The WSO2 Application Server is fully-open source and developed based on the lean, component-based WSO2 Carbon platform. It utilizes Apache Tomcat and is capable of hosting any kind of Web application deployable in Tomcat. The WSO2 Application Server also has extensive Web application and Web service management capabilities. Users can simply and effectively create, consume and manage their applications and services in a unified manner through the Application Server's "Management Console" user-interface.
Unlike many over-bloated, proprietary solutions, WSO2 has created a new platform that cuts out unnecessary layers, supporting the full WS-* stack in a simple, clean, lightweight model. It is reliable, scalable and supports secure communication and transactional integration based on the concept of loose coupling. Web applications inherit features such as authentication/authorization, user management from the WSO2 Carbon platform.
The WSO2 Application Server brings together a number of open source projects into a single, seamless, easy-to-use offering. Instead of having you to download different parts of the Apache Web services stack separately and assemble them together, WSO2 has already done that for you. With the WSO2 AS, you get a single, integrated package with lots of additional features which are inherited from the powerful WSO2 Carbon platform.
The WSO2 Application Server is an on-going project. It undergoes continuous improvements and enhancements with each new release, to address new business challenges and customer expectations. WSO2 invites users, developers and enthusiasts to get involved or get the assistance from our development teams at many different levels through online forums, mailing lists and support options. We are committed to ensure you a fulfilling user experience at any level of involvement with the WSO2 Application Server.
What is new in this Release
The WSO2 Application Server version 5.0.0 is the successor of version 4.1.2 and has several new features, enhancements and defect fixes included in it. For a list of fixed defects in this release, refer to: WSO2 Application Server 5.0.0 - Fixed Issues.
New Features and Enhancements:
- Server-side JavaScript development support through Jaggery.
- Apache CXF / JAX-WS and JAX-RS support.
- Complete Tomcat compliance.
- Lazy loading enabled for optimum resource utilization.
- WSO2 Mashup server is now integrated into the Application Server, enabling users to host and manage enterprise mashups.
- Enhanced filtering options to logs - through application logs users can filter and view logs of selected applications.
- The URL mapping functionality for applications and services.
- Session replication enabled in clustered environments.
- Enhanced filtering options in feature management - capability to group features by category when installing.
Known Issues
For a list of known issues in the Application Server version 5.0.0, please refer to the following link in WSO2 Oxygen Tank: WSO2 Application Server 5.0.0 - Known Issues.
Community Resources
WSO2 is willing to provide you guidance for any technical issues or questions regarding the Application Server product. You can communicate with the WSO2 Application Server development team directly using the relevant mailing lists mentioned here: http://wso2.org/mail.
WSO2 encourages you to report issues and enhancement requests for WSO2 Application Server using the publicJIRA available at https://wso2.org/jira/browse/WSAS. You can also track their resolutions and comment on the progress.
Questions regarding the Application Server can also be raised through http://stackoverflow.com. Ensure that you tag the question with appropriate keywords such as WSO2 and Application Server so that our team can easily find your questions and provide answers.
For tutorials, articles, Webinars and similar resources, visit the WSO2 Oxygen Tank and search under the Resources menu.
Support Options
WSO2 also offers a variety of development and production support programs, ranging from Web-based support during normal business hours, to premium 24x7 phone support. WSO2 is committed to ensuring that your enterprise middleware deployment is completely supported from evaluation to production. Our unique approach ensures that support leverages the open development methodology and is provided by the very same engineers who build the products. For additional support information please refer to http://wso2.com/support.
Get Involved
WSO2 invites you to contribute by checking out the source from SVN using the following commands. This project uses Subversion to manage its source code. Instructions on Subversion can be found at http://svnbook.red-bean.com.
The WSO2 Application Server release 5.0.0 is based on Carbon 4.0.0.
Anonymous Checkout
The complete source including the Carbon platform can be checked out anonymously from SVN with this command:
$ svn checkout http://svn.wso2.org/repos/wso2/carbon/kernel/branches/4.0.0 wso2carbon
The list of commands that can be run are as follows. If you only want to build the Application Server, you have to always use the option "-Dproduct=as".
| mvn clean install -Dproduct=as | To create the complete release artifacts of WSO2 AppServer including the binary and source distributions. |
| mvn clean install -Dmaven.test.skip=true -Dproduct=as | To create the complete release artifacts of WSO2 AppServer including the binary and source distributions, without running any of the unit tests. |
| mvn clean install -Dmaven.test.skip=true -Dproduct=as -o | To create the complete release artifacts of WSO2 AppServer including the binary and source distributions, without running any of the unit tests, in offline mode. This can be done only if you've already built the source at least once. |
Developer Access
Everyone can access the Subversion repository via HTTPS, but Committers must checkout via HTTPS. The Carbon framework related source code can be checked out using the following commands.
$ svn checkout https://svn.wso2.org/repos/wso2/carbon/kernel/branches/4.0.0 wso2carbon
The Carbon core project is the root project of the OSGi platform on which the Java product stack is built. The Carbon components contain all the components not just the Application Server specific ones. Therefore, you need to build just the set of components required by the Application Server, using the following command:
$ mvn clean install -Dproduct=as
Execute the following command to commit your changes (SVN will prompt you for password).
$ svn commit --username your-username -m "A message"
Access through a Firewall
If you are behind a corporate firewall which is blocking http access to the Subversion repository, you can try the developer connection:
$ svn checkout https://svn.wso2.org/repos/wso2/trunk/carbon carbon
Access through a Proxy
The Subversion client can be configured to access through a proxy.
1) Specify the proxy to use in the "servers" configuration file in:
- "~/.subversion" directory for Linux/Unix
- "%APPDATA%\Subversion" hidden directory for Windows. (Try "echo %APPDATA%")
2) There are comments in the file explaining what to do. If you don't have this file, get the latest Subversion client and run any command. It will create the configuration directory and template files.
Example : Edit the 'servers' file and add something similar to:
[global] http-proxy-host = your.proxy.name http-proxy-port = 3128