Installing Liferay DXP on Wildfly

Liferay DXP 7.1 bundled with Wildfly 11 is available on the Customer Portal (DXP) or Liferay Downloads (Portal CE). Liferay DXP 7.1 supports deployment to Wildfly 10 and Wildfly 11. Even if you want to manually install Liferay DXP on an existing Wildfly application server, it can be helpful to download a Liferay DXP Wildfly bundle to make gathering the dependencies easier. Before proceeding, also download these Additional Files for DXP or Portal CE:

• Liferay DXP WAR file
• Dependencies ZIP file
• OSGi Dependencies ZIP file

Installing Liferay DXP manually takes three steps:

• Installing dependencies to your application server
• Configuring your application server for Liferay DXP
• Deploying the Liferay DXP WAR file to your application server

Liferay Home is the folder containing your Wildfly server folder. After installing and deploying Liferay DXP, the Liferay Home folder contains the Wildfly server folder as well as data, deploy, logs, and osgi folders. $WILDFLY_HOME refers to your Wildfly server folder. It is usually named wildfly-[version].

Installing Dependencies

Liferay DXP depends on many JARs that are included in the Liferay DXP Wildfly bundle. Some of the bundle’s JARs are not strictly required but can still be useful. If you don’t have a Liferay DXP Wildfly bundle, download the required JARs from third-parties as described below.

1. Create the folder $WILDFLY_HOME/modules/com/liferay/portal/main if it doesn’t exist and extract the dependencies ZIP JARs to it:

   • com.liferay.petra.concurrent.jar
   • com.liferay.petra.executor.jar
   • com.liferay.petra.function.jar
   • com.liferay.petra.io.jar
   • com.liferay.petra.lang.jar
   • com.liferay.petra.memory.jar
   • com.liferay.petra.nio.jar
   • com.liferay.petra.process.jar
   • com.liferay.petra.reflect.jar
   • com.liferay.petra.string.jar
   • com.liferay.registry.api.jar
   • hsql.jar
   • portal-kernel.jar
   • portlet.jar

2. Download your database driver .jar file and copy it into the same folder. For example, copy MySQL’s driver into the $WILDFLY_HOME/modules/com/liferay/portal/main folder. The mariadb.jar, mysql.jar, and postgresql.jar driver JARs are also available in the Wildfly bundle.

3. Create the file module.xml in the $WILDFLY_HOME/modules/com/liferay/portal/main folder and insert this configuration:

   <?xml version="1.0"?>
   
   <module xmlns="urn:jboss:module:1.0" name="com.liferay.portal">
       <resources>
           <resource-root path="com.liferay.petra.concurrent.jar" />
           <resource-root path="com.liferay.petra.executor.jar" />
           <resource-root path="com.liferay.petra.function.jar" />
           <resource-root path="com.liferay.petra.io.jar" />
           <resource-root path="com.liferay.petra.lang.jar" />
           <resource-root path="com.liferay.petra.memory.jar" />
           <resource-root path="com.liferay.petra.nio.jar" />
           <resource-root path="com.liferay.petra.process.jar" />
           <resource-root path="com.liferay.petra.reflect.jar" />
           <resource-root path="com.liferay.petra.string.jar" />
           <resource-root path="com.liferay.registry.api.jar" />
           <resource-root path="hsql.jar" />
           <resource-root path="mysql.jar" />
           <resource-root path="portal-kernel.jar" />
           <resource-root path="portlet.jar" />
       </resources>
       <dependencies>
           <module name="javax.api" />
           <module name="javax.mail.api" />
           <module name="javax.servlet.api" />
           <module name="javax.servlet.jsp.api" />
           <module name="javax.transaction.api" />
       </dependencies>
   </module>
   

   If you use a different database, replace the MySQL .jar with the driver JAR for your database (e.g., HSQL, PostgreSQL, etc.).

4. Create an osgi folder in your Liferay Home folder. Extract the OSGi ZIP file that you downloaded into the osgi folder.

   The osgi folder provides the necessary modules for Liferay DXP’s OSGi runtime.

Checkpoint:

1. At this point, you should have the following files in the $WILDFLY_HOME/modules/com/liferay/portal/main folder:

   • com.liferay.petra.concurrent
   • com.liferay.petra.executor.jar
   • com.liferay.petra.function.jar
   • com.liferay.petra.io.jar
   • com.liferay.petra.lang.jar
   • com.liferay.petra.memory.jar
   • com.liferay.petra.nio.jar
   • com.liferay.petra.process.jar
   • com.liferay.petra.reflect.jar
   • com.liferay.petra.string.jar
   • com.liferay.registry.api.jar
   • portal-kernel.jar
   • portlet.jar
   • a database JAR such as the MySQL Connector.

