Creating the Connector Plugin

JMS connector plugins serve as a way to deliver the JMS client libraries to ReadyAPI and support direct connections to JMS brokers. The plugins provide ReadyAPI with template values that can be used for a connection. The initial context class cannot be changed in the UI, but other values are provided as a template.

• You need Java libraries you use to connect to your JMS provider.

• We recommend that you have a Java Development Kit (JDK) installed and configured.

During the plugin configuration, you will need to know the following values:

• Initial Context Class name

• Provider URL

• Connection Factory JNDI name

To get these values, you need to configure the JMS provider first.

To create a plugin jar file:

1. In File Explorer, create an empty folder. This folder will become the root folder of the plugin.

2. In the created directory, create the lib subfolder.

3. Copy the JMS client libraries in the .jar format to the lib folder.

   If the JMS client libraries depend on other libraries, copy the latter to the lib folder, as well.

   Here is where you can find the library files for some popular providers:

   ActiveMQ

   ActiveMQActiveMQ

   Copy the activemq-all-5.X.X.jar from the ActiveMQ installation folder.

   WebSphere MQ 8 and 9

   WebSphere MQ 8 and 9WebSphere MQ 8 and 9

   Copy the files from the <WebSphere MQ Installation>\java\lib folder:

   com.ibm.mq.allclient.jar

   fscontext.jar

   jms.jar

   providerutil.jar

   WebSphere MQ 7

   WebSphere MQ 7WebSphere MQ 7

   Copy the files from the <WebSphere MQ Installation>\java\lib folder:

   CL3Export.jar

   CL3Nonexport.jar

   com.ibm.mq.headers.jar

   com.ibm.mq.jar

   com.ibm.mq.jmqi.jar

   com.ibm.mq.pcf.jar

   com.ibm.mqjms.jar

   dhbcore.jar

   fscontext.jar

   jms.jar

   jndi.jar

   ldap.jar

   providerutil.jar

   rmm.jar

4. Download the jms-plugin.properties file and save it to the root folder of the plugin.

5. You should have the following file structure:

   <Plugin root folder>
   |--lib
      |--<Provider’s jar files>
   |--jms-plugin.properties

6. Open the file in any text editor and edit the default values. Comments in the file help you understand what the properties mean.

7. Configure the properties that affect the way the plugin works with ReadyAPI and the way it will be represented in the ReadyAPI interface.

   Property	Description
   plugin.name	The name of the plugin that will be displayed in the Plugin Manager. Does not affect your tests.
   plugin.version	The version of the plugin that will be displayed in the Plugin Manager. Does not affect your tests.
   plugin.description	The description of the plugin that will be displayed in the Plugin Manager. Does not affect your tests.
   plugin.autodetect	Commands ReadyAPI to search for plugin components that are used in Custom Plugins. If set to false, ReadyAPI will only load the JMS client libraries. Only set to true if you plan to add custom elements to the plugin.
   minimum.ready.version	The minimum supported version of ReadyAPI. The plugin will not be loaded in unsupported versions.
   connector.label	The label that is used to select the plugin in ReadyAPI interface.

8. Configure the properties that affect the way the plugin works with a JMS provider. When you configure them, you might need to specify the values that you get when you configure the JMS provider.

   initial.context.class.name

   The Context.INITIAL_CONTEXT_FACTORY property that the plugin uses to connect to the JMS provider. You can usually find the context factory in the JMS provider documentation.

   Here are classes name for some popular JMS providers:

   ActiveMQ	org.apache.activemq.jndi.ActiveMQInitialContextFactory
   WebSphere MQ	Specify the value that you get from the Initial Context Factory property when you configure the WebSphere MQ installation.
   Oracle Weblogic	weblogic.jndi.WLInitialContextFactory
   TIBCO EMS	com.tibco.tibjms.naming.TibjmsInitialContextFactory

   provider.url.template

   The URL of the service that will be suggested by the plugin by default. The user can change it at any point.

   Here are example values for some popular JMS providers:

   ActiveMQ	tcp://<hostname>:61616
   WebSphere MQ	Specify the value that you get from the Provider URL property when you configure the WebSphere MQ installation.
   TIBCO EMS	tibjmsnaming://<hostname>:7222

   connection.factory.name.template

   The suggested Java Connection Factory that is used to create a connection to the JMS broker.

   Here are example values for some popular JMS providers:

   ActiveMQ	ConnectionFactory
   WebSphere MQ	Specify the value that you specify for the Connection Factory when you configure the WebSphere MQ installation.

9. Build the plugin. You can do it in two ways:

   By using JDK

   By using JDKBy using JDK

   If you have JDK, create a Java archive file (JAR), by using the jar utility:

   1. Open the command prompt shell

   2. Switch to the plugin root folder

   3. Run the following command:

      jar cvf my-jms-connector-plugin.jar *

   By using a file archiver

   By using a file archiverBy using a file archiver

   • Create a ZIP archive with the jms-plugin.properties file and the lib folder.

     Do not archive the root folder itself. This would create a wrong structure and make the plugin invalid.

     You get an archive with the following content:

     my-jms-connector-plugin.zip
     |--lib
        |--<Provider’s jar files>
     |--jms-plugin.properties

   • Change its extension to .jar.

After you have a final .jar file, you can install it as described in the ../../integrations/managing.html#install-from-file topic.