path is biting everywhere.
>>>>> For file system path command line arguments there is a specialized
>>>>> FileSystemPathArgument.
>>>>>
>>>> Thanks; I'll switch to that.
>>>>
>>>>> On 05/13/2014 10:54 PM, Brian Stansberry wrote:
>>>>>> Copying Heiko Braun as he expressed some interest in the topic.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> BTW, I played with this a bit more last weekend and was able to start an
>>>>>> embedded server inside the CLI easily enough. See [1] for very raw
>>>>>> prototype stuff. You can run bin/jboss-cli.sh (no -c) and then
>>>>>>
>>>>>> [disconnected/] embed-server
>>>>>>
>>>>>> There are a couple issues I see, besides the HC stuff I mentioned in my
>>>>>> last message.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 1) If the CLI is started in a non-modular environment via java -jar
>>>>>> bin/client/jboss-cli-client.jar, we'd have to shade jboss-modules into
>>>>>> the jar. And then the embed-server command would need params specifying
>>>>>> the location of JBOSS_HOME, possibly module path etc. But it could embed
>>>>>> a server installed in any accessible filesystem location.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> But what I did at [1] is based on bin/jboss-cli.sh, where the CLI is
>>>>>> running from a WF dist in a modular environment and the embedded server
>>>>>> modules are coming from the CLI's own module path. It would be more
>>>>>> effort to support embedding a server based on some other module path.
>>>>>> Maybe it's no big deal; maybe it's really hard. :)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 2) The console logging from the embedded server goes to stdout mixed in
>>>>>> with the CLI output. Maybe that's good, maybe it's bad.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> [1] https://github.com/bstansberry/wildfly/tree/cli-embed
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 4/28/14, 10:04 AM, Brian Stansberry wrote:
>>>>>>> I was poking around at this for an hour or so over the weekend.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The standalone case seems pretty straightforward. Seems the existing
>>>>>>> embedded server API could work readily enough. The
>>>>>>> org.jboss.as.embedded.StandaloneServer interface already provides a
>>>>>>> ModelControllerClient.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The domain case is much harder, as the CLI wants a HostController, not a
>>>>>>> ProcessController. I'd really like this to use an in-VM client, not a
>>>>>>> remote one, so I don't like having the CLI embed a PC and then the HC is
>>>>>>> an external process. My thoughts of the morning are to allow inverting
>>>>>>> the HC/PC relationship for this kind of usage. That is, remove
>>>>>>> controlling the HC lifecycle from the charge of the PC component. CLI
>>>>>>> launches HC, and then the HC creates an in-process PC-ish component (not
>>>>>>> a separate process) to manage the server lifecycles. There could be all
>>>>>>> sorts of problems with that; it's just the thought for the morning.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On 4/25/14, 11:49 AM, Alexey Loubyansky wrote:
>>>>>>>> Embedding the AS is the best starting point to achieve that! And more
>>>>>>>> fun, I agree :)
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On 04/25/2014 06:28 PM, Darran Lofthouse wrote:
>>>>>>>>> And to think my reason for opening the Jira was just for a common
>>>>>>>>> way to
>>>>>>>>> mask password inputs where java.io.Console is not available ;-)
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> On 25/04/14 17:09, Brian Stansberry wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> On 4/25/14, 10:40 AM, Alexey Loubyansky wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>> Wow! Indeed :)
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> There could be an embedded scope - true, i.e. commands available
>>>>>>>>>>> only
>>>>>>>>>>> this mode, like add-user, module mgmt related stuff, etc.
>>>>>>>>>> Those commands wouldn't need to be only in that mode though. The
>>>>>>>>>> implementation of all of them would be based in the server; the
>>>>>>>>>> "client"
>>>>>>>>>> aspect of the CLI would just use the management interface. The
>>>>>>>>>> difference between an embedded mode and what we have now would
>>>>>>>>>> just be
>>>>>>>>>> in how the "client" side gets its ModelControllerClient -- what we
>>>>>>>>>> have
>>>>>>>>>> now vs starting an embedded server and getting some sort of in-vm
>>>>>>>>>> client.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> But it would still mean the server/controller would have to actually
>>>>>>>>>>> provide implementations of that functionality and expose it to the
>>>>>>>>>>> management tools like the CLI in the embedded mode.
