Capistrano for Java?

Question

I'm a big fan of Capistrano but I need to develop an automated deployment script for a Java-only shop. I've looked at Ant and Maven and they don't seem to be well geared towards remote administration the way Capistrano is - they seem much more focused on simply building and packaging applications. Is there a better tool out there?

Answer 1

I don't think there is a Capistrano-like application for Java Web Applications, but that shouldn't really keep you from using it (or alternatives like Fabric) to deploy your applications. As you've already said, Ant is more a replacement for GNU Make while Maven is primary a buildout/dependency-management application.

Since Java Web Applications are thanks to the .war container less dependent on external libraries, you can (depending on your application server) make deploying an application as easy as running a simple HTTP PUT-request.

But if you require additional steps, Fabric has worked very well for me so far and I assume that Capistrano also offers generic shell-command, put and get operations. So I wouldn't look for too long for an alternative if what you already have already works :-)

Answer 2

At my work we use Capistrano exclusively to deploy all of our Java applications. It is definitely possible.

Answer 3

Bob, Do you have a blog sharing your experience about capistrano for java apps. Such a thing would be of interest to many folks :-)

Answer 4

I use a capistrano recipe for building dspace (a java webapp, which in turn uses maven) from source : Installing dspace using capistrano