Run Ant tasks from web application - tool for JBoss deploying

Question

I have a Java application that due it's size I need to deploy in two or three steps. I'm deploying it over OpenShift container.

• First step creates database and prepares application configuration.
• Second step should load data into databases and rebuild war using updated configuration.
• Third step deploys the application on JBoss.

All those three steps are already automated using Ant tasks. First step is ran before starting JBoss.

I need to run the remaining two after JBoss is started. So, one idea is to create a wizard/installer app that invokes those tasks in the background until the process completes (2-3min). Then, after successfully deployment, inform the user that the application is ready to be used.

I'm not very familiar with Java deployment tools alternatives, I would not like to use system calls to invoke ant. So, does this makes sense or there are other tools that I can leverage and allow me to achieve the same result?

Answer 1

Couldn't you use action_hooks on OpenShift to execute certain tasks before or after certain stages of the deployment? Such as the post_deploy action hook? https://www.openshift.com/developers/deploying-and-building-applications