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Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +00006 <title>Apache Felix - Apache Felix Framework Usage Documentation</title>
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Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +000010 <div class="title"><div class="logo"><a href="http://felix.apache.org/site/index.html"><img alt="Apache Felix" src="apache-felix-framework-usage-documentation_files/logo.png" border="0"></a></div><div class="header"><a href="http://www.apache.org/"><img alt="Apache" src="apache-felix-framework-usage-documentation_files/apache.png" border="0"></a></div></div>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +000011 <div class="menu">
Karl Pauls6721c022008-12-20 17:15:21 +000012<ul>
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Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +000028 <div class="main">
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +000029<h1><a name="ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation"></a>Apache Felix Framework Usage Documentation</h1>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +000030
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +000031<ul>
32 <li><a href="#ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-downloadingframework">Downloading the Framework</a></li>
33 <li><a href="#ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-startingframework">Starting the Framework</a></li>
34 <li><a href="#ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-frameworkshell">Framework Shell</a>
35 <ul>
36 <li><a href="#ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-installingbundles">Installing Bundles</a></li>
37 <li><a href="#ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-installingbundlesproxies">Web Proxy Issues when Installing Bundles</a></li>
38 </ul>
39 </li>
40 <li><a href="#ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-autodeploy">Bundle Auto-Deploy</a></li>
41 <li><a href="#ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-configuringframework">Configuring the Framework</a>
42 <ul>
43 <li><a href="#ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-migrating">Migrating from Earlier Versions</a></li>
44 <li><a href="#ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-propertysubstitution">System Property Substitution</a></li>
45 </ul>
46 </li>
47 <li><a href="#ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-configuringbundles">Configuring Bundles</a></li>
48 <li><a href="#ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-feedback">Feedback</a></li>
49</ul>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +000050
51
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +000052<p><a name="ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-downloadingframework"></a></p>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +000053
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +000054<h2><a name="ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-DownloadingtheFramework"></a>Downloading the Framework</h2>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +000055
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +000056<p>Go to the <a href="http://felix.apache.org/site/downloads.html" title="downloads">downloads</a> page and download the latest Felix framework distribution.</p>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +000057
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +000058<p><a name="ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-startingframework"></a></p>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +000059
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +000060<h2><a name="ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-StartingtheFramework"></a>Starting the Framework</h2>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +000061
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +000062<p>Start the framework from the installation directory by typing:</p>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +000063
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +000064<div class="preformatted panel" style="border-width: 1px;"><div class="preformattedContent panelContent">
65<pre>java -jar bin/felix.jar
66</pre>
67</div></div>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +000068
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +000069<p>The framework launcher starts the framework and installs and starts all bundles contained in the <tt>bundle</tt>
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +000070directory of the current directory. By default, the bundle directory
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +000071contains shell-related bundles providing a textual user interface to
72interact with the framework. Bundles installed into the framework are
73copied into a bundle cache directory for subsequent executions. By
74default, the framework creates a cache directory, called <tt>felix-cache</tt>,
75in your current working directory. If you want to start the framework
76using a different bundle cache directory, you can do so like this:</p>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +000077
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +000078<div class="preformatted panel" style="border-width: 1px;"><div class="preformattedContent panelContent">
79<pre>java -jar bin/felix.jar &lt;cache-path&gt;
80</pre>
81</div></div>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +000082
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +000083<p>Where <tt>&lt;cache-path&gt;</tt> is the path you want to use as the
84bundle cache. If you specify a relative cache path, then it will be
85treated as relative to the current working directory.</p>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +000086
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +000087<div class="panelMacro"><table class="infoMacro"><colgroup><col width="24"><col></colgroup><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><img src="apache-felix-framework-usage-documentation_files/information.gif" alt="" align="absmiddle" border="0" height="16" width="16"></td><td><b>Useful Information</b><br>Previous
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +000088versions of the framework prompted for a profile name when executed.
