WildFly is a lightweight, open-source Java EE application server developed by Red Hat. It is the continuation of JBoss Application Server (JBoss AS), rebranded in 2013 starting with version 8. WildFly is designed to be a high-performance, flexible platform for developing and running Java-based enterprise applications.
Java EE and Jakarta EE Compliance:
- WildFly implements the full suite of Java EE (Enterprise Edition) standards, and since Jakarta EE is the successor to Java EE, newer versions of WildFly also support Jakarta EE.
- This makes it a suitable platform for building scalable and robust enterprise applications, such as web services, enterprise beans, servlets, and other components.
Modular Architecture:
- One of WildFly’s standout features is its highly modular architecture, powered by the JBoss Modules system. This allows administrators to load only the services and components required for a given application, leading to faster startup times and lower memory consumption.
- It supports hot-swapping of services, which means that you can update or add new features without restarting the entire server.
High Performance and Lightweight:
- WildFly is designed to be lightweight and fast, making it an excellent choice for both development environments and production use.
- It’s optimized for quick startup times and low resource consumption while maintaining enterprise-grade capabilities.
Management and Administration:
- WildFly provides both a web-based management console and a command-line interface (CLI) for managing configurations, deployments, and other administrative tasks.
- It also supports domain mode, where multiple instances of WildFly servers can be managed centrally from a single domain controller, useful for managing large-scale deployments.
Scalability:
- WildFly is scalable both vertically (handling increased load on a single instance) and horizontally (adding multiple instances across servers). This makes it adaptable for different kinds of cloud and containerized deployments.
- It supports clustering, load balancing, and high availability configurations to meet enterprise needs.
Flexible Deployment:
- WildFly supports various deployment strategies including hot deployment, where applications can be updated without server restarts.
- It works well with both monolithic and microservices architectures, and it integrates easily with modern CI/CD pipelines.
MicroProfile Support:
- In addition to Jakarta EE, WildFly supports the MicroProfile specifications. MicroProfile is an optimized version of Java EE for microservices development, with features like fault tolerance, metrics, health checks, and more.
Cloud-Ready:
- WildFly is optimized for modern cloud environments. It can be easily deployed in containers (e.g., Docker) and is cloud-native compatible. It integrates with various cloud platforms such as Kubernetes and OpenShift.
- With container support, it’s a popular choice for developers building cloud-native applications using Java.
Security:
- WildFly provides robust security mechanisms, including role-based access control (RBAC), encryption, and authentication mechanisms like LDAP and OAuth2.
- It adheres to security standards set by Jakarta EE, ensuring secure deployments for mission-critical applications.
Extensibility:
- WildFly’s modular architecture allows for easy extensibility. Developers can add custom modules or extend existing ones to tailor the server to specific needs.
- The server’s configuration can be managed through XML files, CLI scripts, or the web-based management console, providing flexibility in how it is administered.
Community and Support:
- As an open-source project, WildFly has a vibrant community that contributes to its development and provides support through forums, mailing lists, and other channels.
- For enterprise-level support, Red Hat offers JBoss EAP (Enterprise Application Platform), which is based on WildFly but includes additional features and long-term support.
- Enterprise Applications: WildFly is a great fit for enterprises building large-scale, distributed, and mission-critical applications. With its full Jakarta EE support, it can host complex business logic and APIs.
- Microservices Development: WildFly’s lightweight nature, together with MicroProfile support, makes it a good choice for microservices architectures. Developers can easily containerize WildFly and deploy it in cloud-native environments.
- Development & Testing: WildFly is also highly popular in development environments due to its fast startup and simple configuration. Its modularity means that developers can focus on testing only the services they need.
- Cloud-Native Applications: With its cloud-ready features, WildFly is suitable for deploying applications in modern cloud environments, leveraging containerization and orchestration tools like Kubernetes.
- WildFly: Open-source, community-driven, and cutting-edge, making it ideal for rapid development cycles and situations where you don’t need enterprise support.
- JBoss EAP (Enterprise Application Platform): The enterprise, supported version of WildFly, maintained by Red Hat. JBoss EAP is a stable, tested platform with long-term support and guaranteed updates, making it more suited to enterprise customers.
WildFly is an excellent choice for Java developers who need a flexible, fast, and standards-compliant application server. Its modularity, cloud-native capabilities, and support for both Jakarta EE and MicroProfile make it suitable for a wide variety of projects, from traditional enterprise applications to modern microservices architectures.
¶ Setup and Configuration
How to setup WildFly
Configure WildFly
Troubleshooting WildFly