Chapter 4. Installing Apache Karaf as a Service

Using the service script templates, you can run a Karaf instance with the help of operating system specific init scripts. You can find these templates under the bin/contrib directory.

The karaf-service.sh utility helps you to customize the templates. This utility automatically identifies the operating system and the default init system and generates ready-to-use init scripts. You can also customize the scripts to adapt them to the environment, by setting JAVA_HOME and a few other environment variables.

The generated scripts are composed of two files:

When the karaf-service.sh utility identifies systemd, it generates three files:

For example, to set up a service for a Karaf instance installed at /opt/karaf-4, giving the service the name, karaf-4:

$ ./karaf-service.sh -k /opt/karaf-4 -n karaf-4
Writing service file "/opt/karaf-4/bin/contrib/karaf-4.service"
Writing service configuration file ""/opt/karaf-4/etc/karaf-4.conf"
Writing service file "/opt/karaf-4/bin/contrib/karaf-4@.service"
$ sudo cp /opt/karaf-4/bin/contrib/karaf-4.service /etc/systemd/system
$ sudo systemctl enable karaf-4.service

When the karaf-service.sh utility identifies a SysV system, it generates two files:

For example, to set up a service for a Karaf instance installed at /opt/karaf-4, giving the service the name, karaf-4:

$ ./karaf-service.sh -k /opt/karaf-4 -n karaf-4
Writing service file "/opt/karaf-4/bin/contrib/karaf-4"
Writing service configuration file "/opt/karaf-4/etc/karaf-4.conf"
$ sudo ln -s /opt/karaf-4/bin/contrib/karaf-4 /etc/init.d/
$ sudo chkconfig karaf-4 on

When the karaf-service.sh utility identifies a Solaris operating system, it generates a single file.

For example, to set up a service for a Karaf instance installed at /opt/karaf-4, giving the service the name, karaf-4:

$ ./karaf-service.sh -k /opt/karaf-4 -n karaf-4
Writing service file "/opt/karaf-4/bin/contrib/karaf-4.xml"
$ sudo svccfg validate /opt/karaf-4/bin/contrib/karaf-4.xml
$ sudo svccfg import /opt/karaf-4/bin/contrib/karaf-4.xml

Installation of Apache Karaf as Windows service is supported through winsw.

To install Apache Karaf as Windows service, perform the following steps:

For example:

C:\opt\apache-karaf-4\bin\contrib> karaf-4.exe install
C:\opt\apache-karaf-4\bin\contrib> karaf-4.exe start

You can specify options to the karaf-service.sh utility either as command-line options or by setting environment variables, as follows: