Miles to go ...

LOTD #9: Advantages of JRuby over MRI

Andreas blogged about why he likes JRuby even though he dislikes Java.

JRuby is "It's just Ruby" with more than 50,000 tests to ensure MRI compliance. The blog highlights that there is no need to know Java, at all, to run JRuby. Here are some advantages that are described in the blog:

1. JVM runtime optimization
2. Efficient memory usage
3. Native threads to spread work on multiple cores
4. Great garbage collection to make memory usage more efficient
5. JIT and AOT compilation
6. Inegration with Java libraries
7. Running Rails applications on existing Java application servers
8. Documentation and specs

Posted by Arun Gupta in web2.0  |  Comments[0]

LOTD #9: Slides for Deploying and Monitoring Ruby on Rails Tutorial @ Rails Conf Europe 2008

During Rails Conf Europe 2008 Day 1 I attended an excellent tutorial on Deploying and Monitoring Ruby on Rails. The session very clearly explained the several deployment options with Rails. My notes from the session are here and the slides are now available. 

Here are couple of snapshots from the slide:





The complete set of slides from Rails Conf Europe 2008 are available here.

Technorati: conf railsconf glassfish deployment rubyonrails berlin

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Kenai - High Throughput and Scalable Rails on GlassFish

Kenai (pronounced 'keen-eye') is a fictional character from Disney's Brother Bear series. It's also a river, mountain range, national park, peninsula and a city in the southern coast of Alaska in the United States. But that's got nothing to do (as much as I know) with either Rails or GlassFish.

But Project Kenai was announced last week. It's a developer hub with SCM, issue tracking, forums and similar stuff you need for hosting your open source projects. And it is a Rails application deployed on GlassFish v2.

Posted by Arun Gupta in web2.0  |  Comments[0]

TOTD #44: JDBC Connection Pooling for Rails on GlassFish v3

TOTD #9 explained how to configure JDBC connection pooling for Rails application deployed on GlassFish v2. There are several benefits of using using the JDBC connection pools:

• No need to create a new database connection for each Rails instance.
• No need to specify your password in database.yml or create a hack to hide it.
• No garbage collection of connection after each use.

1. Lets create a simple scaffold
   
   

   ~/samples/jruby >~/tools/jruby-1.1.3/bin/jruby -S rails jndi_rails2 -d mysql ~/samples/jruby/jndi_rails2 >~/tools/jruby-1.1.3/bin/jruby script/generate scaffold runner miles:float minutes:integer ~/samples/jruby/jndi_rails2 >~/tools/jruby-1.1.3/bin/jruby -S rake db:create ~/samples/jruby/jndi_rails2 >~/tools/jruby-1.1.3/bin/jruby -S rake db:migrate

2. Install MySQL ActiveRecord JDBC adapter
   
   

   ~/samples/jruby/jndi_rails2 >~/tools/jruby-1.1.3/bin/jruby -S gem install activerecord-jdbcmysql-adapter

3. Copy MySQL Connector/J jar to JAVA_HOME/lib/ext
   
   

   ~/samples/jruby/jndi_rails2 >sudo cp ~/tools/mysql-connector-java-5.1.6/mysql-connector-java-5.1.6-bin.jar /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6/Home/lib/ext

4. Start GlassFish v3 server as ...
   
   

   ~/tools/glassfish/v3/b23/glassfishv3-prelude/glassfish >java -Xmx512m -DJRUBY_HOME=/Users/arungupta/tools/jruby-1.1.3 -jar modules/glassfish-10.0-SNAPSHOT.jar

5. Setup JDBC connection pool
1. Create JDBC connection pool
   
   

   ~/samples/jruby/jndi_rails2 >~/tools/glassfish/v3/b23/glassfishv3-prelude/glassfish/bin/asadmin create-jdbc-connection-pool --datasourceclassname com.mysql.jdbc.jdbc2.optional.MysqlConnectionPoolDataSource --restype javax.sql.DataSource --property "User=duke:Password=duke:URL=jdbc\:mysql\://localhost/jndi_rails2_production" jdbc/jndi_rails2_pool

2. Create JDBC resource
   
   

   ~/samples/jruby/jndi_rails2 >~/tools/glassfish/v3/b23/glassfishv3-prelude/glassfish/bin/asadmin create-jdbc-resource --connectionpoolid jdbc/jndi_rails2_pool jdbc/jndi_rails2

3. Ping JDBC pool
   
   

