Definition

Cargo provides Ant tasks to perform all the operations available from the Java API. The minimum supported version is Ant 1.9.15.

Security issues with older versions of Apache Ant

As documented in CVE-2020-1945, Apache Ant versions 1.1 to 1.9.14 and 1.10.0 to 1.10.7 use the default temporary directory identified by the Java system property java.io.tmpdir for several tasks and may thus leak sensitive information. Moreover, the fixcrlf and replaceregexp tasks copy files from the temporary directory back into the build tree allowing an attacker to inject modified source files into the Codehaus Cargo container configuration generation process, a security issue still existing in Apache Ant 1.9.15 and 1.10.8. Last but not least, Apache Ant versions up to 1.9.15 / 1.10.10 suffer from an issue where a specially crafted ZIP or TAR file can make the associated libraries allocate very large amounts of memory (and cause a JVM crash, as explained in CVE-2021-36373 and CVE-2021-36374).

We hence strongly recommend only using Apache Ant version 1.9.16 and above (if you need to stick to the Apache Ant 1.9.x branch), or Apache Ant version 1.10.11 and above in general.

Functional tests

The usage of Cargo for executing functional tests on a container does not mandate these Ant tasks. You could directly use the Cargo Java API from your Java unit test classes (JUnit, TestNG, etc), as described on the Functional testing page.

Explanation

Before using the Ant API you need to register the Cargo Ant tasks into Ant. This is done in the following manner:

<taskdef resource="cargo.tasks">
  <classpath>
    <pathelement location="${cargo-core-uberjar.jar}"/>
    <pathelement location="${cargo-ant.jar}"/>
  </classpath>
</taskdef>

Some additional dependencies might also be required for the Ant task. Please see the Installation page for details.

The Cargo Ant tasks in detail

Here are the different task actions available to call on this plugin:

Action	Description
`start`	Start a container. That task will: If the task configuration requires so, installs the container. If the task configuration defines a container with a standalone local configuration, it will create the configuration. If the task configuration contains one or more deployables, it will deploy these to the container automatically. And, of course, start the container. Note: A container that's started with the `start` task will automatically shut down as soon as the parent Ant instance quits (i.e., you see a `BUILD SUCCESSFUL` or `BUILD FAILED` message). If you want to start a container and perform manual testing, see our next task `run`.
`run`	Start a container and wait for the user to press `CTRL + C` to stop. That task will: If the task configuration requires so, installs the container. If the task configuration defines a container with a standalone local configuration, it will create the configuration. If the task configuration contains one or more deployables, it will deploy these to the container automatically. And, of course, start the container and wait for the user to press `CTRL + C` to stop.
`stop`	Stop a container.
`restart`	Stop and start again a container. If the container was not running before calling `restart`, it will simply be started.
`configure`	Create the configuration for a local container, without starting it. Note that the `start` and `run` actions will also install the container automatically.
`daemon-start`	Start a container using the Cargo Daemon.
`daemon-stop`	Stop a container using the Cargo Daemon.
`deploy`	Deploy a deployable to a running container.
`undeploy`	Undeploy a deployable from a running container.
`redeploy`	Undeploy and deploy again a deployable. If the deployable was not deployed before calling `redeploy`, it will simply be deployed.

Wait after the container has started

Many wonder the difference between the start and run actions:

If you want to just start the container and then do other tasks (for example, execute tests), use the start action. That action should therefore ONLY be used for integration testing.
If you want start the container and have Ant "blocked" afterwards (i.e., until you press CTRL + C to stop), use the run action. run is therefore the action to use for manual testing.

These are the various XML configuration elements that you can use to configure the Cargo Ant tasks. Make sure you also check the examples which show how to use them.