89The profile name was used to create a directory inside <tt>.felix/</tt>
90in the user home directory. This approach allowed users to have
91different sets of bundles for different purposes, e.g., testing,
92production, etc. If this behavior is still desired, it is very easy to
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +000093mimic. Modify <tt>conf/config.properties</tt> to include "<tt>felix.cache.rootdir=${user.home}/.felix</tt>". Now, if you start Felix with something like "<tt>java -jar bin/felix.jar foo</tt>", it will use "<tt>${user.home}/.felix/foo/</tt>" as the bundle cache directory, where "<tt>${user.home</tt>}" is automatically substituted with the appropriate system property by the launcher.</td></tr></tbody></table></div>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +000094
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +000095<p><a name="ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-frameworkshell"></a></p>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +000096
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +000097<h2><a name="ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-FrameworkShell"></a>Framework Shell</h2>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +000098
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +000099<p>The main way to interact with the framework is via the supplied Apache Felix Gogo shell. After starting the framework, type <tt>help</tt> into the shell to see the list of the available commands and <tt>help &lt;command-name&gt;</tt> to get help for a specific command.</p>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +0000100
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000101<div class="panelMacro"><table class="infoMacro"><colgroup><col width="24"><col></colgroup><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><img src="apache-felix-framework-usage-documentation_files/information.gif" alt="" align="absmiddle" border="0" height="16" width="16"></td><td><b>Useful Information</b><br>In Gogo, command names are made up of two parts: <tt>&lt;scope&gt;:&lt;name&gt;</tt>. This is similar to a fully qualified class name in Java and is used to avoid naming collisions. If the <tt>&lt;name&gt;</tt> portion of the command is unique, then you only need to type it. If not, then you must either type the full <tt>&lt;scope&gt;:&lt;name&gt;</tt> or arrange the scope search path accordingly.</td></tr></tbody></table></div>
102
103<p>To install bundles, use the <tt>felix:install</tt> command, which is described in more detail in the next <a href="#ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-installingbundles">sub-section</a>. To list installed bundles, use the <tt>felix:lb</tt> command. To stop the framework type <tt>stop 0</tt>
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000104to stop the System Bundle; any installed bundles will automatically be
105reloaded (and potentially restarted) the next time you launch with the
106associated cache.</p>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +0000107
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000108<p><a name="ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-installingbundles"></a></p>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000109
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000110<h3><a name="ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-InstallingBundles"></a>Installing Bundles</h3>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000111
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000112<p>A bundle is the OSGi term for a component for the OSGi framework. A
113bundle is simply a JAR file containing a manifest and some combination
114of Java classes, embedded JAR files, native code, and resources. A
115bundle may provide some specific functionality for the user or it may
116implement a service that other bundles can use; bundles can only use
117functionality from other bundles through shared services and packages.</p>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000118
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000119<p>The Felix framework distribution comes with three bundles, which are located in the <tt>bundle/</tt>
120directory of the framework distribution installation directory. These
121bundles include the Gogo Runtime (core command processing
122functionality), Gogo Shell (text-based shell user interface), Gogo
123Command (basic set of commands), and Bundle Repository (a bundle
124repository service). In addition to these bundles, the bundle
125repository provides access to other bundles for easy installation. The
126bundle repository service provides a set of shell commands in the <tt>obr:*</tt> scope; refer to the <a href="http://felix.apache.org/site/apache-felix-osgi-bundle-repository.html" title="Apache Felix OSGi Bundle Repository">Apache Felix OSGi Bundle Repository</a> for more information.</p>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +0000127
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000128<p>Before installing any bundles, it is important to understand how
129bundles are manually deployed into the framework. Bundles are deployed
130in two stages; first they are installed, then they are started. To
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000131install a bundle use the <tt>felix:install</tt> shell command followed by a bundle URL. For example, to install a <tt>bundle.jar</tt> bundle you type:</p>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000132
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000133<div class="preformatted panel" style="border-width: 1px;"><div class="preformattedContent panelContent">
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000134<pre>felix:install file:/path/to/bundle/bundle.jar
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000135</pre>
136</div></div>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000137
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000138<p>Once a bundle is installed, it can then be started by using the <tt>felix:start</tt> command and the bundle identifier of the desired bundle. The <tt>felix:lb</tt>
139command is used to list installed bundles and to obtain the bundle's
140identifier. The following Felix shell session illustrates how to start
141the <tt>bundle.jar</tt> bundle:</p>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +0000142
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000143<div class="preformatted panel" style="border-width: 1px;"><div class="preformattedContent panelContent">
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000144<pre>g! install file:/path/to/bundle/bundle.jar
145g! lb
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000146START LEVEL 1
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000147 ID|State |Level|Name
148 0|Active | 0|System Bundle (3.0.0)
149 1|Active | 1|Apache Felix Bundle Repository (1.6.2)
150 2|Active | 1|Apache Felix Gogo Command (0.6.0)
151 3|Active | 1|Apache Felix Gogo Runtime (0.6.0)
152 4|Active | 1|Apache Felix Gogo Shell (0.6.0)
153 5|Installed | 1|Example Bundle (1.0.0)
154g! start 5
155Hello from Bundle 5.