   ~/samples/jruby >~/tools/glassfish/v3/b23/glassfishv3-prelude/glassfish/bin/asadmin ping-connection-pool jdbc/jndi_rails2_pool

6. Change the development database in config/database.yml to:
   
   

   development:   adapter: jdbc   jndi: jdbc/jndi_rails2   driver: com.mysql.jdbc.Driver

7. Run your app as
   
   

   ~/samples/jruby >~/tools/glassfish/v3/b22/glassfishv3-prelude/glassfish/bin/asadmin deploy jndi_rails2

Posted by Arun Gupta in web2.0  |  Comments[7]

Rails Conf Europe 2008 and Bratwurst-on-Rails

I arrived Berlin yesterday on a non-adventurous United flight from San Francisco, just the way I like it! The flight from Frankfurt was delayed 30 minutes but that's normal these days :)

The venue of RailsConf Europe 2008 is same as last year so street names/geography are somewhat familiar. But the conference hotel was sold out so am instead staying across the street. Visited Brandenburger Tor for a short duration after checking into the hotel. Also stopped by the Peugeot showroom on Unter den Linden and saw popular bear figurines in a side street. The evening ended with a social gathering celebrating the popular German culture of Bratwurst-on-Rails.

It's always exciting to meet my blog readers, thank you! Let me know if I'm missing any of your expectations.

The tutorial starts today and the conference starts tomorrow. If you are in Berlin, don't forget to attend the joint JUG and TU-Berlin talk. And my talk on "Rails powered by GlassFish" is scheduled on Thursday, Sep 4 @ 1:40pm.

The evening really eneded with a 40 minutes run and dinner in room service. The Jolly Hotel is really nice, newer rooms, courteous staff, delicious and very neatly prepared Club Chicken sandwich and prompt room service, definitely a good recommendation. However the fitness center is minimal with one ultra-loud treadmill and 3 other basic machines. The hotel staff informed that they are working on furnishing the fitness center (known as Wellness Center here). And there is only one American channel which is only talking about Storm Gustav and Republican National Convetion, Juno of Juneau since my arrival  :(

Anyway, enjoy the pictures so far!

Posted by Arun Gupta in web2.0  |  Comments[0]

FREE Ticket to Rails Conf Europe 2008

Are you a Start up company interested in jump starting and meets the following criteria ?

In business six years or less A maximum of 150 employees, including any affiliates Based in a country in which the program is offered A verifiable company presence (website, company profile, etc.) Agree to accept the program's terms and conditions

Posted by Arun Gupta in web2.0  |  Comments[1]

Typo on GlassFish v3 - Ruby-on-Rails Blogging Engine

Typo is an open-source Blogging Engine written using Ruby-on-Rails framework. It provides a lean engine that makes blogging easy. It's main attribtues are ease of use, usability, beauty and excellent support of web standards.

1. Typo can be installed as Gem or from Sources. Installing as gem gives the following error:
   
   

   JRuby limited openssl loaded. gem install jruby-openssl for full support. http://wiki.jruby.org/wiki/JRuby_Builtin_OpenSSL Building native extensions.  This could take a while... /Users/arungupta/tools/rails20/jruby-1.1.3/lib/ruby/1.8/mkmf.rb:7: JRuby does not support native extensions. Check wiki.jruby.org for alternatives. (NotImplementedError)         from /Users/arungupta/tools/rails20/jruby-1.1.3/lib/ruby/1.8/mkmf.rb:1:in `require'         from extconf.rb:1 ERROR:  Error installing typo:         ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension. /Users/arungupta/tools/rails20/jruby-1.1.3/bin/jruby extconf.rb install typo Gem files will remain installed in /Users/arungupta/tools/rails20/jruby-1.1.3/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mysql-2.7 for inspection. Results logged to /Users/arungupta/tools/rails20/jruby-1.1.3/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mysql-2.7/gem_make.out

   
   This is discussed here. In the meanwhile, download and unzip Typo 5.1.2 as:
   
   

   ~/samples/jruby >unzip ~/Downloads/typo-5.1.2.zip Archive:  /Users/arungupta/Downloads/typo-5.1.2.zip    creating: typo-5.1.2/    creating: typo-5.1.2/app/    creating: typo-5.1.2/app/apis/    . . .   inflating: typo-5.1.2/vendor/uuidtools/lib/uuidtools.rb    inflating: typo-5.1.2/vendor/uuidtools/rakefile    inflating: typo-5.1.2/vendor/uuidtools/README

