pjbserver-tools

The pjbserver-tools package currently provides an easy installable php java bridge standalone server. See the soluble/japha and php-java-bridge projects to get more info about php/java integration.

Note that the pjbserver-tools standalone server utility was made for easy composer installation when developing or testing.

For production, building a customized PHPJavaBridge server is really easy. Check the recommended php/java/bridge installation notes

Use cases

The java bridge standalone server can be used as an alternative to a regular bridge installation for php/java integration while keeping things simple for development, unit testing or small projects.

Features

• Easy setup of a PHP Java bridge standalone server (*nix).
• Console commands to control the server (start/stop/restart/status).
• API library to customize the behaviour.
• Includes compiled JavaBridge.jar 7.1.3 file.

Requirements

• PHP 5.5+, 7.0 or HHVM >= 3.2.
• Linux/Unix (Mac OSX 10.1+ reported working).
• Java 1.7+ (see install instructions).

Installation

WARNING The phpjavabridge server is not supposed to be run on a public facing server and its use should be limited to interactions on the same host/network with the php client. Do not run it as root neither as it exposes the JVM methods through the network that could be remotely exploited. Do not start it as root neither.

Depending on your needs you can use the pjserver-tools in two ways.

1. Option 1: Composer install

   You can easily add the pjbserver-tools to your existing composer project.

   $ composer require belgattitude/pjbserver-tools

   It can also be added to your development dependencies (replace require by require --dev in the previous command). Very helpful if you intend to test with Travis...

   Test a command line.

   ./vendor/bin/pjbserver-tools pjbserver:status ./vendor/belgattitude/pjbserver-tools/config/pjbserver.config.php.dist -vvv

2. Option 2: Console, clone the repo.

   First create a path on your filesystem that will hold the server install.

   $ mkdir -p /my/path/pjbserver-tools
   $ cd /my/path/pjbserver-tools

   Clone the repository and use run composer update.

   $ git clone https://github.com/belgattitude/pjbserver-tools.git
   $ cd pjbserver-tools
   $ composer update

   Test a command line

   ./bin/pjbserver-tools pjbserver:status ./config/pjbserver.config.php.dist -vvv
   

Usage

Command line

Command line depends on your install method (composer or clone/download).

• With composer the location of the binary is ./vendor/bin/pjbserver-tools and the default config is located in ./vendor/belgattitude/pjbserver-tools/config/pjbserver.config.php.dist.

• With the clone method, binary is ./bin/pjbserver-tools and default config is ./config/pjbserver.config.php.dist.

For clarity, the documentation of console commands is based on the clone method. Simply replace your path whenever needed.

You can use the commands pjbserver:start, pjbserver:stop, pjbserver:restart, pjbserver:status followed by the pjbserver.config.php file to control or query the server status.

$ ./bin/pjbserver-tools pjbserver:start -vvv ./config/pjbserver.config.php.dist
$ ./bin/pjbserver-tools pjbserver:stop -vvv ./config/pjbserver.config.php.dist
$ ./bin/pjbserver-tools pjbserver:restart -vvv ./config/pjbserver.config.php.dist
$ ./bin/pjbserver-tools pjbserver:status -vvv ./config/pjbserver.config.php.dist

$ # for listing the java cli command issued :
$ ./bin/pjbserver-tools pjbserver:reveal ./config/pjbserver.config.php.dist

If you use the ./config/pjbserver.config.php.dist config file, the server will start on port 8089.

Feel free to create a local copy of this file and adapt for your usage :

$ cp ./config/pjbserver.config.php.dist /my/path/pjbserver.config.php

Note that the -v, -vv, -vvv option in the command line allows to define the verbosity level of the scripts.

Controlling via the API

Command line is good, but API gives a little more control especially good when setting unit tests and CI.