156g!
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000157</pre>
158</div></div>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +0000159
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000160<p>The <tt>felix:stop</tt> command is used to stop a bundle and the <tt>felix:uninstall</tt> command is used to remove a bundle from the bundle cache. As an alternative to using the <tt>felix:install</tt> and <tt>felix:start</tt> commands explicitly, it is also possible to install and start a bundle in one step by using the <tt>felix:start</tt> command with a bundle URL.</p>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000161
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000162<p>Bundles can be updated using the <tt>felix:update</tt> command. The
163update command allows you to specify an URL from which to retrieve the
164updated bundle, but if one is not specified it will try to update the
165bundle from the bundle's <tt>Bundle-UpdateLocation</tt> manifest attribute, if present, or the bundle's original location URL.</p>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000166
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000167<div class="panelMacro"><table class="infoMacro"><colgroup><col width="24"><col></colgroup><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><img src="apache-felix-framework-usage-documentation_files/information.gif" alt="" align="absmiddle" border="0" height="16" width="16"></td><td><b>Useful Information</b><br>When you use <tt>felix:update</tt> or <tt>felix:uninstall</tt>,
168the changes appear to take effect immediately, but in reality the
169changes are only partially enacted. If a bundle is updated or
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000170uninstalled and it was exporting packages, these packages are not
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000171removed until the framework is refreshed using the <tt>PackageAdmin</tt> service. The Felix shell offers a convenient <tt>refresh</tt> command for this purpose. This is the correct behavior as defined by the OSGi specification.</td></tr></tbody></table></div>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000172
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000173<p>For an introduction to writing bundles and services, refer to the Felix bundle tutorial.</p>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000174
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000175<p><a name="ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-installingbundlesproxies"></a></p>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000176
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000177<h3><a name="ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-WebProxyIssueswhenInstallingBundles"></a>Web Proxy Issues when Installing Bundles</h3>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +0000178
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000179<p>If you use a proxy for Web access, then you may run into difficulty
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000180using the Gogo shell to install bundles from remote URLs. To remedy
181this situation, certain system properties must be set to make the
182framework work with your proxy. These properties are:</p>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +0000183
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000184<ul>
185 <li><tt>http.proxyHost</tt> - the name of the proxy host.</li>
186 <li><tt>http.proxyPort</tt> - the port of the proxy host.</li>
187 <li><tt>http.proxyAuth</tt>
188- the user name and password to use when connecting to the proxy; this
189string should be the user name and password separated by a colon (e.g.,
190<tt>rickhall:mypassword</tt>).</li>
191</ul>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000192
193
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000194<p>These system properties can be set directly on the command line when starting the JVM using the standard "<tt>-D&lt;prop&gt;=&lt;value&gt;</tt>" syntax or you can put them in the <tt>lib/system.properties</tt> file of your Felix installation; see the next section on <a href="#ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-configuringframework">configuring Felix</a> for more information.</p>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000195
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000196<p><a name="ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-autodeploy"></a></p>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000197
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000198<h2><a name="ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-BundleAutoDeploy"></a>Bundle Auto-Deploy</h2>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +0000199
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000200<p>To minimize the amount of configuration necessary to install bundles
201when you launch the framework, the Felix launcher uses the concept of
202an "auto-deploy" directory. The Felix launcher deploys all bundles in
203the auto-deploy directory into the framework instance during startup.
204By default, the auto-deploy directory is "<tt>bundle</tt>" in the current directory, but it can be specified on the command line like this:</p>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000205
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000206<div class="preformatted panel" style="border-width: 1px;"><div class="preformattedContent panelContent">
207<pre>java -jar bin/felix.jar -b /path/to/dir
208</pre>
209</div></div>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +0000210
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000211<p>Specifying an auto-deploy directory replaces the default directory,
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000212it does not augment it. The framework distribution is configured to
213install and start bundles in the auto-deploy directory. Both the
214location of the auto-deploy directory and the deployment actions
215performed can be controlled by the following configuration properties,
216respectively:</p>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +0000217
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000218<ul>
219 <li><tt>felix.auto.deploy.dir</tt> - Specifies the auto-deploy directory from which bundles are automatically deploy at framework startup. The default is the <tt>bundle/</tt> directory of the current directory.</li>
220 <li><tt>felix.auto.deploy.action</tt>
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000221- Specifies the auto-deploy actions to be performed on the bundle JAR
222files found in the auto-deploy directory. The possible actions are <tt>install</tt>, <tt>update</tt>, <tt>start</tt>, and <tt>uninstall</tt>.
