TOTD #13: Setup Mongrel for JRuby-on-Rails applications on Windows

In a

previous entry, I posted instructions on how to setup Mongrel cluster
for JRuby-on-Rails applications on Unix-based systems. The instructions
specified there do not work on Windows-based systems because of the
following reasons:

• JRuby 1.0.1 + (default) Rails Gem (version 1.2.4) does not work on
  Windows because of
  JRUBY-1401. An older Rails version (such as 1.2.3) can always be
  used as described below.
• JRuby 1.0.1 + (default) Mongrel 1.0.1 does not work on Windows
  because of
  JRUBY-1410,
  JRUBY-1411.

So if you want JRuby-on-Rails applications to deploy on Mongrel on
Windows, then the workaround is to checkout the JRuby trunk and use Rails
1.2.3. This blog explains the instructions on how to do that. The Mongrel
cluster cannot be configured on JRuby yet though.

As a side note, repeated invocation of "jruby" command will
encounter JRUBY-1350.
The workaround is to exit out of the current command prompt and execute the
commands in a new one.

1. Check out the workspace and build it using the following commands:
   
   
   
   

   mkdir jruby-trunk<br>
   		cd jruby-trunk<br>
   		svn co http://svn.codehaus.org/jruby/trunk/jruby<br>
   		ant

   
   
   
   
   Add jruby-trunk/bin to your PATH.
2. Install the required RubyGems
   1. Install Rails Gem version 1.2.3 using the command:
      
      
      
      

      C:\workspaces\jruby-trunk\bin>jruby -J-Xmx384m -S gem install 
      			rails --version 1.2.3 --include-dependencies --no-ri --no-rdoc<br>
      			Bulk updating Gem source index for: http://gems.rubyforge.org<br>
      			Successfully installed rails-1.2.3<br>
      			Successfully installed rake-0.7.3<br>
      			Successfully installed activesupport-1.4.2<br>
      			Successfully installed activerecord-1.15.3<br>
      			Successfully installed actionpack-1.13.3<br>
      			Successfully installed actionmailer-1.3.3<br>
      			Successfully installed actionwebservice-1.2.3

   2. Before installing Mongrel, install the pre-requisite gems as
      shown below (see discussion
      here):
      
      
      
      

      C:\workspaces\jruby-trunk\bin>jruby -S gem install gem_plugin 
      			--no-ri --no-rdoc<br>
      			Successfully installed gem_plugin-0.2.2

      
      
      
      
      and another one:
      
      
      
      

      C:\workspaces\jruby-trunk\bin>jruby -S gem install 
      			cgi_multipart_eof_fix --no-ri --no-rdoc<br>
      			Successfully installed cgi_multipart_eof_fix-2.3

   3. Mongrel cannot be installed as a gem on JRuby yet. So
      
      download Mongrel gem and install it as shown below:
      
      
      
      

      C:\workspaces\jruby-trunk\bin>jruby -S gem install 
      			mongrel-1.0.1-jruby.gem --no-ri --no-rdoc<br>
      			Successfully installed mongrel, version 1.0.1<br>
      			<br>
      			

      Make sure to invoke the command from the directory where the
      gem is downloaded.

   4. mongrel_cluster
      
      does not work with JRuby and

      			<a href="http://ola-bini.blogspot.com/2007/05/announcing-mongreljcluster.html">
      			mongrel_jcluster</a>

      does not work on Windows. So Mongrel
      clusters cannot be configured on a Windows machine.
3. Create a new directory jruby-trunk\samples\rails and
   create a new Rails application as shown below:
   
   
   
   

   C:\workspaces\jruby-trunk\samples\rails>..\..\bin\jruby -S rails 
   		hello<br>
   		create<br>
   		create app/controllers<br>
   		create app/helpers<br>
   		create app/models<br>
   		...<br>
   		create log/production.log<br>
   		create log/development.log<br>
   		create log/test.log

4. Change to the newly created directory and start Mongrel as shown
   below:
   
   
   
   

   C:\workspaces\jruby-trunk\samples\rails\hello>..\..\..\bin\jruby 
   		script\server<br>
   		=&gt; Booting Mongrel (use 'script/server webrick' to force WEBrick)<br>
   		=&gt; Rails application starting on http://0.0.0.0:3000<br>
   		=&gt; Call with -d to detach<br>
   		=&gt; Ctrl-C to shutdown server<br>
   		** Ruby version is not up-to-date; loading cgi_multipart_eof_fix<br>
   		** Starting Mongrel listening at 0.0.0.0:3000<br>
   		** Starting Rails with development environment...<br>
   		** Rails loaded.<br>
   		** Loading any Rails specific GemPlugins<br>
   		** Signals ready. TERM =&gt; stop. USR2 =&gt; restart. INT =&gt; stop (no 
   		restart).<br>
   		** Rails signals registered. HUP =&gt; reload (without restart). It might 
   		not work well.<br>
   		** Mongrel available at 0.0.0.0:3000<br>
   		** Use CTRL-C to stop.

   
   
   
   
   The application is now available at http://localhost:3000
   and shows the default "Welcome Aboard You're riding the Rails!" page.
   Hit Ctrl-C to stop Mongrel as shown below:
   
   
   
   

   ** INT signal received.<br>
   		Exiting<br>
   		C:/workspaces/jruby-trunk/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-1.4.2/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:452:in 
   		`const_missing': Mongrel::StopServer (Mongrel::StopServer)<br>
   &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; from C:/workspaces/jruby-trunk/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.0.1-jruby/lib/mongrel.rb:723:in 
   		`run'<br>
   &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; from C:/workspaces/jruby-trunk/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/mongrel-1.0.1-jruby/lib/mongrel/configurator.rb:271:in 
   		`initialize'<br>
   		Terminate batch job (Y/N)? y

An alternative to this behemoth configuration and lack of Mongrel cluster
on Windows is to create a Web ARchive (WAR) of your JRuby-on-Rails
application and deploy on GlassFish.
A complete screencast of how this can be achieved using
NetBeans IDE is

shown here. A comprehensive list of JRuby on GlassFish documentation is
available here.

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