Here's a little example:

<?php

use PjbServer\Tools\StandaloneServer;
use PjbServer\Tools\StandaloneServer\Config;

$tcp_port = 8089;

$config = new Config([
    // Port on which php java bridge server listen (required)
    'port' => $tcp_port,

    /**
     * Location of log and pid files...
     * Defaults is to put them in the project 'pjbserver-tools/var/...' directory
     * which is fine for unit testing, but to prevent loosing those files
     * set a safe directory (not /tmp as it might be cleared by the OS)
     */
    //'log_file'   => "/my/path/var/pjbserver-port${tcp_port}.log",
    //'pid_file'   => "/my/path/var/pjbserver-port${tcp_port}.pid",


    // Optional but often more than useful
    'classpaths'  => [
          '/my/path/*.jar',
          '/another/path/mylib.jar'
    ],

    // Standalone server tuning
    // Number of threads for standalone server is 50, increase if needed
    //'threads'    => 50,

    // Java binary
    // change location if you like, for example
    // /usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle/bin/java
    'java_bin' => 'java',

    /**
     * Location of the JavaBridge.jar,
     * Default is to use the default (included) one
     * available in pjbserver-tools/resources/pjb713_standalone/JavaBridge.jar
     */
    //'server_jar' => "/my/path/pjb713_standalone/JavaBridge.jar",
]);

$server = new StandaloneServer($config);

try {
    $server->start();
} catch(\Exception $e) {
    // Exception message
    echo $e->getMessage();
    // Server output logs
    echo $server->getOutput();
    die();
}

echo "Started: " . ($server->isStarted() ? 'yes' : 'no') . PHP_EOL;
echo "Running: " . ($server->isProcessRunning() ? 'yes' : 'no') . PHP_EOL;
echo "Pid    : " . $server->getPid() . PHP_EOL;

// Stopping the server

$server->stop();

You can also inject any PSR-3 compatible logger to the StandaloneServer.

// any PSR-3 compatible logger
$logger = new \Psr\Log\NullLogger();
$server = new StandaloneServer($config, $logger);

Configuration

The dist config file ./config/pjbserver.config.php.dist contains the default parameters used in console mode.

Parameters

Key	Type	Comment
port	int	TCP port on which standalone server listen
classpaths	array	Java additional classpaths
threads	int	Server max number of threads
java_bin	string	Java binary executable (with or without path)
server_jar	string	Path to the JavaBridge.jar file
log_file	string	Path to the standalone server log file
pid_file	string	Path to the standalone pid file

Some considerations:

• When choosing a port, ensure it's not available publicly (security).
• The default config set log_file and pid_file in the ./var directory, please change the default location to your data directory.
• Avoid storing log_file and pid_file in the global temp directory '/tmp' as it might be cleared by the OS at anytime.

Classpath configuration

Whenever you need to add some java libraries, simply edit the configuration file and look for the classpaths option and add the required jar files.

As an example:

<?php

return [
    'port'       => 8089,
    'classpaths' => [
        '/my/path/autoload/mysql-connector.jar',
        '/my/autoload_path/*.jar'
    ],
];

Don't forget to restart the standalone server to reflect the changes.

Using wildcard /my/path/*.jar is possible but should be used with care. All matching files will be appended to classpath by passing arguments in a shell exec. Limits exists...

Debugging

Some useful commands to watch, debug and eventually kill java standalone server process

Getting the status (running/not running)

$ ./bin/pjbserver-tools pjbserver:status -vvv ./config/pjbserver.config.php.dist

Reveal the issued command

$ ./bin/pjbserver-tools pjbserver:reveal -vvv ./config/pjbserver.config.php.dist

For example, the issued command the default config can be

$ java -cp "/xxx/pjbserver-tools/resources/pjb713_standalone/JavaBridge.jar" -Dphp.java.bridge.daemon="false" -Dphp.java.bridge.threads=50 php.java.bridge.Standalone SERVLET:8089

Process management

If for any reason the server cannot be stopped through the console, you can lookup the process through the command line.

$ # Searching by listening port
$ netstat -nlp | grep :<port>   # might require sudo if server started as root

$ # Searching by name
$ ps ax | grep JavaBridge.jar

$ # Searching by custom filter
$ pgrep -f "(.*)java(.*)JavaBridge.jar(.*)SERVLET:8089"

You can kill the process:

$ kill <pid_standalone_server>

FAQ

How to start automatically at boot

Check for "supervisord" on google, you'll find some recipes but the preferred method is to deploy on Tomcat, see:

• pjb-starter-springboot to build you own production, self-container or deployable servlet or
• php-java-bridge project.

For alternatives to pjbserver-tools standalone.

Coding standards

• PSR 4 Autoloader
• PSR 3 Logger interface
• PSR 2 Coding Style Guide
• PSR 1 Coding Standards