Overview - WildFly 13

This Release Note covers all point releases for WildFly that are offered by eApps. Upgrade instructions are included.

WildFly is the continuation of the JBoss Application Server (JBoss AS) project. It is essentially JBoss AS 8, but the project was renamed by Red Hat in order to differentiate the open source JBoss AS project from the commercial Red Hat JBoss Middleware project.

WildFly 13 is only available for Virtual Servers running CentOS 6 or CentOS 7. If you are on a CentOS 5 (Webmin) or CentOS 4 (VPS) plan and need WildFly 13, you will need to migrate to a CentOS 6 or CentOS 7 plan. Contact eApps Sales for more information.

WildFly 13 requires Java SE 8. It will not run with Java SE 6 or Java SE 7.

Along with the name change, WildFly 13 is a major update to the existing JBoss AS 7. This release has introduced new functionality and significant changes to the existing Application Server. If you are upgrading from any prior version of JBoss to WildFly, there is a HIGH RISK of data loss and downtime if you do not carefully test your existing application with this new version.

eApps recommends, as a best practice, to maintain a staging server where you can test software upgrades before moving them into production. This approach will allow you to minimize the risk of data loss and downtime of your production service when performing software upgrades. If necessary, you can rebuild your staging Virtual Server on demand so that you have a fresh installation to test on. If you need more information about setting up a Virtual Server for staging or testing, please contact eApps Sales.

IMPORTANT: WildFly 13 has an extensive list of new features and changes. See the Official WildFly 13 Release Notes for a list of changes that may cause issues when upgrading: WildFly Release Notes. Please read this document carefully to understand all the changes in WildFly Upgrading may significantly impact the operation of your database and applications. All WildFly documentation is located here: WildFly Documentation

eApps Release Notes for WildFly 13.0.0

How to Upgrade
WildFly 9, WildFly 10, or WildFly 11 to latest WildFly

Highlighted Features and Fixes in WildFly 13.0.0

Features

• WildFly 13 is now internally built using project Galleon, a new provisioning model for WildFly we plan to roll out in coming releases
• Java 10 compatibilty has been improved
• A major upgrade to the WildFly administration console (HAL version 3)
• Infinispan has been updated to 9.2
• Hibernate ORM has been updated to 5.3 when running in EE8 mode

The official Release Notes for WildFly 13.0.0 are available here

How to Upgrade

It is your responsibility to ensure that your application will work on the newer version of WildFly. There may be incompatibilities that will affect how your application works. Please make sure that you have read the official Release Notes and Changelog, and have done any necessary testing before upgrading a production application.

Before upgrading WildFly make a backup of your database. Follow the instructions for your database: MySQL, MariaDB, or PostgreSQL.

You should also make a backup of your application, your configuration, and any tunings or changes you have made. If you do not have current backups and something goes wrong during the upgrade process, you could have data loss.

The upgrade from JBoss (any version) or any previous version of WildFly to WildFly 10 has to be done manually, there is no way to automate the process. Please read the upgrade instructions for your scenario and proceed accordingly. Failure to follow the correct upgrade instructions can result in data loss and extended downtime for your applications and users.

WildFly 9, WildFly 10, or WildFly 11

There is no direct upgrade path from WildFly 9, WildFly 10, or WildFly 11 To upgrade from WildFly 9, WildFly 10, or WildFly 11 you will need to make a backup of your existing application, database, configuration, and any customizations and tunings, and then uninstallWildFly 9, WildFly 10, or WildFly 11 and reinstall WildFly to get the latest version. Once WildFly is installed, you will need to redeploy your application and all configurations and databases.

It is highly recommended that you provision a test Virtual Server, install WildFly and your database server, and then copy your existing application, configurations, and database to the test VS. This will allow you to fully test that your existing application will work with WildFly before moving it into production. Once you have completed your testing you can then upgrade your production Virtual Server, and then cancel the test VS. Instructions on how to install WildFly are available here - WildFly Installation

To upgrade fromWildFly 9, WildFly 10, or WildFly 11 to the latest WildFly, you will need to do the following:

1. UninstallWildFly 9, WildFly 10, or WildFly 11 from the ISPmanager Control Panel
2. Install WildFly from the ISPmanager Control Panel and redeploy your applications and databases

1. Uninstall WildFly 9, 10, or 11 from the ISPmanager Control Panel

To uninstall WildFly 9, 10, or 11, log in as root to the ISPmanager Control Panel.

• For ISPmanager 4, go to Server Settings > Applications, and locate WildFly9, 10, or 11. Click to highlight it, and then click on Delete in the upper-right corner.

• For ISPmanager 5, go to Settings > Features, and locate WildFly9, 10, or 11. Click to highlight it, and then click on Delete in the upper-left corner.

Wait a few minutes, and then click on the link to Applications or Features again to see if the uninstall process has completed. You may have to click several times before you see the application removed.

2. Install WildFly 11 from the ISPmanager Control Panel and redeploy your applications and databases

Once the older version of WildFly 9, 10, or 11 has been removed, install WildFly.

• For ISPmanager 4, go to Server Settings > Applications, and locate WildFly. Click to highlight it, and then click on Install.

• For ISPmanager 5, go to Settings > Features, and locate WildFly. Click to highlight it, and then click on Install.

Wait a few minutes, then click on the link to Applications or Features again to see if the install process has completed. You may have to click several times before you see the application installed.

Once the update completes, you will need to redeploy and restart your applications, customizations, and databases. Deploying your applications on WildFly is different than deploying on JBoss, see the relevant User Guide for more information: WildFly Deployment in Standalone Mode