2. Create the database:
   
   

   ~/samples/jruby >sudo mysqladmin create typo_dev

   
   Typo 5.1.x works with Rails 2.0.x only and so migrate as shown below:
   
   

   ~/samples/jruby/typo-5.1.2 >~/tools/rails20/jruby-1.1.3/bin/jruby -S rake db:migrate (in /Users/arungupta/samples/jruby/typo-5.1.2) == 1 InitialSchema: migrating ================================================= -- create_table(:users)    -> 0.0377s -- create_table(:articles)    -> 0.0189s -- add_index(:articles, :permalink)    -> 0.0094s -- create_table(:categories)    -> 0.0069s  . . . == 69 AddModulesToProfile: migrating ========================================== -- add_column(:profiles, :modules, :text)    -> 0.0072s == 69 AddModulesToProfile: migrated (0.0454s) ================================= == 70 AddUsersToNonAdmins: migrating ========================================== == 70 AddUsersToNonAdmins: migrated (0.0488s) =================================


Typo 5.2 (scheduled in 3 days) will work with Rails 2.1.

3. Download GlassFish (nightly, promoted or build-your-own) and install by unzipping. I tried the nightly of 8/24 as:
   
   

   ~/tools/glassfish/v3/8-24 >unzip ~/Downloads/glassfish-snapshot-v3-prelude-08_24_2008.zip Archive:  /Users/arungupta/Downloads/glassfish-snapshot-v3-prelude-08_24_2008.zip    creating: glassfish/    creating: glassfish/docs/    creating: glassfish/docs/css/    creating: glassfish/docs/graphics/ . . .   inflating: glassfish/lib/templates/login.conf    inflating: glassfish/lib/templates/profile.properties    inflating: glassfish/lib/templates/server.policy

4. Start GlassFish as:
   
   

   ~/tools/glassfish/v3/8-24/glassfish >java -DJRUBY_HOME=/Users/arungupta/tools/rails20/jruby-1.1.3 -jar modules/glassfish-10.0-SNAPSHOT.jar Aug 26, 2008 5:56:10 PM com.sun.enterprise.glassfish.bootstrap.ASMain main INFO: Launching GlassFish on Apache Felix OSGi platform Welcome to Felix. ================= Aug 26, 2008 5:56:11 PM HK2Main start INFO: contextRootDir = /Users/arungupta/tools/glassfish/v3/8-24/glassfish/modules Aug 26, 2008 5:56:11 PM OSGiFactoryImpl initialize . . . INFO: APIClassLoader = Class Loader for Bundle [GlassFish-Application-Common-Module [66] ] Aug 26, 2008 5:56:13 PM CommonClassLoaderManager Skipping creation of CommonClassLoader as there are no libraries available INFO: urls = [] Aug 26, 2008 5:56:13 PM com.sun.enterprise.v3.server.AppServerStartup run INFO: Glassfish v3 started in 2176 ms

5. And deploy Typo as:
   
   

   ~/samples/jruby >~/tools/glassfish/v3/8-24/glassfish/bin/asadmin deploy typo-5.1.2 Command deploy executed successfully.

Posted by Arun Gupta in web2.0  |  Comments[1]

Interested in a 30 second promotion in Rails Conf Europe 2008 ?

Are you deploying Rails application on GlassFish  in any manner (WAR-based, Gem or Technology Preview 2) ? Are you using Rails and GlassFish combination in a creative way ? Having you been following Rails/GlassFish development/deployment options and have an opinion ?

Posted by Arun Gupta in web2.0  |  Comments[2]

LOTD #6: Rails Deployment on GlassFish in 4 steps and 15 minutes

Charlie describes, in 4 easy steps, how to deploy any Rails application on GlassFish:



The main steps are:

Step 1: The App Server
Step 2: Package your App
Step 3: Deploy your application
Step 4: Tweaking (Optional)

And it should only take 15 minutes on GlassFish v2!

The conclusion of the blog is:

Hopefully this walkthrough clears up some confusion around JRuby on Rails deployment to an app server. It's really a simple process, despite the not-so-simple history surrounding Enterprise Application Servers, and GlassFish almost makes it fun :)

The next version, GlassFish v3, allows Rails application to be deployed natively, i.e. no packaging is required. You create a Rails application and run it - just the way you are used to! Read all about it here.

All previous entries in this series are archived at LOTD.