2. The module.xml has listed all JARs in the <resource-root-path> elements.

3. The osgi folder has the following subfolders:

   • configs
   • core
   • marketplace
   • modules
   • portal
   • static
   • test
   • war

Great! You have your .jar files ready.

Running Liferay DXP on Wildfly in Standalone Mode vs. Domain Mode

Wildfly can be launched in either standalone mode or domain mode. Domain mode allows multiple application server instances to be managed from a single control point. A collection of such application servers is known as a domain. For more information on standalone mode vs. domain mode, please refer to the section on this topic in the Wildfly Admin Guide. Liferay DXP fully supports Wildfly in standalone mode but not in domain mode.

You can run Liferay DXP on Wildfly in domain mode, but this method is not fully supported. In particular, Liferay DXP’s hot-deploy does not work with a managed deployment, since Wildfly manages the content of a managed deployment by copying files (exploded or non-exploded). This prevents JSP hooks and Ext plugins from working as intended. For example, JSP hooks don’t work on Wildfly running in managed domain mode, since Liferay DXP’s JSP override mechanism relies on the application server. Since both of these features are deprecated, however, you may not be using them.

The command line interface is recommended for domain mode deployments.

Note: This does not prevent Liferay DXP from running in a clustered environment on multiple Wildfly servers. You can set up a cluster of Liferay DXP instances running on Wildfly servers running in standalone mode. Please refer to the chapter of this guide on Liferay DXP Clustering for information on setting up a Liferay DXP cluster.

Configuring Wildfly

Configuring Wildfly to run Liferay DXP includes these things:

• Setting environment variables
• Setting properties and descriptors
• Removing unnecessary configurations

Optionally, you can configure Wildfly to manage Liferay DXP’s data source and mail session.

Start with configuring Wildfly to run Liferay DXP.

Make the following modifications to $WILDFLY_HOME/standalone/configuration/standalone.xml:

1. Locate the closing </extensions> tag. Directly beneath that tag, insert the following system properties:

   <system-properties>
       <property name="org.apache.catalina.connector.URI_ENCODING" value="UTF-8" />
       <property name="org.apache.catalina.connector.USE_BODY_ENCODING_FOR_QUERY_STRING" value="true" />
   </system-properties>
   

2. Add the following <filter-spec> tag within the <console-handler> tag, directly below the <level name="INFO"/> tag:

   <filter-spec value="not(any(match(&quot;WFLYSRV0059&quot;),match(&quot;WFLYEE0007&quot;)))" />
   

3. Add a timeout for the deployment scanner by setting deployment-timeout="360" as seen in the excerpt below.

   <subsystem xmlns="urn:jboss:domain:deployment-scanner:2.0">
       <deployment-scanner deployment-timeout="360" path="deployments" relative-to="jboss.server.base.dir" scan-interval="5000" runtime-failure-causes-rollback="${jboss.deployment.scanner.rollback.on.failure:false}"/>
   </subsystem>
   

4. Add the following JAAS security domain to the security subsystem <security-domains> defined in element <subsystem xmlns="urn:jboss:domain:security:2.0">.

   <security-domain name="PortalRealm">
       <authentication>
           <login-module code="com.liferay.portal.security.jaas.PortalLoginModule" flag="required" />
       </authentication>
   </security-domain>
   

5. Remove the following Weld-related tags:

   • <extension module="org.jboss.as.weld"/>
   • <subsystem xmlns="urn:jboss:domain:weld:4.0"/>

6. Remove the two code snippets providing welcome content:

   <location name="/" handler="welcome-content"/>
   

   and

   <handlers>
       <file name="welcome-content" path="${jboss.home.dir}/welcome-content"/>
   </handlers>
   

7. Find the <jsp-config/> tag and set the development, source-vm, and target-vm attributes in the tag. Once finished, the tag should look like this:

   <jsp-config development="true" source-vm="1.8" target-vm="1.8" />
   

Checkpoint:

Before continuing, verify the following properties have been set in the standalone.xml file:

1. The new <system-property> is added.

2. The new <filter-spec> is added.

3. The <deployment-timeout> is set to 360.

4. The new <security-domain> is created.

5. Weld tags are removed.

6. Welcome content is removed.

7. The <jsp-config> tag contains its new attributes.

Now you must configure your JVM and startup scripts.

