Running JBoss-5.1.0.GA as a service on Red Hat?

I am using JBoss 5.1.0 GA on Red Hat (Amazon ECS)...

Am trying to set it up so JBoss will run as a service / daemon (right now it only starts up when I manually SSH and invoke sh $JBOSS_HOME/bin/run.sh).

Here's what I did so far:

(1) Created the following jboss script in /etc/init.d/:

#define where jboss is - this is the directory containing directories log, bin, conf etc
JBOSS_HOME=${JBOSS_HOME:-"/usr/jboss-5.1.0.GA"}

#define the user under which jboss will run, or use 'RUNASIS' to run as the current user
JBOSS_USER=${JBOSS_USER:-"jboss"}

#make sure java is in your path
JAVAPTH=${JAVAPTH:-"/usr/java/jdk/bin"}

#configuration to use, usually one of 'minimal', 'default', 'all'
JBOSS_CONF=${JBOSS_CONF:-"default"}

#if JBOSS_HOST specified, use -b to bind jboss services to that address
JBOSS_BIND_ADDR=${JBOSS_HOST:+"-b $JBOSS_HOST"}

#define the classpath for the shutdown class
JBOSSCP=${JBOSSCP:-"$JBOSS_HOME/bin/shutdown.jar:$JBOSS_HOME/client/jnet.jar"}

#define the script to use to start jboss
JBOSSSH=${JBOSSSH:-"$JBOSS_HOME/bin/run.sh -c $JBOSS_CONF $JBOSS_BIND_ADDR"}

if [ "$JBOSS_USER" = "RUNASIS" ]; then
  SUBIT=""
else
  SUBIT="su - $JBOSS_USER -c "
fi

if [ -n "$JBOSS_CONSOLE" -a ! -d "$JBOSS_CONSOLE" ]; then
  # ensure the file exists
  touch $JBOSS_CONSOLE
  if [ ! -z "$SUBIT" ]; then
    chown $JBOSS_USER $JBOSS_CONSOLE
  fi 
fi

if [ -n "$JBOSS_CONSOLE" -a ! -f "$JBOSS_CONSOLE" ]; then
  echo "WARNING: location for saving console log invalid: $JBOSS_CONSOLE"
  echo "WARNING: ignoring it and using /dev/null"
  JBOSS_CONSOLE="/dev/null"
fi

#define what will be done with the console log
JBOSS_CONSOLE=${JBOSS_CONSOLE:-"/dev/null"}

JBOSS_CMD_START="cd $JBOSS_HOME/bin; $JBOSSSH"
JBOSS_CMD_STOP=${JBOSS_CMD_STOP:-"java -classpath $JBOSSCP org.jboss.Shutdown --shutdown"}

if [ -z "`echo $PATH | grep $JAVAPTH`" ]; then
  export PATH=$PATH:$JAVAPTH
fi

if [ ! -d "$JBOSS_HOME" ]; then
  echo JBOSS_HOME does not exist as a valid directory : $JBOSS_HOME
  exit 1
fi

echo JBOSS_CMD_START = $JBOSS_CMD_START

case "$1" in
start)
    cd $JBOSS_HOME/bin
    if [ -z "$SUBIT" ]; then
        eval $JBOSS_CMD_START >${JBOSS_CONSOLE} 2>&1 &
    else
        $SUBIT "$JBOSS_CMD_START >${JBOSS_CONSOLE} 2>&1 &" 
    fi
    ;;
stop)
    if [ -z "$SUBIT" ]; then
        $JBOSS_CMD_STOP
    else
        $SUBIT "$JBOSS_CMD_STOP"
    fi 
    ;;
restart)
    $0 stop
    $0 start
    ;;
*)
    echo "usage: $0 (start|stop|restart|help)"
esac

(2) Made script executable and changed ownership by doing the following:

(3) When I tried to start it, I received the following output (and JBoss didn't start):

Questions:

(1) What am I possibly doing wrong?

(2) How do I set it up so it runs as root user? Do I have to add a JBoss group and a JBoss user?

I can manually run JBoss through $JBOSS_HOME/bin but would love to have it running all the time...

Any help is greatly appreciated...

We cover this topic in detail in chapter 15 of JBoss in Action, section 15.6.3. And if you get the source code for the book, target 04 in project ch15 sets it up.

One of the things I found helpful in debugging the start script is to run it manually first. The first time through, comment out the 'su' lines (22-26) so that only your account is used. Then make sure the script brings up the app server. The reintroduce the 'su' lines and run it again (while logged in as root). Oh, and add echo statements to let you know how far the script got before it gave up.

Hi Peter,

It seems that the source code for the book with the Ant target of 04 sets up 2 different JBoss servers, right?

How could I set it up to so only one JBoss instance / service / daemon is running?

Was there any errors with my previous script above?

The Chapter 15 directory / linux has 3 build scripts (of two of which are of particular interest):

-jboss_init_redhat.sh
-install.sh

Which file should I use?

I don't have your book so this does make my task harder...

There's no easy way to write a jboss script which will be placed under /etc/init.d/ and always make jboss run?

I started with the jboss_init_redhat.sh. And yes the sample code builds two services, but if you need only one, register only one. The whole point of doing two services is because people always ask "how can I pass the -b or -c option when I start as a service", so doing two services forces one to provide the answer to such questions. You can always just grab one of generated scripts and use it (after making appropriate changes for the -b and -c options).

I did not see anything in particular about your script that was incorrect - that is why I gave you suggested mechanism to debug the script - those are the same things I went through to get my scripts running.

