Using start.jar

Using start.jar
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Executing start.jar
start.jar Command Line Options

The most basic way of starting the Jetty standalone server is to execute the start.jar, which is a bootstrap for starting Jetty with the configuration you want.

[jetty-distribution-9.4.5.v20170502]$ java -jar start.jar
2013-09-23 11:27:06.654:INFO:oejs.Server:main: jetty-9.4.5.v20170502
...

Jetty is a highly modularized web server container. Very little is mandatory and required, and most components are optional; you enable or disable them according to the needs of your environment.

At its most basic, you configure Jetty from two elements:

A set of libraries and directories that make up the server classpath.
A set of Jetty XML configuration files (IoC style) that establish how to build the Jetty server and its components.

Instead of editing these directly, Jetty 9.1 introduced more options on how to configure Jetty (these are merely syntactic sugar that eventually resolve into the two basic configuration components).

Jetty Startup Features include:

A separation of the Jetty distribution binaries in ${jetty.home} and the environment specific configurations (and binaries) found in ${jetty.base} (detailed in Managing Jetty Base and Jetty Home.)
You can enable a set of libraries and XML configuration files via the newly introduced module system.
All of the pre-built XML configuration files shipped in Jetty are now parameterized with properties that you can specify in your ${jetty.base}/start.ini (demonstrated in Quick Start Configuration).

These are powerful new features, made to support a variety of styles of configuring Jetty, from a simple property based configuration, to handling multiple installations on a server, to customized stacks of technology on top of Jetty, and even the classic, custom XML configurations of old.

For example, if you use the ${jetty.base} concepts properly, you can upgrade the Jetty distribution without having to remake your entire tree of modifications to Jetty. Simply separate out your specific modifications to the ${jetty.base}, and in the future, just upgrade your ${jetty.home} directory with a new Jetty distribution.

Executing start.jar

When executed start.jar performs the following actions:

Loads and parses all INIs found in ${jetty.base}/start.d/*.ini as command line arguments.
Loads and parses ${jetty.base}/start.ini as command line arguments.
- Please see Start.ini vs. Start.d for more information on the difference between these.
Parses actual command line arguments used to execute start.jar itself.
Resolves any XML configuration files, modules, and libraries using base vs. home resolution steps:
1. Checks whether file exists as relative reference to ${jetty.base}.
2. Checks whether file exists as relative reference to ${jetty.home}.
3. Uses default behavior of java.io.File (Relative to System.getProperty ("user.dir") and then as absolute file system path).
Loads any dependent modules (merges XXNK, library, and properties results with active command line).
Builds out server classpath.
Determines run mode:
- Shows informational command line options and exit.
- Executes Jetty normally, waits for Jetty to stop.
- Executes a forked JVM to run Jetty in, waits for forked JVM to exit.

start.jar Command Line Options

Command Line Options

--help

Obtains the current list of command line options and some basic usage help.

--version

Shows the list of server classpath entries, and prints version information found for each entry.

--list-classpath

Similar to --version, shows the server classpath.

--list-config

Lists the resolved configuration that will start Jetty.

Java environment
Jetty environment
JVM arguments
Properties
Server classpath
Server XML configuration files

--dry-run

Prints the resolved command line that start.jar should use to start a forked instance of Jetty.

--exec

Starts a forked instance of Jetty.

--exec-properties=<filename>

Assign a fixed name to the file used to transfer properties to the sub process. This allows the generated properties file to be saved and reused. Without this option, a temporary file is used.

--commands=<filename>

Instructs start.jar to use each line of the specified file as arguments on the command line.

Debugg and Start Logging

--debug

Enables debugging output of the startup procedure.

Note: This does not set up debug logging for Jetty itself. For information on logging, please see the section on Configuring Jetty Logging.

--start-log-file=<filename>

Sends all startup output to the filename specified. Filename is relative to ${jetty.base}. This is useful for capturing startup issues where the Jetty-specific logger has not yet kicked in due to a possible startup configuration error.

Module Management

--list-modules

Lists all the modules defined by the system. Looks for module files using the normal ${jetty.base} and ${jetty.home} resolution logic. Also lists enabled state based on information present on the command line, and all active startup INI files.