In the $WILDFLY_HOME/bin/ folder, you must make these modifications to your standalone domain’s configuration script file standalone.conf (standalone.conf.bat on Windows):

• Set the file encoding
• Set the user time-zone
• Set the preferred protocol stack
• Increase the default amount of memory available.

Make the following edits as applicable for your operating system:

Windows:

1. Comment out the initial JAVA_OPTS assignment like this:

   rem set "JAVA_OPTS=-Xms64M -Xmx512M -XX:MetaspaceSize=96M -XX:MaxMetaspaceSize=256m"
   

2. Add the following JAVA_OPTS assignment one line above the :JAVA_OPTS_SET line found at end of the file:

   set "JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8 -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true -Djboss.as.management.blocking.timeout=480 -Duser.timezone=GMT -Xmx2048m -XX:MaxMetaspaceSize=512m -XX:MetaspaceSize=200m"
   

Unix:

1. Below the if [ "x$JAVA_OPTS" = "x" ]; statement, replace this JAVA_OPTS statement:

   JAVA_OPTS="-Xms64m -Xmx512m -XX:MetaspaceSize=96M -XX:MaxMetaspaceSize=256m -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true"
   

   with this:

   JAVA_OPTS="-Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true"
   

2. Add the following statement to the bottom of the file:

   JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8 -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true  -Djboss.as.management.blocking.timeout=480 -Duser.timezone=GMT -Xmx2048m -XX:MaxMetaspaceSize=512m -XX:MetaspaceSize=200m"
   

Important: For Liferay DXP to work properly, the application server JVM must use the GMT time zone and UTF-8 file encoding.

Note: If you plan on using the IBM JDK with your Wildfly server, you must complete some additional steps. First, navigate to the $WILDFLY_HOME/modules/com/liferay/portal/main/module.xml file and insert the following dependency within the <dependencies> element:

<module name="ibm.jdk" />

Then navigate to the $WILDFLY_HOME/modules/system/layers/base/sun/jdk/main/module.xml file and insert the following path names inside the <paths>...</paths> element:

<path name="com/sun/crypto" />
<path name="com/sun/crypto/provider" />
<path name="com/sun/org/apache/xml/internal/resolver" />
<path name="com/sun/org/apache/xml/internal/resolver/tools" />

The added paths resolve issues with deployment exceptions and image uploading problems.

Checkpoint:

At this point, you’ve finished configuring the application server’s JVM settings.

1. The file encoding, user time-zone, preferred protocol stack have been set in the JAVA_OPTS in the standalone.conf.bat file.

2. The default amount of memory available has been increased.

The prescribed script modifications are now complete for your Liferay DXP installation on Wildfly. Next you’ll configure your database.

Database Configuration

The easiest way to handle database configuration is to let Liferay DXP manage your data source. The Basic Configuration page lets you configure Liferay DXP’s built-in data source. If you want to use the built-in data source, skip this section.

MySQL is used as the example below. If you’re using a different database, modify the data source and driver snippets as necessary.

If you want Wildfly to manage your data source, follow these steps:

1. Add your data source inside $WILDFLY_HOME/standalone/configuration/standalone.xml file’s <datasources> element:

   <datasource jndi-name="java:jboss/datasources/ExampleDS" pool-name="ExampleDS" enabled="true" jta="true" use-java-context="true" use-ccm="true">
       <connection-url>jdbc:mysql://localhost/lportal</connection-url>
       <driver>mysql</driver>
       <security>
           <user-name>root</user-name>
           <password>root</password>
       </security>
   </datasource>
   

   Be sure to replace the database name (i.e., lportal), user name, and password with the appropriate values.

   Note: If you must change your datasource jndi-name to something different, you must also edit the datasource element in the <default-bindings> tag.

