Introduction to Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform

Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 8-beta

Learn about Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (JBoss EAP), JBoss EAP subsystems, and the different operating modes that JBoss EAP offers

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Abstract

Learn about Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (JBoss EAP), JBoss EAP subsystems, and the different operating modes that JBoss EAP offers.

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Chapter 1. Making open source more inclusive

Red Hat is committed to replacing problematic language in our code, documentation, and web properties. We are beginning with these four terms: master, slave, blacklist, and whitelist. Due to the enormity of this endeavor, these changes will be gradually implemented over upcoming releases. For more details on making our language more inclusive, see our CTO Chris Wright’s message.

Chapter 2. Introduction to Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform

Before you start working with Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform, you must understand some general components that are used by JBoss EAP.

When you understand these components, you can enhance both your use of JBoss EAP and your ability to configure JBoss EAP.

2.1. Uses of JBoss EAP

Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (JBoss EAP) 8-beta is compatible with Jakarta EE 10 specifications, such as web profile and full-platform specifications. Each major version of JBoss EAP provides you with a tested, stabilized, and certified product.

JBoss EAP provides preconfigured options for features such as high-availability clustering, messaging, and distributed caching.

You can use JBoss EAP to deploy and run applications using supported APIs and services. Additionally, you can configure JBoss EAP to meet your needs, for example:

You can customize JBoss EAP to include only the subsystems required to meet your needs.
You can script and automate tasks by using the management command line interface (CLI) to avoid having to edit XML configuration files.

Major versions of JBoss EAP are forked from the WildFly community project at intervals when the community project has reached the desired feature completeness level. The major version is tested until it is stabilized, certified, and enhanced for production use.

During the lifecycle of a JBoss EAP major version, selected features are cherry-picked and back-ported from the community project into minor releases within the major release. Each minor release introduces feature enhancements to the major release.

Additional resources

For more information about the WildFly community project, see the WildFly community page.

2.2. JBoss EAP features

JBoss EAP includes a variety of features to meet the needs of your organization.

Table 2.1. Features of JBoss EAP
Feature	Description
Jakarta EE compatible	JBoss EAP 8.0 Beta is a Jakarta EE 10 compatible implementation for both web profile and full-platform specifications.
Managed domain	Provides centralized management of multiple server instances and physical hosts, compared to a standalone server that supports just a single server instance. Provides server-group management of configuration, deployment, socket bindings, modules, extensions, and system properties. Provides centralized and simplified management of application security and security domains.
Management console and management CLI	Used for configuration and administration of EAP, such as for deploying and undeploying applications, configuring system settings, and performing other administrative tasks. The management CLI includes a batch mode that scripts and automates management tasks. Important Do not directly edit the JBoss EAP XML configuration files while JBoss EAP is running. Use the management CLI to modify configurations.
Simplified directory layout	The modules directory contains application server modules. The domain directories contain the configuration for the managed domain. The standalone directories contain the configuration for a standalone server instance. Deployments, logs, `tmp`, and more are also contained under both the domain and standalone directories.
Modular class-loading mechanisms	JBoss EAP uses JBoss Modules which is a thread-safe, fast, and highly concurrent, delegating class loader model, that provide exact control over the classes visible to a given module or application.
Streamlined datasource management	Database driver deployment is similar to other JBoss EAP services. The management console and management CLI create and manage datasources.
Unified security framework	Elytron provides a single unified framework for managing and configuring access for both standalone servers and servers in managed domains. Additionally, Elytron is used to configure security access for applications deployed on JBoss EAP servers.

2.3. Application servers

An application server, or app server, is software that provides an environment to run web applications. Most app servers use a set of APIs to provide functionality to web applications. For example, an app server can use an API to connect to a database.

2.4. JBoss EAP subsystems

JBoss EAP organizes APIs into subsystems. You can configure these subsystems to enhance the capabilities of your JBoss EAP instance. For example, you can tune subsystems to improve performance, configure security, and to configure connections to external resources such as databases, identity providers, messaging brokers, and more.

Administrators can configure these subsystems to support different behavior, depending on the goal of the application.

For instance, if an application requires a database, you must configure a datasource so that a deployed application on a JBoss EAP server or a domain server can access the database.

2.5. High availability (HA) functionality of JBoss EAP

HA services are used to guarantee availability of deployed Jakarta EE application(s) by protecting against a single point of failure (failover) and preventing long delays during times of high request volumes (load balancing).

HA in JBoss EAP refers to multiple JBoss EAP instances working together to deliver applications that are most resistant to fluctuations in data flow, server load, and server failure. In addition to load balancing, HA also incorporates scalability and fault tolerance.

2.6. Supported operating modes in JBoss EAP

JBoss EAP has powerful management capabilities for deployed applications. These capabilities differ depending on which operating mode is used to start JBoss EAP.

JBoss EAP offers the following operating modes:

Standalone server to manage instances individually
Servers in a managed domain for managing groups of instances from a single control point

Chapter 3. Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform setups

You can configure a JBoss EAP instance on single servers that run one or more applications, or you can configure multiple JBoss EAP server instances that are clustered together with an external load balancer for load balancing and failover.

3.1. Simple setup using a single JBoss EAP server instance

A simple JBoss EAP setup consists of a single server running one or more deployed applications.

Figure 3.1. Simple setup using a single JBoss EAP server instance

The JBoss EAP instance uses the datasources subsystem to connect to the following components:

A database
A Kerberos server

JBoss EAP uses the elytron (security) subsystem to connect to the Kerberos server and expose the server to the two deployed applications.

JBoss EAP uses the undertow subsystem to handle requests from the client server and send requests to an appropriate application.

The application uses the APIs exposed by JBoss EAP to connect to the database and Kerberos server. The application completes its task and the undertow subsystem sends the response back to requester.

3.2. Complex setup using multiple JBoss EAP server instances

A complex setup may involve multiple JBoss EAP server instances. For example, you can use a load balancer to distribute the processing load across {JBoss EAP} instances in a managed domain.

The following diagram displays three JBoss EAP instances that are arranged by a load balancer in a managed domain:

Figure 3.2. Complex setup using multiple JBoss EAP server instances

In this example, the administrator configured each instance to use mod_cluster and infinispan session replication to provide high availability (HA) support for applications. Each instance includes the following components:

A web application
A web service
A deployed enterprise bean
A database connection that was established with the datasources subsystem
A connection with the LDAP server that was established with the elytron (security) subsystem

The diagram displays the following configurations associated with a complex JBoss EAP setup:

EAP 1 has a messaging-activemq subsystem that is configured with a Jakarta Messaging queue that connects to an external message broker.
The external message broker is shared among all running JBoss EAP instances.
All inbound requests go through the load balancer.
- Depending on the configued load-balancing algorithm and the information provided by each JBoss EAP instance, the load balancer directs the requests to the appropriate JBoss EAP instance.
Each JBoss EAP instance uses the undertow subsystem to direct the requests to the appropriate application.
Each application uses the APIs exposed by JBoss EAP to connect to the database and Kerberos server.
After an application performs its work, the undertow subsystem to send a response to the requester.

Note

The infinispan subsystem propagates non-persisted information, such as session information, among the JBoss EAP instances.

Revised on 2022-12-16 12:18:15 UTC

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