The Migration Toolkit for Application Binaries (binary scanner) is a command-line tool used to analyze application binaries. The binary scanner produces a comprehensive report on how an application can be migrated to another Java SE version, Java EE version, or application platform. In the 22.0.0.3 release functionality was added to determine whether an app containing JAX-RPC is a good candidate for the latest JAX-RPC Conversion Tool.
What is the JAX-RPC Conversion Tool?
Released in 2022, the JAX-RPC Conversion Tool can convert an application that uses JAX-RPC technology into an application using JAX-WS to run on Liberty. The converted applications can only be run on WebSphere Liberty version 21.0.0.11 or later and requires licensing for WebSphere Application Server Liberty to use. For more information on the JAX-RPC Conversion Tool and migrating JAX-RPC applications read the Modernizing JAX-RPC applications blog post.
How does this Relate to the Binary Scanner?
The binary scanner has now implemented the validation steps from the JAX-RPC Conversion Tool. When running the binary scanner on an application containing JAX-RPC technology the binary scanner will determine if the JAX-RPC Conversion Tool can be used to migrate the application to Liberty. To illustrate, let's run the binary scanner on an application that is a valid candidate to use the tool:
java -jar wamt/binaryAppScanner.jar wamt/app/HelloWorldClient.war --all --sourceAppServer=was855 --targetAppServer=liberty
When running the command on an application that is valid for the JAX-RPC Conversion Tool there are two key things to note about the newly generated report:
1. The evaluation report will give updated information on the target platforms available for migration.
2. The analysis report will flag the JAX-RPC found inside the application as a "warning" instead of "critical" and include more information about using the JAX-RPC Conversion Tool in the help attached.
To show the difference between an application that is a valid candidate for the JAX-RPC Conversion Tool and one that isn't, let's run the binary scanner again on an app that cannot be converted using the tool:
java -jar wamt/binaryAppScanner.jar wamt/app/HelloWorldClientINVALID.war --all --sourceAppServer=was855 --targetAppServer=liberty
Evaluation report:
Analysis report:
By comparing the generated reports it's easy to see the JAX-RPC Conversion Tool opens up more avenues for JAX-RPC migrations to Liberty. This will help more applications take advantage of all the benefits of the Liberty platform! The addition of the JAX-RPC Conversion Tool validation within the binary scanner will save some of the largest headaches a user can experience in the migration process. The toolkit has now deepened it's support for JAX-RPC migrations!