Top level configuration elements	Description	Default value
`<action>`	Action to execute. These can be: Container actions: `configure`, `start`, `restart`, `run` or `stop` Deployer actions: `deploy`, `undeploy` or `redeploy` Cargo Daemon actions: `daemon-start` or `daemon-stop`	No default
`<containerId>`	Id of the container to use. Valid values can be found in the description page for each container	No default
`<containerType>`	The container's type. Valid values are `installed`, `embedded` and `remote`	Default value is `installed`
`<home>`	Location where the container is installed. If specified in conjunction with the `<zipUrlInstaller>` element, it will override the home directory defined by the installer	No default If the user has not defined any `home` nor `<zipUrlInstaller>` element then the Ant task will automatically attempt to download the container using the URL used by its tests (see the Tested On section of each container).
`<zipUrlInstaller>`	Defines the location of a container distribution zip that will be downloaded and installed	No default If the user has not defined any `home` nor `<zipUrlInstaller>` element then the Ant task will automatically attempt to download the container using the URL used by its tests (see the Tested On section of each container).
`<timeout>`	The timeout after which Cargo reports an error if the container is not started or stopped	`120000` ms (2 minutes)
`<systemProperties>`	List of `<key>value</key>` pairs to be passed as System properties to the container when it is started. You can also use the `<systemPropertiesFile>` element to load system properties from a file.	No default
`<extraClasspath>`	Additional classpath entries for the classpath that will be used to start the containers.	No default
`<sharedClasspath>`	Classpath entries for the classpath that will be shared the applications deployed in a container. Shared application classpath deployment is only available for local containers which support shared Application Classpaths.	No default
`<log>`	Path to a file where Cargo logs are saved	Logs to the Ant console if no log file is specified
`<output>`	Path to a file where container logs are saved	Logs to the file specified by the `<log>` element or to the Ant console if no such file has been specified
`<append>`	If `true`, then the file specified by `<output>` will not be erased across different runs	`false`
`<configuration>`	Definition of a Configuration	Defaults to a standalone configuration if the container is of type local and a runtime one if it's of type remote
`<daemon>`	Additional configuration that is used when deploying with the Cargo Daemon.	For more information, please read: Cargo Daemon.

`<configuration>` elements	Description	Default value
`<type>`	Configuration's type. Valid values are `standalone`, `existing` and `runtime`	`standalone`
`<home>`	For standalone configuration this is the location where Cargo will create the configuration and for existing configuration this is where it is located	No default
`<properties>`	Values to use for various Configuration properties. You can also use the `<propertiesFile>` element to load configuration properties from a file.	Default configuration properties Note that these configuration properties can also be overriden using Java properties; for example: ant -Dcargo.servlet.port=8082
`<deployables>`	A list of deployables that are going to be deployed in the container when it is started or when `deploy` / `undeploy` is called.	No default
`<fileConfigs>`	List of Configuration files that are to be added to a local container's configuration. Each file is specified using a `<fileConfig>` element. Cargo token replacement is applied to the files and any existing file is overwritten.	No default
`<files>`	List of files that are to be added to a local container's configuration. Each file is specified using a `<file>` element.	No default
`<xmlReplacements>`	Values to use for various XML replacements.	No default
`<users>`	List of users to be created in container configuration.	No default
<datasources>	List of datasources to be created in container configuration.	No default

`<fileConfigs>` elements	Description	Default value
`<file>`	The configuration file or directory containing configuration files.	No default
`<todir>`	The target directory, relative to configuration home, where the file should be copied	If not specified, the file will be copied to the configuration's home directory
`<tofile>`	The target file name to use	The original file name

`<file>` elements	Description	Default value
`<file>`	The file, or directory, to add	No default
`<todir>`	The target directory, relative to configuration home, where the file should be copied	If not specified, the file will be copied to the configuration's home directory
`<tofile>`	The target file name to use	The original file name
`<configfile>`	Indicates if Cargo token replacement should be applied (`true`) when copying. Do not use this option on a non-ascii file as it will corrupt it!	`false`
`<overwrite>`	If any existing file should be overwritten or not	`true`

`<deployable>` elements	Description	Default value
`<type>`	Deployable type, i.e. `war`, `ear`, `ejb`, etc.	No default
`<file>`	The deployable file.	No default
`<pingURL>`	URL on which to ping the deployed or undeployed application (to check if deployment or undeployment is successful), that should return an HTTP OK response only after the deployment is complete. If not set, the deployed or undeployed application will not be pinged, hence the deployment considered as complete as soon as the target server's method returns successfully.	No default
`<pingTimeout>`	If `<pingURL>` is set, the number of milliseconds after which the ping fails the build if still not successful.	`20000` (i.e., `20` seconds)
`<properties>`	User-defined properties of a deployable.	No default

`<properties>` elements	Deployable Type	Description	Default value
`<context>`	WAR	The context name to use when deploying the web application.	Default's to the file name without the extension
`<war>`	WAR	The path of the WAR being deployed.	Default's to the file name without the extension
`<ear>`	EAR	The path of the EAR being deployed.	Default's to the file name without the extension
`<name>`	EAR	The name of EAR deployable (it can be anything, there's no special rule).	Default's to the file name without the extension
`<ejb>`	EJB	The path of the EJB being deployed.	Default's to the file name without the extension

About WAR contexts

Many containers have their specific files for redefining context roots (Tomcat has context.xml, JBoss has jboss-web.xml, etc.). If your WAR has such a file, the server will most probably use the context root defined in that file instead of the one you specify using the CARGO deployer.

