Release Download

[Migrated From Jforum.net]

Why is the download of the latest release in a .zip format? Wouldn't it make more sense for the newest version to be distributed as a .war file where all you have to do is drop the war file into the webapp's folder of tomcat or use a deployment manager to deploy it? It seems that it would be the most logical thing to do when distributing a java application. I've taken previous versions when upgrading, after making the upgrade changes, and created a war file to be deployed to my production environment and it works just fine. Why can't the downloaded version be a war file?
[originally posted on jforum.net by Fairbo]

[Migrated From Jforum.net]

Interesting ... you mean you can point to a URL on any computer and have your "web admin console" install a war from that URL?

Maybe it is a zip file because zip is a common MIME type in a web server and downloads the binary to the disk; whereas a war extension is not necessarily defined as a MIME type and non-war-aware web browsers will load it into the browser as text instead of download it to a file on disk. Of course your "web admin console" is not a web browser and would probably do the right thing even if the server didn't define the MIME type.

[originally posted on jforum.net by MyJForum]

[Migrated From Jforum.net]

No, what I mean is to have the download be a war file where I can download it to my local computer, then use the "web adming console" to install that war file. This would be less steps for someone to take than the zip file. With a zip file you still have to:
1. download it
2. unzip it
3. find the folder after it's been unzipped
4. rename that folder if you want to
5. copy that folder into the webapps director of your app server.

The war file would also help those that are upgrading and use Eclipse to do the fine modifications. Eclipse has a neat "Import War File" option which will make sure that all the files are put int he correct place and can be run in that environment to test.
[originally posted on jforum.net by Fairbo]

[Migrated From Jforum.net]

What name would you distribute it under? The name of a war file will become the name of the context that gets created. E.g., jforum-2.1.7.war will create a webapp context associated with /jforum-2.1.7.

If it were distributed as a generic jforum.war, then it become harder to track which war is which version of jForum (most folks like to keep install file backups..)
Plus, people have jforum installed in different locations on their servers. So, even if it was a war, people would be DL-ing it and renaming it prior to installing.

Since it's very simple to create a war file with your sites specific needs from the zip, I can't see this being a big advantage. Making a site specific war is about a simple as renaming the DLed war. E.g., just zip up the contents of the jforum-2.1.7 directory and rename it to the local war file you need.

Also, IMHO, it would be VERY bad security/admin procedure to install directly from another person's site.
[originally posted on jforum.net by monroe]

[Migrated From Jforum.net]

You don't have to distribute a generic jforum.war file. That's the best thing about a War file though is that the context root is taken from the name of the war file. You can still distribute the file as jforum-2.1.7.war and when you download it to deploy it you change the name of the war file to be jforum.war. All of the functionality will stay the same, I've done this.

Take any war file that you currently have, make a copy of it and rename it to something else. Then drop that war file into the same app server you are using and you will 2 of the exact same applications running.

If you are using a deployment manager there is also an extra section where it asks you to specify a context root if deploying a war file. This would allow you to NOT change the name of the war file if you wanted to specify the context root there.

I'm not suggesting to install directly from another person's site. I'm saying DOWNLOAD the war file, then deploy it.
[originally posted on jforum.net by Fairbo]

[Migrated From Jforum.net]

You can download a war-distro on jforum.dev.java.net.

But be aware of the latest reports. Namely that log4j for some reason didn't make its way into the jar and zip files. We will release a build 2 release this weekend (Hopefully! I'm not feeling very well.)


[originally posted on jforum.net by lazee]

[Migrated From Jforum.net]

Thanks for the info Lazee. I've found the war file on the site you mentioned. I'm looking forward to the new release when you get it out.
[originally posted on jforum.net by Fairbo]