Apache Felix & Web Start: loading bundles

Question

I've read similar questions but I still don't have all the pieces together.

Is it possible (and if yes how) to start an Apache Felix based OSGi desktop application via Java Web Start?

My main concern is that you have to specify the bundles somewhere in JNLP file if you want to enable the update checks of Web Start (which is a requirement). But the only thing I see that could help is a jar resource. But this would just add jars to the classpath, not starting them as bundles.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

Right, any JARs you list in the JNLP will simply be put on the classpath. There is no way to get Web Start to install them as bundles, because Web Start knows nothing about OSGi.

You could use Web Start to kick off a small launcher application, which consists of just the OSGi Framework and a "management agent" of some kind. That management agent could then use other means (eg OBR) to install and update bundles from a repository.

This approach would also help you to eventually migrate from Web Start entirely, which would be for the best since Web Start is obsolete and may not even be supported in future versions of Java.