`<zipUrlInstaller>` elements	Description	Default value
`<url>`	URL from which to download the container's ZIP or TAR.GZ file.	No default
`<downloadDir>`	Directory in which the `zipUrlInstaller` should download the container's ZIP or TAR.GZ file.	`${java.io.tmpdir}/cargo/installs`
`<extractDir>`	Directory in which the `zipUrlInstaller` should extract the container's ZIP or TAR.GZ file.	`${project.build.directory}/cargo/installs`
`<proxy>`	Proxy server settings, if required.	No default

`<proxy>` elements (under the `zipUrlInstaller` element)	Description	Default value
`<host>`	Proxy host name or IP address.	No default
`<port>`	Proxy port.	Very probably `80`
`<user>`	User name to connect to the proxy server.	No default
`<password>`	Password to connect to the proxy server.	No default

`<user>` elements	Description	Default value
`<name>`	User name.	No default
`<password>`	User password.	No default
`<roles>`	List of roles which should be assigned to user. Example of roles configuration: <roles> <role>cargo</role> </roles>	No default

`<datasource>` elements	Description	Default value
`<jndiName>`	JNDI name where to find this DataSource.	No default
`<connectionType>`	Type of this DataSource, for example: `javax.sql.XADataSource`	No default
`<transactionSupport>`	Transaction support of the DataSource, for example: `XA_TRANSACTION`	No default
`<driverClass>`	The class name of the driver, for example: `org.hsqldb.jdbcDriver`	No default
`<url>`	DataSource connection URL.	No default
`<username>`	DataSource username.	No default
`<password>`	DataSource password.	Empty string
`<id>`	Identifier used in configuration files.	No default
`<connectionProperties>`	Extra properties passed to the DataSource.	No default

Daemon configuration

The Cargo Daemon is a Web-based application that uses the Cargo API to configure, start and stop containers on a remote machine. The daemon is meant to be listening 24/7, to allow users to deploy new containers and web applications at their command. For more information, please read: Cargo Daemon.

Container configuration for the Daemon

For the Ant tasks, the "daemonized server" is actually a local container with a hostname that points to a remote machine. This implies that:

You should not set the container type to a remote container nor add any remote deployers to the configuration; but instead define the container as a local container (with either a standalone or existing configuration)
When you define the home paths for the container and the configuration, remember these paths are for the machine where the Daemon is running (and, preferably, use absolute paths)

When you call daemon-start, the Ant tasks will do the following:

If an installer is defined:
- Download the archive locally
- Send the archive over to the machine running the Daemon
- Instruct the Daemon to extract the archive
If a standalone local configuration is defined, instruct the Daemon to create it
In all cases:
- Send the configuration files and deployables to the machine running the Daemon
- Instruct the Daemon to deploy them
Finally, instruct the Daemon to start the container

`<daemon>` elements	Description	Mandatory?	Default value
`<classpaths>`	A list of `<classpath>myclasspath</classpath>` items, that will be added by the JVM launcher when starting a container.		No default
`<properties>`	A list of properties used to configure the Cargo Daemon.		No default

`<properties>` elements	Description	Default value
`<cargo.daemon.url>`	URL to connect with the daemon.	No default
`<cargo.daemon.handleid>`	The handle id to register this container with.	No default
`<cargo.daemon.autostart>`	When set to `true`, the dameon will automatically restart the container if the daemon notices it is stopped.	`false`
`<cargo.daemon.username>`	Username used when authenticating against the daemon host	`admin`
`<cargo.daemon.password>`	Password used when authenticating against the daemon host	Empty string

Examples

Orion 2.x

Here's a full example showing how to deploy a WAR, and expanded WAR and an EAR in an Orion 2.x container. Please note that the output and log attribute are optional. The property elements allow you to tune how the container is configured. Here we're telling it to start on port 8180 and to generate the maximum amount of logs in the container output file.