I finally am able to run jboss through my jboss script in /etc/init.d/

jboss (located in /etc/init.d/):

Set up all the permissions and run levels like this:

When I try to start up like this:
$ /etc/init.d/./jboss start

It works! :

Starting jboss..
=========================================================================

JBoss Bootstrap Environment

JBOSS_HOME: /usr/jboss-5.1.0.GA

JAVA: /usr/java/jdk/bin/java

JAVA_OPTS: -Dprogram.name=run.sh -server -Xms128m -Xmx512m -XX:MaxPermSize=256m -Dorg.jboss.resolver.warning=true -Dsun.rmi.dgc.client.gcInterval=3600000 -Dsun.rmi.dgc.server.gcInterval=3600000 -Djboss.bind.address=0.0.0.0 -Xdebug-Xrunjdwp:transport=dt_socket,address=8000,server=y,suspend=n -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true

CLASSPATH: /usr/jboss-5.1.0.GA/bin/run.jar:/usr/java/jdk/lib/tools.jar

=========================================================================

22:50:15,825 INFO  [ServerImpl] Starting JBoss (Microcontainer)...
...
22:53:29,933 INFO  [ClasspathResourceConfig] Provider classes found:
22:53:33,927 INFO  [Http11Protocol] Starting Coyote HTTP/1.1 on http-0.0.0.0-8080
22:53:33,950 INFO  [AjpProtocol] Starting Coyote AJP/1.3 on ajp-0.0.0.0-8009
22:53:34,021 INFO  [ServerImpl] JBoss (Microcontainer) [5.1.0.GA (build: SVNTag=JBoss_5_1_0_GA date=200905221634)] Started in 3m:18s:169ms

Please take note of the JAVA and CLASSPATH variables values...

Breaks when I do:

$ service jboss start

This code block here (line 261 in $JBOSS_HOME/bin/run.sh):

Please note the differences in the JAVA and CLASSPATH variables compared to when I ran it manually using ./jboss start under /etc/init.d/.

I got my script working underneath /etc/init.d/jboss

but not under "service jboss start"

Would extremely be grateful if someone could help me...

-James

I think you need some echo statements to find out when $JAVA_HOME was changed from "/usr/java/jdk/" to empty. First, make sure that line 4 really does set it, and check it again before and after lines 103-110 in run.sh. Also, echo out $JAVA at the same time.

When you run:

/etc/init.d/./jboss start

the scripts use your current environment. When you use:

service jboss start

the scripts use a different environment. A good debug tool is to dump out all of the environment variables at the start of the script.

Hi Peter,

I bought your book! Yes, I tried following what you said by doing this (notice the run levels in the header):

#!/bin/sh
# chkconfig: 3 87 20

#make sure java is in your path
JAVAPTH=${JAVAPTH:-"/usr/java/jdk/bin/java"}

echo JAVAPTH $JAVAPTH

# Set JAVA_HOME
JAVA_HOME=${JAVA_HOME:-"/usr/java/jdk"}

echo JAVA_HOME $JAVA_HOME

echo JAVA $JAVA

# Set classpath
CLASSPATH=$CLASSPATH:$JBOSS_HOME/bin/run.jar:$JAVA_HOME/lib/tools.jar;

echo CLASSPATH $CLASSPATH

#define where jboss is - this is the directory containing directories log, bin, conf etc

JBOSS_HOME=${JBOSS_HOME:-"/usr/jboss-5.1.0.GA"}

#define the user under which jboss will run, or use 'RUNASIS' to run as the current user

JBOSS_USER=${JBOSS_USER:-"RUNASIS"}

#configuration to use, usually one of 'minimal', 'default', 'all'

JBOSS_CONF=${JBOSS_CONF:-"default"}

#the host where jboss should answer. o.o.o.o means answer all calls. set this to yourhost.com

JBOSS_HOST=${JBOSS_HOST:-"0.0.0.0"}

start(){
	echo "Starting jboss.."
	# If using an SELinux system such as RHEL 4, use the command below
	# instead of the "su":
	# eval "runuser - jboss -c '/opt/jboss/current/bin/run.sh > /dev/null 2> /dev/null &'
	# if the 'su -l ...' command fails (the -l flag is not recognized by my su cmd) try:
	# sudo -u jboss /opt/jboss/bin/run.sh > /dev/null 2> /dev/null &
	#su -l jboss -c '/current/bin/run.sh > /dev/null 2> /dev/null &'
	# eval "runuser - jboss -c '${JBOSS_HOME}/bin/run.sh > /dev/null 2> /dev/null &'"
	sh ${JBOSS_HOME}/bin/run.sh
}

stop(){
	echo "Stopping jboss.."
	# If using an SELinux system such as RHEL 4, use the command below
	# instead of the "su":
	# eval "runuser - jboss -c '/opt/jboss/current/bin/shutdown.sh -S &'
	# if the 'su -l ...' command fails try:
	# sudo -u jboss /opt/jboss/bin/shutdown.sh -S &
	# su -l jboss -c '/opt/jboss/current/bin/shutdown.sh -S &'
	sh ${JBOSS_HOME}/bin/shutdown.sh
}

case "$1" in
	start)
		start
		;;
	stop)
		stop
		;;
	*)

echo "Usage: jboss {start|stop}"
exit 1
esac
exit 0

And when I issue this:

service jboss start

This is what echoes out:

Notice how the tools.jar isn't even included on the CLASSPATH when JBoss start...
This system was installed as the root user with no jboss created on Fedora 8 (32 bit)...

In addition, I am unable to do this:

chkconfig --add jboss

"service jboss does not support chkconfig"

When I run it like this:
/etc/init.d/./jboss

It runs perfectly and does this:

I even created a .bash_profile under /root:

Why are the environments different when you type in service jboss start opposed to running the shell script manually?

At this point, I am stumped...

-James