A Simple Guide to Understanding and Getting Started with Wildfly

3 min readApr 1, 2023

Introduction

Wildfly, formerly known as JBoss AS (Application Server), is a flexible, lightweight, and high-performance Java-based application server. It is an open-source project developed by Red Hat and is used by developers to build, deploy, and manage Java applications. In this article, we will discuss what Wildfly is, its key features, and how it works. We will also provide some code examples to help you get started with this versatile application server.

What is Wildfly?

Wildfly is a Java EE (Enterprise Edition) certified application server that provides a strong and scalable platform for deploying Java applications. It is designed to support the latest Java standards and APIs, making it an ideal choice for developers who want to build modern, enterprise-grade applications. Wildfly’s architecture is modular and extensible, which allows developers to create custom configurations tailored to their specific needs.

Key Features of Wildfly

Java EE certified: Wildfly fully supports Java EE standards and provides a thorough set of APIs for building enterprise applications.
Lightweight and fast: Wildfly’s lightweight architecture ensures that it consumes minimal resources, which results in better performance and faster startup times.
Modular design: The modular design of Wildfly enables developers to include only the components they need, which reduces the overall footprint of the application server.
Extensible: Wildfly’s extensibility allows developers to create custom configurations and integrate third-party services as needed.
High availability and clustering: Wildfly supports clustering and provides features like load balancing and failover to ensure high availability and reliability.
Management and monitoring: Wildfly includes built-in management and monitoring tools that help developers monitor the performance of their applications and manage the application server effectively.

How Does Wildfly Work?

Wildfly operates as a container for Java applications, providing the necessary runtime environment and services to run and manage them. It includes a set of built-in subsystems that handle various tasks, such as transactions, logging, and security. These subsystems are organized into a modular structure called the Wildfly Core, which can be customized and extended as needed.

Here’s a simple example to demonstrate how you can deploy a basic Java web application using Wildfly:

Step 1: Install Wildfly

First, download the latest version of Wildfly from the official website and extract the archive to a suitable location on your computer.

Step 2: Start Wildfly

Open a terminal (or command prompt on Windows) and navigate to the “bin” directory inside the extracted Wildfly folder. Run the following command to start Wildfly:

./standalone.sh

On Windows, run:

standalone.bat

Step 3: Deploy a Java Web Application

Create a simple Java web application using your favorite IDE (e.g., Eclipse or IntelliJ IDEA). You can use any web framework, such as JSF, Servlet, or JSP. Build the application and generate a WAR file (Web Application Archive).

To deploy the WAR file, simply copy it to the “standalone/deployments” directory in the Wildfly folder. Wildfly will automatically detect the new file and deploy your application.

Step 4: Access the Application

Open your web browser and navigate to the following URL:

http://localhost:8080/YourAppName

Replace “YourAppName” with the name of your web application. You should now see your application running on Wildfly.

Conclusion

We have introduced Wildfly, its key features, and how it works. With its lightweight architecture, modular design, and support for the latest Java standards, Wildfly is a powerful and flexible platform for deploying Java applications. I hope this introduction has provided you with a solid understanding of Wildfly and inspired you to explore its features further.