New packaging options for ServiceMix

A while ago, Ioannis Canellos added a few new packaging options to the upcoming Apache ServiceMix 4.4.0 release to better reflect these recommendations. Our upcoming Apache ServiceMix 4.4.0 release will have 4 different assembly types ...

Our default assembly (called apache-servicemix) no longer has the NMR or the JBI support preinstalled. You can still install those as optional features, but the focus is on ActiveMQ, Camel and CXF instead. This is the set of technologies we recommend new users to start with, so it makes sense to have our default assembly reflect these recommendations.

With this default assembly, installing the optional features will download the additional bundles required for that feature. If you're running Apache ServiceMix on a server that does not have direct access to the internet, this is not very convenient. That's why we also have a full distribution now (called apache-servicemix-full) that has all the bundles sitting ready in the system folder for quick and offline installation.

If you're an existing NMR or JBI user, the apache-servicemix-jbi distribution builds on top of the default assembly and adds JBI and NMR support. It also comes with all the existing JBI components from earlier versions of Apache ServiceMix.

And finally, the apache-servicemix-minimal contains all the configuration and features definitions that come with Apache ServiceMix, but with none of the features preinstalled. This allows you to install just those features that your project requires.

P.S. We now have all the dependencies for Apache ServiceMix 4.4.0 available and are just fixing a few last things so expect one of my next blog posts to be about this new release