WildFly (application server)

WildFly (application server)
Name	WildFly
Developer	Red Hat
Released	2013
Latest release	26.1.0.Final
Programming language	Java
Operating system	Cross-platform
License	GPLv2 with FLOSS exception

WildFly (application server) is an open-source Java application server originally developed by Red Hat as the successor to JBoss Application Server. It provides a runtime for Java Enterprise Edition specifications and is used by organizations including Red Hat, IBM, Oracle Corporation, Microsoft, and Amazon (company) customers for deploying enterprise Java applications. WildFly participates in ecosystems around Eclipse Foundation, Apache Software Foundation, Linux Foundation, and integrates with projects such as Hibernate, Apache ActiveMQ, Eclipse MicroProfile, and Jakarta EE.

History

WildFly traces its lineage to the JBoss family and was introduced as a rebranding and major redesign to succeed JBoss Application Server during the early 2010s. Key milestones include upstream alignment with JBoss AS 7, collaboration with Red Hat Summit announcements, and contributions from corporate partners such as IBM and Oracle Corporation. WildFly evolved alongside standards efforts driven by Java Community Process and later the transition from Java EE to Jakarta EE under the Eclipse Foundation. Prominent releases followed development cycles parallel to projects like Hibernate ORM, Eclipse MicroProfile, and GlassFish, and WildFly's roadmap has been informed by enterprise adopters including CERN, Deutsche Bank, Vodafone, and T-Mobile.

Architecture and Components

WildFly implements a modular kernel based on a microkernel-like architecture influenced by designs from JBoss AS 7 and incorporates components such as the Undertow web server, the Elytron security subsystem, the Infinispan data grid, the Jakarta Persistence implementation via Hibernate ORM, and messaging through Apache ActiveMQ Artemis. The server uses a management model compatible with the Management Model approaches seen in OpenShift deployments and integrates with orchestration platforms like Kubernetes and Docker. Its subsystems expose management operations through the HTTP/JSON management API and the native management protocol originally influenced by JMX patterns used in GlassFish and Apache Tomcat.

Features and Standards Compliance

WildFly implements Jakarta EE specifications previously known as Java EE standards such as Jakarta Servlet, Jakarta RESTful Web Services, Jakarta Messaging, Jakarta Persistence, Jakarta Transactions, and Jakarta Contexts and Dependency Injection. It also supports MicroProfile APIs including Eclipse MicroProfile Config, Eclipse MicroProfile Fault Tolerance, Eclipse MicroProfile Health, and Eclipse MicroProfile Metrics for cloud-native microservices used by organizations such as Netflix, Uber Technologies, and Airbnb in parallel ecosystems. WildFly supports clustering technologies inspired by JGroups and caching via Infinispan, and conforms to servlet containers like Apache Tomcat and application servers like GlassFish for portability.

Administration and Management

Administration is provided by a web-based console influenced by management consoles from Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform and CLI tools comparable to kubectl for Kubernetes or Docker CLI for Docker. WildFly's management model integrates with Ansible, Chef (software), Puppet (software), and Terraform for infrastructure automation used by enterprises such as Accenture and Capgemini. Monitoring and observability are achieved via integrations with Prometheus, Grafana, ELK Stack, and Datadog, while tracing integrates with Jaeger and OpenTracing standards.

Deployment and Integration

WildFly supports deployment formats including WAR, EAR, and JAR artifacts and integrates with build tools like Maven, Gradle, and Ant. It is commonly deployed on platforms such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, Ubuntu, Microsoft Windows Server, and cloud platforms like Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure. Containerized deployments use images compatible with Docker and orchestrators like Kubernetes and OpenShift for microservice architectures advocated by Netflix OSS and Spring Boot ecosystems. WildFly also supports connectors to enterprise systems using protocols from LDAP, Active Directory, OAuth 2.0, and OpenID Connect.

Performance and Scalability

WildFly's performance characteristics benefit from the lightweight Undertow web server, asynchronous I/O patterns similar to Netty, and in-memory data grids like Infinispan for distributed caching used by financial institutions such as JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs. Clustering and session replication use protocols influenced by JGroups to provide high availability strategies like those deployed by eBay and LinkedIn. Benchmarking is often compared against Apache Tomcat, GlassFish, and Payara Server with tuning focused on JVM options from Oracle HotSpot or OpenJDK, garbage collectors like G1 GC and ZGC, and native integrations for OpenShift autoscaling.

Security and Hardening

Security in WildFly is built around the Elytron subsystem with integrations for LDAP, Kerberos, OAuth 2.0, and OpenID Connect identity providers used by enterprises such as Facebook, Google, and Microsoft. Hardening guidance follows patterns advocated by CIS benchmarks and compliance regimes like PCI DSS and HIPAA for regulated deployments in organizations like UnitedHealth Group and PayPal. WildFly supports TLS configuration compatible with Let's Encrypt and key management via HashiCorp Vault and integrates with enterprise secrets managers used by Bank of America and Citigroup. Security updates and CVE handling follow community processes similar to those used by Debian, Ubuntu, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux distributions.

Category:Java enterprise platform