JBoss and Global JNDI Entries

In Tomcat, global JNDI entries can be added to the server.xml file to allow for JNDI entries to be shared across all deployed applications needing them. Trying to find way to get global JNDI entries in JBoss 4 was difficult, but the solution was easy. Probably a Google search string issue, anyway on to the solution.

How do you add global JNDI entries to JBoss?
To add global JNDI entries you simply create (edit if it exists) an jboss-service.xml file and use the JNDIBindingServiceMgr MBean.

jboss-service.xml:

   <?xml    version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE server    PUBLIC "-//JBoss//DTD MBean    Service    4.0//EN"
         "http://www.jboss.org/j2ee/dtd/jboss-service_4_0.dtd">
<server>
  <mbean code="org.jboss.naming.JNDIBindingServiceMgr"
        name="jboss.tests:service=JNDIBindingServiceMgr">
     <attribute    name="BindingsConfig" serialDataType="jbxb">
        <jndi:bindings
           xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
           xmlns:jndi="urn:jboss:jndi-binding-service:1.0"
           xs:schemaLocation="urn:jboss:jndi-binding-service:1.0 resource:jndi-binding-service_1_0.xsd">
           <jndi:binding name="urls/jboss-home">
              <jndi:value type="java.net.URL">http://www.jboss.org</jndi:value>
           </jndi:binding>

           <jndi:binding name="urls/scotts-test">
              <jndi:value type="java.lang.String">http://www.yahoo.com</jndi:value>
           </jndi:binding>

           <jndi:binding name="hosts/localhost">
              <jndi:value editor="org.jboss.util.propertyeditor.InetAddressEditor">127.0.0.1</jndi:value>
           </jndi:binding>
           <jndi:binding name="maps/testProps">
              <java:properties xmlns:java="urn:jboss:java-properties"
                 xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
                 xs:schemaLocation="urn:jboss:java-properties resource:java-properties_1_0.xsd">
                 <java:property>
                    <java:key>key1</java:key>
                    <java:value>value1</java:value>
                 </java:property>
                 <java:property>
                    <java:key>key2</java:key>
                    <java:value>value2</java:value>
                 </java:property>
              </java:properties>                
           </jndi:binding>
        </jndi:bindings>
     </attribute>
  </mbean>

</server>


</server>

Simply add/edit a jndi:binding to suit your needs and you will be able to access from either your EJB or web application. The Java code to access the entries in /urls including "scotts-test" above, simply perform the following in your enterprise application.


Retrieving Global JNDI Entries:
Context ctx = new InitialContext();
NamingEnumeration items = ctx.listBindings("/urls");
while ( items.hasMoreElements() ) {
System.out.println( items.next().toString() );
}


Some are probably wondering where the jboss-service.xml file goes. The place that worked for me was into <JBOSS_HOME>/server/default/deploy and then restart JBoss.

Related Links:
JBoss Wiki on JNDIBindingServiceMgr