What is the WildFly application server?

Overview

WildFly is an open-source, lightweight, and modular Java application server that implements the Jakarta EE (formerly Java EE) specifications. It is designed to make large-scale deployments simple and efficient.

WildFly was formerly known as the JBoss Application Server, or JBoss AS. It is an open-source application server released under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL), which means it is free to use and distribute. It is managed by Red Hat.

We can use WildFly for both development and production purposes. We can use it in conjunction with other technologies, such as Spring, Hibernate, JBoss Tools/Eclipse, etc. WildFly is designed for deployments in cloud environments, and has been certified to run on leading public clouds.

Highlights

WildFly is a powerful server. Hence, it is good for large and complex applications. It can also run on different devices.

WildFly has a modular architecture, which means that we can include only the features that we need.

It also has a lightweight footprint, so it can run with less expensive hardware. This makes it a good choice for large-scale deployments.

Key features

Some of the features included in WildFly are as follows:

• Clustering: WildFly includes a clustering feature that we can use to create a high-availability environment. We can use this feature to balance loads or to add redundancy.
• Caching: The caching feature in WildFly can improve the performance of our applications. We can use caching to store data in memory. This means we can access it quickly, instead of having to retrieve it from a database or some other storage location.
• Security: One of the most important features of WildFly is security. We can use it to protect our applications from unauthorized access, as well as from malicious activity.
• Transactions: The WildFly application server also supports transactions. So, if we use a database in our application, we can ensure that all of the data is stored correctly in the database—even if there is a power outage or other failure.
• Messaging: The WildFly application server includes a messaging feature that we can use to send messages between different applications, or even between different servers. We can use it to create a more responsive and interactive environment for our applications.
• Web services: The WildFly application server also supports web services. This lets us expose our applications' functionalities as web services, which can be accessed by other applications.
• Management console: The WildFly application server includes a management console that administers the server. We can use the management console to create and configure servers, deploy applications, and monitor the server's performance.

Therefore, WildFly is a highly versatile application server that we can use in a wide variety of settings.

How to install the WildFly server

The best way to get started with WildFly is to download its latest stable version from the WildFly website.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, we need to have the following:

• Java 8, or later, installed on our machine
• The "JAVA_HOME" environment variable

Installation Steps

To install the WildFly server, we must follow the steps below:

1. Download the WildFly application server zip file from the official website: https://www.wildfly.org/downloads/.
2. After downloading WildFly, unzip it to a directory of your choice.

In this directory, you will find the following folders:

• bin: This folder contains the scripts that start and stop the server.
• docs: This folder contains the documentation for WildFly.
• modules: This folder contains the modules that make up WildFly.
• standalone: This folder contains the configuration files for the standalone mode.

This completes our installation. Next, we can start using it to deploy our applications. WildFly also supports web containers including IIS, JBoss Web Server, Netty, embedded Tomcat, and Raya.

Getting started

To start WildFly in standalone mode, we need to navigate to the "bin" directory and run the "standalone.sh" script. This will start WildFly with the default configuration.

It supports the standalone mode, domain mode, and High Availability (HA) profile. In the default configuration, WildFly runs in standalone mode. However, it can also run in domain mode or be clustered across multiple servers.

To stop WildFly, we can press "Ctrl+C" in the console.