Chapter 1. Introduction

Overview

Windup is an extensible and customizable rule-based tool that helps simplify migration of Java applications.

Windup examines application artifacts, including project source directories and applications archives, then produces an HTML report that highlights areas needing changes. Windup can be used to migrate Java applications from previous versions of Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform or from other containers, such as Oracle® WebLogic Server or IBM® WebSphere® Application Server.

How Does Windup Simplify Migration?

Windup looks for common resources and highlights technologies and known trouble spots when migrating applications. The goal is to provide a high-level view into the technologies used by the application and provide a detailed report organizations can use to estimate, document, and migrate enterprise applications to Java EE and JBoss EAP.

Windup is a rule-based migration tool that analyzes the APIs, technologies, and architectures used by the applications you plan to migrate. In fact, the Windup tool executes its own core set of rules through all phases of the migration process. It uses rules to extract files from archives, decompile files, scan and classify file types, analyze XML and other file content, analyze the application code, and build the reports.

Windup builds a data model based on the rule execution results and stores component data and relationships in a graph database, which can then be queried and updated as needed by the migration rules and for reporting purposes.

Windup rules use the following rule pattern:

when(condition)
  perform(action)
otherwise(action)

when(condition)
  perform(action)
otherwise(action)

Windup provides a comprehensive set of standard migration rules out-of-the-box. Because applications may contain custom libraries or components, Windup allows you to write your own rules to identify use of components or software that may not be covered by the existing ruleset. If you plan to write your own custom rules, see the Windup Rules Development Guide for detailed instructions.

This documentation uses the WINDUP_HOME replaceable value to denote the path to the Windup distribution. When you encounter this value in the documentation, be sure to replace it with the actual path to your Windup installation.