2. Add your driver to the standalone.xml file’s <drivers> element also found within the <datasources> element:

   <drivers>
       <driver name="mysql" module="com.liferay.portal">
           <driver-class>com.mysql.jdbc.Driver</driver-class>
       </driver>
   </drivers>
   

   Your final data sources subsystem should look like this:

   <subsystem xmlns="urn:jboss:domain:datasources:1.0">
       <datasources>
           <datasource jndi-name="java:jboss/datasources/ExampleDS" pool-name="ExampleDS" enabled="true" jta="true" use-java-context="true" use-ccm="true">
               <connection-url>jdbc:mysql://localhost/lportal</connection-url>
               <driver>mysql</driver>
               <security>
                   <user-name>root</user-name>
                   <password>root</password>
               </security>
           </datasource>
           <drivers>
               <driver name="mysql" module="com.liferay.portal">
                   <driver-class>com.mysql.jdbc.Driver</driver-class>
               </driver>
           </drivers>
       </datasources>
   </subsystem>
   

3. In a portal-ext.properties file in your Liferay Home, specify your data source:

   jdbc.default.jndi.name=java:jboss/datasources/ExampleDS
   

Now that you’ve configured your data source, the mail session is next.

Mail Configuration

As with database configuration, the easiest way to configure mail is to let Liferay DXP handle your mail session. If you want to use Liferay DXP’s built-in mail session, skip this section and configure the mail session in the Control Panel.

If you want to manage your mail session with Wildfly, follow these steps:

1. Specify your mail subsystem in the $WILDFLY_HOME/standalone/configuration/standalone.xml file like this:

   <subsystem xmlns="urn:jboss:domain:mail:3.0">
       <mail-session jndi-name="java:jboss/mail/MailSession" name="mail-smtp">
           <smtp-server ssl="true" outbound-socket-binding-ref="mail-smtp" username="USERNAME" password="PASSWORD"/>
      </mail-session>
   </subsystem>
   ...
   <socket-binding-group name="standard-sockets" default-interface="public" port-offset="${jboss.socket.binding.port-offset:0}">
   ...
   <outbound-socket-binding name="mail-smtp">
           <remote-destination host="smtp.gmail.com" port="465"/>
       </outbound-socket-binding>
   </socket-binding-group>
   

2. In your portal-ext.properties file in Liferay Home, reference your mail session:

   mail.session.jndi.name=java:jboss/mail/MailSession
   

You’ve got mail! Next, you’ll deploy Liferay DXP to your Wildfly app server.

Deploying Liferay DXP

Now you’re ready to deploy Liferay DXP using the Liferay DXP WAR file.

1. If the folder $WILDFLY_HOME/standalone/deployments/ROOT.war already exists in your Wildfly installation, delete all of its subfolders and files. Otherwise, create a new folder called $WILDFLY_HOME/standalone/deployments/ROOT.war.

2. Unzip the Liferay DXP .war file into the ROOT.war folder.

3. To trigger deployment of ROOT.war, create an empty file named ROOT.war.dodeploy in your $WILDFLY_HOME/standalone/deployments/ folder. On startup, Wildfly detects the presence of this file and deploys it as a web application.

4. Start the Wildfly application server by navigating to $WILDFLY_HOME/bin and running standalone.bat or standalone.sh.

Congratulations; you’ve deployed Liferay DXP on Wildfly!

After deploying Liferay DXP, you may see excessive warnings and log messages, such as the ones below, involving PhaseOptimizer. These are benign and can be ignored. Make sure to adjust your app server’s logging level or log filters to avoid excessive benign log messages.

May 02, 2018 9:12:27 PM com.google.javascript.jscomp.PhaseOptimizer$NamedPass process
WARNING: Skipping pass gatherExternProperties
May 02, 2018 9:12:27 PM com.google.javascript.jscomp.PhaseOptimizer$NamedPass process
WARNING: Skipping pass checkControlFlow
May 02, 2018 9:12:27 PM com.google.javascript.jscomp.PhaseOptimizer$NamedPass process
INFO: pass supports: [ES3 keywords as identifiers, getters, reserved words as properties, setters, string continuation, trailing comma, array pattern rest, arrow function, binary literal, block-scoped function declaration, class, computed property, const declaration, default parameter, destructuring, extended object literal, for-of loop, generator, let declaration, member declaration, new.target, octal literal, RegExp flag 'u', RegExp flag 'y', rest parameter, spread expression, super, template literal, modules, exponent operator (**), async function, trailing comma in param list]
current AST contains: [ES3 keywords as identifiers, getters, reserved words as properties, setters, string continuation, trailing comma, array pattern rest, arrow function, binary literal, block-scoped function declaration, class, computed property, const declaration, default parameter, destructuring, extended object literal, for-of loop, generator, let declaration, member declaration, new.target, octal literal, RegExp flag 'u', RegExp flag 'y', rest parameter, spread expression, super, template literal, exponent operator (**), async function, trailing comma in param list, object literals with spread, object pattern rest]