--list-modules=<tag>(,<tag>)*

List modules by tag. Use * for all tags. Prefix a tag with - to exclude the tag. The special tag "internal" is always excluded unless it is explicitly included.

--list-all-modules

List all modules.

--module=<name>,(<name>)*

Enables one or more modules by name (use --list-modules to see the list of available modules). This enables all transitive (dependent) modules from the module system as well. If you use this from the shell command line, it is considered a temporary effect, useful for testing out a scenario. If you want this module to always be enabled, add this command to your ${jetty.base}/start.ini.

--add-to-start=<name>,(<name>)*

Enables a module by appending lines to the ${jetty.base}/start.ini file. The lines that are added are provided by the module-defined INI templates. Note: Transitive modules are also appended. If a module contains an .ini template with properties, you can also edit these properties when activating the module. To do this, simply list the property and its value after the -add-to-start command, such as in the following example:

$ java -jar start.jar --add-to-start=http jetty.http.port=8379 jetty.http.host=1.2.3.4

Doing this will uncomment the property in the associated .ini file and set it to the value specified.

--update-ini

Used to update a specified property or properties that exist in an existing .ini file. Jetty scans the command line, ${jetty.base} and ${jetty.home} for .ini files that have the specified property and update it accordingly.

$ java -jar ../start.jar --update-ini jetty.http.port=8417
ConfigSource <command-line>
ConfigSource ${jetty.base}
INFO  : http            property updated jetty.http.port=8417
INFO  : http            updated ${jetty.base}/start.d/http.ini
ConfigSource ${jetty.home}

--create-startd

Creates a ${jetty.base}/start.d/ directory. If a ${jetty.base}/start.ini file already exists, it is copied to the ${jetty.base}/start.d directory.

Note

With respect to start.ini and start.d/*.ini files, only one of these methods should be implemented. Mixing a start.ini with module specific ini files in the {$jetty.base}/start.d directory can lead to server issues unless great care is taken. Please see Start.ini vs. Start.d for more information.

--write-module-graph=<filename>

Advanced feature: Creates a graphviz dot file of the module graph as it exists for the active ${jetty.base}.

# generate module.dot
$ java -jar start.jar --module=websocket --write-module-graph=modules.dot

# post process to a PNG file
$ dot -Tpng -o modules.png modules.dot

See graphviz.org for details on how to post-process this dotty file into the output best suited for your needs.

--create-files

Create any missing files that are required by initialized modules. This may download a file from the network if the module provides a URL.

--skip-file-validation=<modulename>(,<modulename)*

Disable the [files] section validation of content in the ${jetty.base} directory for a specific module. Useful for modules that have downloadable content that is being overridden with alternatives in the ${jetty.base}` directory.

Caution
This advanced option is for administrators that fully understand the configuration of their ${jetty.base} and are willing to forego some of the safety checks built into the jetty-start mechanism.

--approve-all-licenses: Approve all license questions. Useful for enabling modules from a script that does not require user interaction.

Startup / Shutdown Command Line

--stop

Sends a stop signal to the running Jetty instance.

Note: The server must have been started with various stop properties for this to work.

STOP.PORT=<number>

The port to use to stop the running Jetty server. This is an internal port, opened on localhost, used solely for stopping the running Jetty server. Choose a port that you do not use to serve web traffic.

Required for --stop to function.

STOP.KEY=<alphanumeric>

The passphrase defined to stop the server.

Required for --stop to function.

STOP.WAIT=<number>

The time (in seconds) to wait for confirmation that the running Jetty server has stopped. If not specified, the stopper waits indefinitely for the server to stop.

If the time specified elapses, without a confirmation of server stop, then the --stop command exits with a non-zero return code.

Advanced Commands

--lib=<classpath>: Add arbitrary classpath entries to the the server classpath.
--include-jetty-dir=<path>: Include an extra Jetty directory to use as a source for configuration details. This directory behaves similarly to ${jetty.base} but sits at a layer between ${jetty.base} and ${jetty.home}. This allows for some complex hierarchies of configuration details.
--download=<http-uri>|<location>: If the file does not exist at the given location, download it from the given http URI. Note: location is always relative to ${jetty.base}. You might need to escape the slash "\|" to use this on some environments.

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