Add extended information to bundles

Karaf supports a OSGI-INF/bundle.info file in a bundle.

This file is extended description of the bundle. It supports ASCII character declarations (for adding color, formatting, etc).

For instance, you can define a bundle like this (using Apache Felix maven-bundle-plugin):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">

    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

    <groupId>my.groupId</groupId>
    <artifactId>my.bundle</artifactId>
    <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
    <name>My Bundle</name>
    <description>My bundle short description</description>

    <build>
        <resources>
            <resource>
                <directory>/home/jbonofre/Workspace/karaf/manual/src/main/resources</directory>
                <filtering>true</filtering>
                <includes>
                    <include>**/*</include>
                </includes>
            </resource>
        </resources>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.felix</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-bundle-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>2.2.0</version>
                <extensions>true</extensions>
                <configuration>
                    <instructions>
                        <Bundle-SymbolicName>manual</Bundle-SymbolicName>
                        ...
                    </instructions>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>

</project>

And simply add a src/main/resources/OSGI-INF/bundle.info file containing, for instance:

\u001B[1mSYNOPSIS\u001B[0m
    The Apache Software Foundation provides support for the Apache community of open-source software projects.
    The Apache projects are characterized by a collaborative, consensus based development process, an open and
    pragmatic software license, and a desire to create high quality software that leads the way in its field.
    We consider ourselves not simply a group of projects sharing a server, but rather a community of developers
    and users.

\u001B[1mDESCRIPTION\u001B[0m
    Long description of your bundle, including usage, etc.

\u001B[1mSEE ALSO\u001B[0m
    \u001B[36mhttp://yourside\u001B[0m
    \u001B[36mhttp://yourside/docs\u001B[0m

You can display this extended information using:

root@karaf> osgi:info

Creating bundles for third party dependencies

Karaf supports the wrap: protocol execution.

It allows for directly deploying third party dependencies, like Apache Commons Lang:

root@karaf> osgi:install wrap:mvn:commons-lang/commons-lang/2.4

You can specify OSGi statements in the wrap URL:

from the shell

root@karaf> osgi:install -s 'wrap:mvn:commons-lang/commons-lang/2.4$Bundle-SymbolicName=commons-lang&Bundle-Version=2.4'

from features.xml

<bundle>wrap:mvn:commons-lang/commons-lang/2.4$Bundle-SymbolicName=commons-lang&undle-Version=2.4</bundle>

You can also create a wrap bundle for a third party dependency.
This bundle is simply a Maven POM that shades an existing jar and package into a jar bundle.

For instance, to create an OSGi bundle that wraps Apache Commons Lang, you can simply define the following Maven POM:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">

    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

    <groupId>osgi.commons-lang</groupId>
    <artifactId>osgi.commons-lang</artifactId>
    <version>2.4</version>
    <packaging>bundle</packaging>
    <name>commons-lang OSGi Bundle</name>
    <description>This OSGi bundle simply wraps commons-lang-2.4.jar artifact.</description>

    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>commons-lang</groupId>
            <artifactId>commons-lang</artifactId>
            <version>2.4</version>
            <optional>true</optional>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>

    <build>
        <defaultGoal>install</defaultGoal>

        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
            <artifactId>maven-shade-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>1.1</version>
            <executions>
                <execution>
                    <phase>package</phase>
                    <goals>
                        <goal>shade</goal>
                    </goals>
                    <configuration>
                        <artifactSet>
                            <includes>
                                <include>commons-lang:commons-lang</include>
                            </includes>
                        </artifactSet>
                        <filters>
                            <filter>
                                <artifact>commons-lang:commons-lang</artifact>
                                <excludes>
                                    <exclude>**</exclude>
                                </excludes>
                            </filter>
                        </filters>
                        <promoteTransitiveDependencies>true</promoteTransitiveDependencies>
                        <createDependencyReducedPom>true</createDependencyReducedPom>
                    </configuration>
                </execution>
            </executions>
        </plugin>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.felix</groupId>
            <artifactId>maven-bundle-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>2.1.0</version>
            <extensions>true</extensions>
            <configuration>
                <instructions>
                    <Bundle-SymbolicName>manual</Bundle-SymbolicName>
                    <Export-Package>*</Export-Package>
                    <Import-Package></Import-Package>
                    <_versionpolicy>[$(version;==;$(@)),$(version;+;$(@)))</_versionpolicy>
                    <_removeheaders>Ignore-Package,Include-Resource,Private-Package,Embed-Dependency</_removeheaders>
                </instructions>
                <unpackBundle>true</unpackBundle>
            </configuration>
        </plugin>
    </build>

</project>

You have now a OSGi bundle for commons-lang that you can deploy directly:

root@karaf> osgi:install -s mvn:osgi.commons-lang/osgi.commons-lang/2.4

Some more information is available at http://gnodet.blogspot.com/2008/09/id-like-to-talk-bit-about-third-party.html, http://blog.springsource.com/2008/02/18/creating-osgi-bundles/ and http://felix.apache.org/site/apache-felix-maven-bundle-plugin-bnd.html.

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