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000223If no actions are specified, then the auto-deploy directory is not
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000224processed (i.e., it is disabled). There is no default value for this
225property, but the default <tt>config.properties</tt> file installed with the Felix framework distribution sets the value to: <tt>install, start</tt></li>
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000226</ul>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +0000227
228
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000229<p>The next section describes how to set and use configuration properties.</p>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +0000230
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000231<p><a name="ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-configuringframework"></a></p>
Karl Pauls3992b552009-09-06 22:21:18 +0000232
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000233<h2><a name="ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-ConfiguringtheFramework"></a>Configuring the Framework</h2>
Karl Pauls3992b552009-09-06 22:21:18 +0000234
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000235<p>Both the Felix framework and the launcher use configuration
236properties to alter their default behavior. The framework can only be
237configured by passing properties into its constructor, but the launcher
238provides a mechanism to configure the framework via a property file.
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000239The framework launcher reads configuration properties from <tt>conf/config.properties</tt>. This file uses standard Java property file syntax.</p>
Karl Pauls3992b552009-09-06 22:21:18 +0000240
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000241<p>The launcher also supports setting system properties via the <tt>conf/system.properties</tt>
242file. This file is purely for convenience when you need to repeatedly
243set system properties when running the framework. While the framework
244itself does not look at system properties, the launcher does copy any
245framework configuration properties found in the system properties into
246the framework configuration map, also for your convenience.</p>
Karl Pauls3992b552009-09-06 22:21:18 +0000247
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000248<p>It is possible to specify different locations for these property files using the <tt>felix.config.properties</tt> and <tt>felix.system.properties</tt> system properties when executing the framework. For example:</p>
Karl Pauls3992b552009-09-06 22:21:18 +0000249
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000250<div class="preformatted panel" style="border-width: 1px;"><div class="preformattedContent panelContent">
251<pre>java -Dfelix.config.properties=file:/home/rickhall/config.properties -jar bin/felix.jar
252</pre>
253</div></div>
254
255<p>Configuration and system properties are accessible at run time via <tt>BundleContext.getProperty()</tt>, but configuration properties override system properties.</p>
256
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000257<p>The following configuration properties are for the launcher:</p>
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000258
259<ul>
260 <li><tt>felix.auto.deploy.dir</tt> - Specifies the auto-deploy directory from which bundles are automatically deploy at framework startup. The default is the <tt>bundle/</tt> directory of the current directory.</li>
261 <li><tt>felix.auto.deploy.action</tt>
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000262- Specifies a comma-delimited list of actions to be performed on bundle
263JAR files found in the auto-deploy directory. The possible actions are <tt>install</tt>, <tt>update</tt>, <tt>start</tt>, and <tt>uninstall</tt>. An undefined or blank value is equivalent to disabling auto-deploy processing.</li>
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000264 <li><tt>felix.auto.install.&lt;n&gt;</tt> - Space-delimited list of bundle URLs to automatically install when Felix is started, where <tt>&lt;n&gt;</tt> is the start level into which the bundle will be installed (e.g., <tt>felix.auto.install.2</tt>).</li>
265 <li><tt>felix.auto.start.&lt;n&gt;</tt> - Space-delimited list of bundle URLs to automatically install and start when Felix is started, where <tt>&lt;n&gt;</tt> is the start level into which the bundle will be installed (e.g., <tt>felix.auto.start.2</tt>).</li>
266 <li><tt>felix.shutdown.hook</tt>
267- Specifies whether the launcher should install a shutdown hook to
268cleanly shutdown the framework on process exit. The default value is <tt>true</tt>.</li>
269</ul>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000270
271
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000272<p>The following configuration properties are for the framework (properties starting with "<tt>felix</tt>" are specific to Felix, while those starting with "<tt>org.osgi</tt>" are standard OSGi properties):</p>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000273
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000274<ul>
275 <li><tt>org.osgi.framework.storage</tt> - Sets the directory to use as the bundle cache; by default bundle cache directory is <tt>felix-cache</tt>
276in the current working directory. The value should be a valid directory
277name. The directory name can be either absolute or relative. Relative
278directory names are relative to the current working directory. The
279specified directory will be created if it does not exist.</li>
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000280 <li><tt>felix.cache.rootdir</tt> - Sets the root directory used to calculate the bundle cache directory for relative directory names. If <tt>org.osgi.framework.storage</tt>