>>>>>>>>>> Yep.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> I like this idea as a concept - direct local management. W/o any
>>>>>>>>>>> remote
>>>>>>>>>>> connect/re-connect/disconnect burden.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Extending the CLI with custom modules is on the list too. It's
>>>>>>>>>>> probably
>>>>>>>>>>> easier to implement at this point.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Likely so, but maybe less fun. ;) I copied you on a PRD-related
>>>>>>>>>> thread
>>>>>>>>>> where I briefly get into this general area too.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Alexey
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> On 04/25/2014 05:00 PM, Brian Stansberry wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>> Hi Alexey,
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Wanted to point the discussion on this JIRA out to you as it gets
>>>>>>>>>>>> into
>>>>>>>>>>>> some fairly fundamental brainstorming that you may find
>>>>>>>>>>>> interesting.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> -------- Original Message --------
>>>>>>>>>>>> Subject: [JBoss JIRA] (WFLY-3288) Update add-user to use AESH or
>>>>>>>>>>>> move it
>>>>>>>>>>>> into the CLI
>>>>>>>>>>>> Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2014 09:44:35 -0400 (EDT)
>>>>>>>>>>>> From: Darran Lofthouse (JIRA) <issues at jboss.org>
>>>>>>>>>>>> To: brian.stansberry at redhat.com
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>         [
>>>>>>>>>>>> https://issues.jboss.org/browse/WFLY-3288?page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:comment-tabpanel&focusedCommentId=12963854#comment-12963854
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> ]
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Darran Lofthouse commented on WFLY-3288:
>>>>>>>>>>>> ----------------------------------------
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> That could be very interested, won't go into too much detail in
>>>>>>>>>>>> this
>>>>>>>>>>>> Jira as it is not directly related shortly I am switching to the
>>>>>>>>>>>> SSL
>>>>>>>>>>>> related tasks we have outstanding including the out of the box
>>>>>>>>>>>> enablement we talked about in Brno - managing an embedded instance
>>>>>>>>>>>> could
>>>>>>>>>>>> be useful there as well to get it all op based.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> I can see this task may end up coming back my way combined with the
>>>>>>>>>>>> other stuff ;-)
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Update add-user to use AESH or move it into the CLI
>>>>>>>>>>>>> ---------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>                    Key: WFLY-3288
>>>>>>>>>>>>>                    URL: https://issues.jboss.org/browse/WFLY-3288
>>>>>>>>>>>>>                Project: WildFly
>>>>>>>>>>>>>             Issue Type: Feature Request
>>>>>>>>>>>>>         Security Level: Public(Everyone can see)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>             Components: Domain Management, Scripts
>>>>>>>>>>>>>               Reporter: Darran Lofthouse
>>>>>>>>>>>>>                Fix For: Awaiting Volunteers
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Within the add-user utility it is difficult to handle situations
>>>>>>>>>>>>> where
>>>>>>>>>>>>> we do not have access to a java.io.Console which is the easiest
>>>>>>>>>>>>> way to
>>>>>>>>>>>>> handle password reading without an echo to the user e.g. in Cygwin
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Switching to AESH would allow us to use the implementation
>>>>>>>>>>>>> there to
>>>>>>>>>>>>> handle this.
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Alternatively it may actually make sense to make add-user a
>>>>>>>>>>>>> special
>>>>>>>>>>>>> mode of the CLI, we may at some point want to switch to runtime
>>>>>>>>>>>>> operations being executed on the server so porting to the CLI
>>>>>>>>>>>>> could be
>>>>>>>>>>>>> the first step to make this possible.
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Overall this is going to require further discussion so the
>>>>>>>>>>>>> comments
>>>>>>>>>>>>> here are just a starting point.
>>>>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>>>>> This message is automatically generated by JIRA.
>>>>>>>>>>>> If you think it was sent incorrectly, please contact your JIRA
>>>>>>>>>>>> administrators
>>>>>>>>>>>> For more information on JIRA, see:
>>>>>>>>>>>> http://www.atlassian.com/software/jira
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Brian Stansberry
>>>> Senior Principal Software Engineer
>>>> JBoss by Red Hat
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>>>> wildfly-dev at lists.jboss.org
>>>> https://lists.jboss.org/mailman/listinfo/wildfly-dev
>>>>
>>
>
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-- 
Brian Stansberry
Senior Principal Software Engineer
JBoss by Red Hat

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