<taskdef resource="cargo.tasks">
  <classpath>
    <pathelement location="path/to/cargo-uberjar.jar"/>
    <pathelement location="path/to/cargo-ant-tasks.jar"/>
  </classpath>
</taskdef>

<cargo containerId="orion2x" home="c:/apps/orion-2.0.3" output="target/output.log"
    log="target/cargo.log" action="start">
  <configuration>
    <property name="cargo.servlet.port" value="8180"/>
    <property name="cargo.logging" value="high"/>
    <deployable type="war" file="path/to/my/simple.war"/>
    <deployable type="war" file="path/to/my/expandedwar/simple"/>
    <deployable type="ear" file="path/to/my/simple.ear"/>
  </configuration>
</cargo>

Loading configuration properties from a file

It is also possible to load the configuration properties from a file - simply use the propertiesFile attribute of the configuration XML element.

Tomcat 5.x

This example gives a walk through of how to get a Cargo Ant build to work with Tomcat 5.x .

Prerequisites

It is assumed that Tomcat 5.x is already installed
The cargo-core-uberjar.jar and cargo-ant.jar JARs have been downloaded
A mimimum knowledge of Ant is required
User already has a war target that properly generates a working war file

Steps

Follow the following steps to configure your build.xml :

Create a folder under your basedir called cargolib that will hold cargo-core-uberjar.jar and cargo-ant.jar

Define a property for cargolib

<property name="cargolib.dir" value="${basedir}/cargolib"/>

Define 2 new properties cargo-uberjar and cargo-antjar as shown below:

<property name="cargo-uberjar" value="${cargolib.dir}/cargo-core-uberjar.jar"/>
<property name="cargo-antjar" value="${cargolib.dir}/cargo-ant.jar"/>

Add additional properties for defining the following:

Property	Description
tomcat.home	Installation directory of tomcat5x
tomcatlog.dir	This is where our logs are going to be generated
tomcatconfig.dir	Cargo needs an empty config folder
pathtowarfile	The full path of the war file e.g c:/devtools/myapp/dist/myfile.war

Add the following code to your build.xml :

<taskdef resource="cargo.tasks">
  <classpath>
    <pathelement location="${cargo-uberjar}"/>
    <pathelement location="${cargo-antjar}"/>
  </classpath>
</taskdef>
	
<target name="cargostart" depends="war">
  <delete dir="${tomcatconfig.dir}" />
  <mkdir dir="${tomcatlog.dir}"/>
  <mkdir dir="${tomcatconfig.dir}"/>
  <echo message="Starting Cargo..."/>
  <echo message="Using tomcat.home = ${tomcat.home} "/>
  <echo message="Using war = ${mywarfile} "/>
  <echo message="Jars used = ${cargo-uberjar} , ${cargo-antjar}"/>
		
  <cargo containerId="tomcat5x" home="${tomcat.home}" output="${tomcatlog.dir}/output.log" 
      log="${tomcatlog.dir}/cargo.log" action="start">
    <configuration home="${tomcatconfig.dir}">
      <property name="cargo.servlet.port" value="8080"/>
      <property name="cargo.logging" value="high"/>
      <deployable type="war" file="${mywarfile}"/>
    </configuration>
  </cargo>

</target>

Remote deployment

Here's a full example showing how to deploy a WAR to a remote Tomcat 6.x container.

<taskdef resource="cargo.tasks">
  <classpath>
    <pathelement location="path/to/cargo-uberjar.jar"/>
    <pathelement location="path/to/cargo-ant-tasks.jar"/>
  </classpath>
</taskdef>

<cargo containerId="tomcat6x" action="deploy" type="remote">
  <configuration type="runtime">
    <property name="cargo.hostname" value="production27"/>
    <property name="cargo.servlet.port" value="8080"/>
    <property name="cargo.remote.username" value="admin"/>
    <property name="cargo.remote.password" value=""/>
    <deployable type="war" file="path/to/simple-war.war">
      <property name="context" value="application-context"/>
    </deployable>
  </configuration>
</cargo>

For more details, please check the example in the Remote Container section for the Ant tasks. The Ant tasks support the deployer actions deploy, undeploy and redeploy.

Ant support