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000281is set to a relative name, by default it is relative to the current
282working directory. If this property is set, then it will be calculated
283as being relative to the specified root directory.</li>
284 <li><tt>org.osgi.framework.storage.clean</tt> - Determines whether the bundle cache is flushed. The value can either be "<tt>none</tt>" or "<tt>onFirstInit</tt>", where "<tt>none</tt>" does not flush the bundle cache and "<tt>onFirstInit</tt>" flushes the bundle cache when the framework instance is first initialized. The default value is "<tt>none</tt>".</li>
285 <li><tt>felix.cache.bufsize</tt>
286- Sets the buffer size to be used by the cache; the default value is
2874096. The integer value of this string provides control over the size
288of the internal buffer of the disk cache for performance reasons.</li>
289 <li><tt>org.osgi.framework.system.packages</tt>
290- Specifies a comma-delimited list of packages that should be exported
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000291via the System Bundle from the framework class loader. The framework
292will set this to a reasonable default. If the value is specified, it
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000293replaces any default value.</li>
294 <li><tt>org.osgi.framework.system.packages.extra</tt>
295- Specifies a comma-delimited list of packages that should be exported
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000296via the System Bundle from the framework class loader in addition to
297the packages in <tt>org.osgi.framework.system.packages</tt>. The default value is empty. If a value is specified, it is appended to the list of default or specified packages in <tt>org.osgi.framework.system.packages</tt>.</li>
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000298 <li><tt>org.osgi.framework.bootdelegation</tt>
299- Specifies a comma-delimited list of packages that should be made
300implicitly available to all bundles from the parent class loader. It is
301recommended not to use this property since it breaks modularity. The
302default value is empty.</li>
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000303 <li><tt>org.osgi.framework.bundle.parent</tt> - Specifies which class loader is used for boot delegation. Possible values are: <tt>boot</tt> for the boot class loader, <tt>app</tt> for the application class loader, <tt>ext</tt> for the extension class loader, and <tt>framework</tt> for the framework's class loader. The default is <tt>boot</tt>.</li>
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000304 <li><tt>felix.bootdelegation.implicit</tt>
305- Specifies whether the framework should try to guess when to
306implicitly boot delegate to ease integration with external code. The
307default value is <tt>true</tt>.</li>
308 <li><tt>felix.systembundle.activators</tt> - A <tt>List</tt> of <tt>BundleActivator</tt>
309instances that are started/stopped when the System Bundle is
310started/stopped. The specified instances will receive the System
311Bundle's <tt>BundleContext</tt> when invoked. (This property cannot be
312set in the configuration file since it requires instances; it can only
313be passed into Felix' constructor directly.)</li>
314 <li><tt>felix.log.logger</tt> - An instance of <tt>Logger</tt>
315that the framework uses as its default logger. (This property cannot be
316set in the configuration file since it requires an instance; it can
317only be passed into Felix' constructor directly.)</li>
318 <li><tt>felix.log.level</tt>
319- An integer value indicating the degree of logging reported by the
320framework; the higher the value the more logging is reported. If zero
321('0') is specified, then logging is turned off completely. The log
322levels match those specified in the OSGi Log Service (i.e., 1 = error,
3232 = warning, 3 = information, and 4 = debug). The default value is 1.</li>
324 <li><tt>org.osgi.framework.startlevel.beginning</tt> - The initial start level of the framework once it starts execution; the default value is 1.</li>
325 <li><tt>felix.startlevel.bundle</tt> - The default start level for newly installed bundles; the default value is 1.</li>
326 <li><tt>felix.service.urlhandlers</tt> - Flag to indicate whether to activate the URL Handlers service for the framework instance; the default value is "<tt>true</tt>". Activating the URL Handlers service will result in the <tt>URL.setURLStreamHandlerFactory()</tt> and <tt>URLConnection.setContentHandlerFactory()</tt> being called.</li>
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000327</ul>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +0000328
329
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000330<p>The Felix framework distribution contains a default <tt>conf/config.properties</tt>.</p>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +0000331
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000332<p><a name="ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-migrating"></a></p>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000333
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000334<h3><a name="ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-MigratingfromEarlierVersions"></a>Migrating from Earlier Versions</h3>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000335
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000336<p>Apache Felix Framework <tt>2.0.0</tt> introduced some configuration property changes. This section describes the differences from older versions of the framework.</p>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000337
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000338<ul>
339 <li><b>Removed</b>
340 <ul>
