Patching DXP Source Code

Auto mechanics, enthusiasts, and prospective owners ask about cars, “What’s under the hood?” Here are common reasons for asking that question:

• Concern about an issue
• Curiosity about the car’s capability and inner-workings
• Desire to improve or customize the car

You might have similar reasons for asking “What’s under DXP’s hood?” And since you get access to DXP Digital Enterprise (DXP)’s source code, you can attach a debugger and see it in action! Setting up the code locally is your ticket to exploring DXP, investigating issues, and making improvements and customizations.

Here’s how:

1. Download DXP, the DXP source code, and patches

2. Prepare DXP

3. Patch the DXP source code

Step 1: Download DXP, the DXP source code, and patches

1. Download a DXP bundle (or DXP JARs) and the DXP source code for the version you’re using from the customer portal.

2. Download fix packs and their source code from here. Fix pack ZIP files that end in -src.zip contain a fix pack and source code.

Next install and configure DXP. DXP’s patching tool lets you install fix packs and fix pack source code. If you have a patched DXP installation already and want to use it, skip to the section below on patching the DXP source code.

Step 2: Prepare DXP

Preparing DXP locally involves installing, configuring, and patching DXP.

Install and Configure DXP

Here’s how to install and configure DXP:

1. Install and Deploy DXP locally.

2. Start DXP.

3. Configure DXP to use your database.

4. Stop DXP.

It’s time apply the DXP patches you want.

Patch DXP

Here’s how to patch DXP:

1. Copy all the patch ZIP files you want to [LIFERAY_HOME]/patching-tool/patches. The -src.zip fix pack files are best to use because they contain both the fix pack binaries and source code.

2. Open a command line to [LIFERAY_HOME]/patching-tool.

3. Run the command patching-tool.sh auto-discovery to generate the default patching profile called default.properties. Make sure the profile’s properties refer to your DXP installation. See the patching tool documentation for more details.

   Here’s an example profile:

   patching.mode=binary
   war.path=../tomcat-9.0.6/webapps/ROOT/
   global.lib.path=../tomcat-9.0.6/lib/ext/
   liferay.home=../
   

4. To list all the patch files available in [LIFERAY_HOME]/patching-tool/patches, execute the following command:

   patching-tool.sh info
   

5. Execute this command to install the patches:

   patching-tool.sh install
   

   The patching tool documentation describes additional steps that might apply to your situation, such as creating database indexes.

It’s time to prepare the DXP source code and patch source code.

Step 3: Patch the DXP Source Code

Unzip the DXP source code to where you want to work with it.

Next you’ll create a patching tool profile for your DXP source code.

Create a Patching Tool Profile for the Source Code

Here’s how to create a profile that refers to your source code.

1. Execute the following command to create a profile. Replace [profile] with a name for your profile.

   patching-tool.sh auto-discovery [profile]
   

2. In the profile properties file generated in the previous step, set the patching.mode property to source and set the source.path property to your source code path:

   patching.mode=source
   source.path=[DXP source code path]
   

It’s time to apply the DXP patches you downloaded earlier.

Patch the Source Code

DXP’s patching tool is safe and easy to use. Beyond installing patches, it has these functions:

• List a patch’s code changes
• List the issues (LPS/LPE tickets) a patch fixes
• Revert a patch

See the following patching tool documentation for more details:

• Comparing Patch Levels
• Removing or Reverting Patches

In addition to using the patching tool to manage DXP source code, you can optionally manage it in a version control system such as Git.

Here are commands for setting up the DXP source code in Git:

cd [path to source code root folder]
git init
git add .
git commit -a

Here are the command descriptions:

• init creates a Git repository for the current folder (i.e., the root folder) and all its contents.
• add stages the root folder and its contents.
• commit checks in the staged files.

You can commit any code changes (e.g., DXP patches) to your Git repository.

The patching tool installs all patches and patch source code from the ZIP files it finds in [LIFERAY_HOME]/patching-tool/patches. All your patches must be in the patches folder for the patching tool to apply them.

1. Copy all the patch source ZIP files to [LIFERAY_HOME]/patching-tool/patches if you haven’t already copied them there.

2. Execute the info command to make sure it lists your patches. If a patch isn’t listed, copy its ZIP file into the patches folder. Replace [profile] with your DXP source code profile name:

   patching-tool.sh [profile] info
   

3. Apply the patches by executing the install command on your profile:

   patching-tool.sh [profile] install
   

Your DXP installation and source code is patched and ready to debug!

Attach your favorite debugger to your DXP instance and start the server. See your debugger’s documentation for configuration details.

Congratulations! You’re free to explore DXP inside and out!

Related Topics

Troubleshooting FAQ

Liferay Dev Studio DXP