Technorati: lotd rubyonrails jruby ruby glassfish

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GlassFish @ Berlin-Brandenburg JUG and TU Berlin

I'll be providing an overview of GlassFish - engineering update on v2 and v3, adoption & success stories, and the vibrant community around it at a joint Berlin-Brandenburg JUG and TU-Berlin meet on Sep 3, 2008.

Posted by Arun Gupta in web2.0  |  Comments[3]

LOTD #4: Rails running on GlassFish @ LinkedIn

Light Engineering team (BumperSticker fame) at LinkedIn has chosen GlassFish for running their Rails application. One of the developers on the team reports:

Using Warbler, we successfully wrapped our Rails applications into WAR files and deployed on Glassfish (we’ll probably write a more detailed tutorial of this at a future date). A WAR file is completely self contained application that can be deployed simply by copying to an autodeploy directory. No more Apache/Nginx reverse proxy, no more Capistrano, no more installing gems on a production container, no more of any of that madness. This was a huge win, and we broke out the champagne bottles.

Read the complete entry at:

JDBC Connection Pooling for Rails on GlassFish

Stay tuned for more details!

NetBeans development and GlassFish deployment already provide an ideal environment for Rails deployment. You can read about successful deployments of Rails and GlassFish here.

All previous entries in this series are archived at LOTD.

Technorati: lotd rubyonrails jruby ruby netbeans glassfish stories

Posted by Arun Gupta in web2.0  |  Comments[0]

Welcome Jacob to blogsphere!

Jacob Kessler is a new hire in GlassFish Scripting team and is blogging, welcome Jacob!

Read how he will apply Aritificial Intelligence prinicples for dynamic configuration of JRuby runtime pools in GlassFish :)

Technorati: glassfish rubyonrails dynamiclanguages

Posted by Arun Gupta in General  |  Comments[0]

LOTD #3: Rails 2.2 going multi-threaded

Rails 2.2 is slated to become multi-threaded. What does it mean for JRuby users ? Charles Nutter explains it:

Q/A: What Thread-Safe Rails Means

One of the key points from the blog is:

Rails deployments on JRuby will use 1/Nth the amount of memory they use now, where N is the number of thread-unsafe Rails instances currently required to handle concurrent requests. Even compared to green-threaded implementations running thread-safe Rails, it willl likely use 1/Mth the memory where M is the number of cores, since it can parallelize happily across cores with only "one" instance.

NetBeans development and GlassFish deployment already provide an ideal environment for Rails deployment.

All previous entries in this series are archived at LOTD.

Technorati: lotd rubyonrails jruby ruby netbeans glassfish

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GlassFish @ Rails Conf Europe 2008

Sun Microsystems is a diamond sponsor of Rails Conf Europe 2008 and we'll be there!

Here is the list of Sun sessions:

• Tuesday, 9/2/2008
• Take the JRuby Challenge: Deploy Your Rails Application with JRuby and Taste the Difference, 13:30, Saul Maritim A
• Wednesday, 9/3/2008
• JRuby: The Other Red Meat, 10:45 - 11:30, Saal 2
• Achieving High Throughput and Scalability with JRuby on Rails, 13:40 - 14:25, Saal 2
• Meet the Sun You Don't Know, 16:45, Saul Maritim ABC
• Thursday, 9/4/2008
• Developing Ruby and Rails Applications with the NetBeans IDE, 10:45 - 11:30, Saul Maritim C
• Rails powered by GlassFish, 13:40 - 14:25, Saul Maritim B

• Rails Conf Europe Home
• Schedule (create-your-personal)
• Promotion Banners/Buttons
• Bratwurst-on-Rails (Pre-conference socializing)
• Rails Conf Blog

• JRuby in GlassFish
• NetBeans Ruby Support

Posted by Arun Gupta in web2.0  |  Comments[2]

JRuby on GlassFish v2 - screencast from community

Here is a (year old) community contributed video showing how to deploy a Ruby-on-Rails application on GlassFish v2 application server:


The presenter is not speaking and typing really fast, I wish there was a slower playback available :)

Anyway, thanks to Angsuman for the tip!

Screencast #Web9 shows how to deploy a Rails application as WAR in GlassFish v2. Some other relevant entries are:

• JRuby 1.1.3 - Getting Started with GlassFish
• NetBeans 6.5: GlassFish v3 + Rails

Posted by Arun Gupta in web2.0  |  Comments[0]