341 <li><tt>felix.embedded.execution</tt> - No longer needed, since the framework now never calls <tt>System.exit()</tt>; the creator of the framework is now always responsible for exiting the VM.</li>
342 <li><tt>felix.strict.osgi</tt> - No longer needed, since all non-specification features have been removed.</li>
343 <li><tt>felix.cache.dir</tt> - No longer needed, since Felix no longer uses bundle cache profiles for saving sets of bundles.</li>
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000344 <li><tt>felix.cache.profile</tt> - No longer needed, since the framework no longer uses bundle cache profiles for saving sets of bundles.</li>
345 <li><tt>felix.fragment.validation</tt> - No longer needed, since the framework supports fragments.</li>
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000346 </ul>
347 </li>
348 <li><b>Renamed</b>
349 <ul>
350 <li><tt>felix.cache.profiledir</tt> - The equivalent of this property is now named <tt>org.osgi.framework.storage</tt>.</li>
351 <li><tt>felix.startlevel.framework</tt> - The equivalent of this property is now named <tt>org.osgi.framework.startlevel.beginning</tt>.</li>
352 </ul>
353 </li>
354 <li><b>Introduced</b>
355 <ul>
356 <li><tt>org.osgi.framework.system.packages.extra</tt> - New property, as described above, added to align with standard framework API.</li>
357 <li><tt>org.osgi.framework.storage.clean</tt> - New property, as described above, added to align with standard framework API.</li>
358 <li><tt>felix.cache.rootdir</tt> - Introduced as a result of removing bundle profiles to help resolve relative bundle cache directories.</li>
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000359 </ul>
360 </li>
361</ul>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +0000362
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +0000363
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000364<p>For the most part, these changes are minor and previous behavior
365achieved from older configuration properties is either easily attained
366with the new properties or no longer necessary.</p>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +0000367
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000368<p><a name="ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-propertysubstitution"></a></p>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +0000369
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000370<h3><a name="ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-SystemPropertySubstitution"></a>System Property Substitution</h3>
Karl Pauls3992b552009-09-06 22:21:18 +0000371
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000372<p>It is possible to use system properties to specify the values of properties in the <tt>conf/config.properties</tt> file. This is achieved through system property substitution, which is instigated by using <tt>${&lt;property&gt;</tt>} syntax, where <tt>&lt;property&gt;</tt>
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000373is the name of a system property to substitute. When the properties
374file is read, any such property values are substituted as appropriate.
375It is possible to have nested system property substitution, in which
376case the inner-most property is substituted first, then the next inner
377most, until reaching the outer most.</p>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +0000378
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000379<p><a name="ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-configuringbundles"></a></p>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000380
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000381<h2><a name="ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-ConfiguringBundles"></a>Configuring Bundles</h2>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000382
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000383<p>Some bundles use properties to configure certain aspects of their
384behavior. It is a good idea, when implementing bundles, to parameterize
385them with properties where appropriate. To learn about the
386configuration options for specific bundles, refer to the documentation
387that accompanies them.</p>
Karl Pauls3d699792008-11-06 16:22:54 +0000388
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000389<p>Bundle properties may also be defined in the <tt>conf/config.properties</tt> property file. Any property placed in this file will be accessible via <tt>BundleContext.getProperty()</tt>
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000390at run time. The property file uses the standard Java property file
391syntax (i.e., attribute-value pairs). For information on changing the
392default location of this file, refer to the section on <a href="#ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-configuringframework">configuring Felix</a>.</p>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000393
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000394<p><a name="ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-feedback"></a></p>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000395
Karl Paulsfeff79c2009-10-11 20:18:06 +0000396<h2><a name="ApacheFelixFrameworkUsageDocumentation-Feedback"></a>Feedback</h2>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000397
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000398<p>Subscribe to the Felix users mailing list by sending a message to <a href="mailto:users-subscribe@felix.apache.org" class="external-link" rel="nofollow">users-subscribe@felix.apache.org</a>; after subscribing, email questions or feedback to <a href="mailto:users@felix.apache.org" class="external-link" rel="nofollow">users@felix.apache.org</a>.</p>
Richard S. Hall2cd5bed2007-07-16 20:32:41 +0000399 </div>
Karl Pauls9edcb3a2010-06-06 21:44:50 +0000400 </body></html>