Overview

This project demonstrates how one may use Maven to dynamically update the Glassfish version # that an application is deployed with.

The plan of attack is as follows:

• define glassfish-web.xml to include a <version-number> element
• the contents of that element is a token which we will replace later
• configure the build to create an exploded WAR
• configure the build to use the replace plugin for maven on the contents of the exploded WAR
• configure the build to package the contents of the exploded WAR as its final artifact

Once the artifact is packaged, it can merely be copied to the destination Glassfish's autodeploy directory. If the deployment is successful, the previously enabled version will be disabled and the new version will be enabled.

This technique is tested to work with Glassfish 3.1.2 and Glassfish 4.0. Other versions may work as well.