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This article will show you how to configure Apache Geronimo server to run as a Microsoft Windows service. Currently, there are two options for running the server as a Windows service:

Apache Commons Daemon

Software Prerequisites

Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0+. For example, Version 2.0 is available for download at the following URL:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=0856eacb-4362-4b0d-8edd-aab15c5e04f5&displaylang=en

Installing Apache Commons Daemon

To set up Apache Geronimo server to run as a Microsoft Windows service using Apache Commons Daemon you will need to install the procrun plugin. Use the Administrative Console or deployer tool to install the plugin: name of the plugin is "Windows Service Wrapper".

Using Apache Commons Daemon

Once the plugin is installed you can install Apache Geronimo server as a Windows service by running the following command:

<geronimo_home>\bin\service_pr.bat install

For example:

This will create a Geronimo service for the server with the name "geronimosrv" with default parameters. You can start/stop the Geronimo service using Windows' Services tool or by using <geronimo_home>\bin\geronimosrvw.exe tool.

To remove the Apache Geronimo service run the following command:

<geronimo_home>\bin\service_pr.bat remove

For example:

Java Service Wrapper

A Java Service Wrapper will be required as an additional software to achieve this configuration. Using a service wrapper gives you some additional "control" on the service you are configuring such as the ability to ping the service and take action if the service is down.

Software Prerequisites

To set up Apache Geronimo server to run as a Microsoft Windows service you will certainly need a Java Service Wrapper. For this example we used Java Service Wrapper 3.2.3 available for download at the following URL:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/wrapper/

For this example we are also using Apache Geronimo v3.0 running on Windows XP. You can download Apache Geronimo binaries from the following URL:

http://geronimo.apache.org/downloads.html

Installing Apache Geronimo

Follow the normal process for installing Apache Geronimo. Instructions are located at Apache Geronimo Quickstart. Basically extract the zip file to a directory of your convenience. Throughout the rest of the article this directory will be referred to as <geronimo_home>.

Installing the Java Service Wrapper

Follow the instructions for installing Java Service Wrapper. Once you download the right version for your environment you extract the zip file to a directory of your convenience. Throughout the rest of the article this directory will be referred to as <jsw_home>.

For this particular example we will try to locate all the wrapper related files within the Geronimo directory structure, so we will have to copy some files over.

Once you install the wrapper copy these as indicated in the following table.

In addition, the following files will also be created as part of this configuration process.

• <geronimo_home>/bin/g_service.bat
• <geronimo_home>/bin/Install_Geronimo_NT.bat
• <geronimo_home>/bin/Uninstall_Geronimo_NT.bat
• <geronimo_home>/var/config/wrapper.conf

Configuring the Wrapper

The Java Service Wrapper comes with a sample configuration file wrapper.conf pre-configured to run a test script also provided, this file located in the <jsw_home>\conf directory. In this section we provide a Geronimo specific wrapper.conf file for your convenience.

As we are trying to keep all the wrapper files within Geronimo's directory structure, create the configuration file as illustrated in the following example and place it in the <geronimo_home>/var/config directory.

wikiwrapper.conf^wrapper.conf

This service wrapper allows three different methods of integration depending on, among other things, whether you use the same class or not to start and stop the server.

For Geronimo we will use the simplest method of integration as the server can shutdown cleanly when System.exit() is called. For this integration the wrapper's mainclass is set to WrapperSimpleApp and the org.apache.geronimo.cli.daemon.DaemonCLI class is specified as the main class to start the server. Right now, no extra parameters are passed to start the server but they can be specified by adding additional wrapper.app.parameter values. The wrapper will stop the server by calling System.exit().

As we mentioned before, for this example we are trying to locate all the wrapper related files within the Geronimo directory structure. As you can see in the wrapper.conf shown above, most of the directory references are relative to Geronimo's installation directory. You will only have to replace <geronimo_home> and <java_home> with the appropriate settings for your environment.

Next, download and place g_service.bat batch file in the <geronimo_home>/bin directory. This batch file runs the service from the command line without the need of actually installing the service. This is particularly helpful when testing and debugging the configuration.

You can now should be able to run Geronimo as a service from a command line. Simply run the following command:

<geronimo_home>/bin/g_service.bat

You should see a screen similar to the following example, note that part has been truncated for display purposes.

Congratulations!!! you have now Geronimo server running as a Windows service.

The next step is to actually install the service so it can be picked up at Windows start time as well as managed along with the other existing services.

Installing/Removing the service

The following two batch files are provided to install and remove Geronimo as a Windows service. Download and place the Install_Geronimo_NT.bat and Uninstall_Geronimo_NT.bat in the <geronimo_home>/bin directory. Please note that some modifications to the batch files might be necessary.

To install Apache Geronimo as a MS Windows service run the following command:

<geronimo_home>/bin/Install_Geronimo_NT.bat

You should get a confirmation screen similar to this example.

To remove the Apache Geronimo service run the following command:

<geronimo_home>/bin/Uninstall_Geronimo_NT.bat

You should get a confirmation screen similar to this example.