I have a scenario where I'm building the rules packages using the BRMS and using a standalone drools-core deployment to load these binaries. However, with the 4.0.4 release the following exception is generated by the Package.readExternal(…) method during de-serialization. It's using the BRMS 4.0.4 distribution war and the drools-core.jar 4.0.4available via Maven. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ java.lang.ClassCastException: org.drools.rule.Package at org.drools.rule.Package.readExternal(Package.java:176) at com.gbv.platform.rules.drools.impl.RuleRuntimeImpl.init( RuleRuntimeImpl.java:61) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke( NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:39) at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke( DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:585) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.invokeCustomInitMethod (AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java :1214) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.invokeInitMethods (AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1179 ) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.initializeBean (AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1145) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean (AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:427) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject( AbstractBeanFactory.java:251) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton (DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:144) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean( AbstractBeanFactory.java:248) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean( AbstractBeanFactory.java:160) at org.springframework.osgi.service.exporter.OsgiServiceFactoryBean.afterPropertiesSet (OsgiServiceFactoryBean.java:271) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.invokeInitMethods (AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1175 ) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.initializeBean (AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1145) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean (AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:427) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject( AbstractBeanFactory.java:251) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton (DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:144) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean( AbstractBeanFactory.java:248) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean( AbstractBeanFactory.java:160) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.preInstantiateSingletons (DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:276) at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.refresh( AbstractApplicationContext.java:360) at org.springframework.osgi.context.support.AbstractRefreshableOsgiBundleApplicationContext.refresh (AbstractRefreshableOsgiBundleApplicationCo ntext.java:170) at org.springframework.osgi.extender.support.ServiceDependentOsgiBundleXmlApplicationContext.refresh (ServiceDependentOsgiBundleXmlApplicationC ontext.java:76) at org.springframework.osgi.extender.support.ApplicationContextCreator.run( ApplicationContextCreator.java:155) at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:595) Error Loading DROOLS Package : org.drools.rule.Package ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ BTW, Running the debugger through it I was able to get the stack trace below. This occurs on the first call to Package.readExternal(ObjectInput) line: 176 after returning from ObjectInputStream.readObject() line: 348 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Package.readExternal(ObjectInput) line: 176 ObjectInputStream.readExternalData(Externalizable, ObjectStreamClass) line: 1755 ObjectInputStream.readOrdinaryObject(boolean) line: 1717 ObjectInputStream.readObject0(boolean) line: 1305 ObjectInputStream.readObject() line: 348 Package.readExternal(ObjectInput) line: 176 RuleRuntimeImpl.init() line: 61 NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Method, Object, Object[]) line: not available [native method] NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Object, Object[]) line: 39 DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Object, Object[]) line: 25 Method.invoke(Object, Object...) line: 585 DefaultListableBeanFactory(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory).invokeCustomInitMethod(String, Object, String, boolean) line: 1214 DefaultListableBeanFactory(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory).invokeInitMethods(String, Object, RootBeanDefinition) line: 1179 DefaultListableBeanFactory(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory).initializeBean(String, Object, RootBeanDefinition) line: 1145 DefaultListableBeanFactory(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory).createBean(String, RootBeanDefinition, Object[]) line: 427 AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject() line: 251 DefaultListableBeanFactory(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry).getSingleton(String, ObjectFactory) line: 144 DefaultListableBeanFactory(AbstractBeanFactory).getBean(String, Class, Object[]) line: 248 DefaultListableBeanFactory(AbstractBeanFactory).getBean(String) line: 160 OsgiServiceFactoryBean.afterPropertiesSet() line: 271 DefaultListableBeanFactory(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory).invokeInitMethods(String, Object, RootBeanDefinition) line: 1175 DefaultListableBeanFactory(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory).initializeBean(String, Object, RootBeanDefinition) line: 1145 DefaultListableBeanFactory(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory).createBean(String, RootBeanDefinition, Object[]) line: 427 AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject() line: 251 DefaultListableBeanFactory(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry).getSingleton(String, ObjectFactory) line: 144 DefaultListableBeanFactory(AbstractBeanFactory).getBean(String, Class, Object[]) line: 248 DefaultListableBeanFactory(AbstractBeanFactory).getBean(String) line: 160 DefaultListableBeanFactory.preInstantiateSingletons() line: 276 ServiceDependentOsgiBundleXmlApplicationContext(AbstractApplicationContext).refresh() line: 360 ServiceDependentOsgiBundleXmlApplicationContext(AbstractRefreshableOsgiBundleApplicationContext).refresh() line: 170 ServiceDependentOsgiBundleXmlApplicationContext.refresh() line: 76 ApplicationContextCreator.run() line: 155 Thread.run() line: 595 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cheers, Pavi