System properties

The standalone and the managed domain modes each use a default configuration which expects various files and writable directories to exist in standard locations. Each of these standard locations is associated with a system property, which has a default value. To override a system property, pass its new value using the standard jvm -Dkey=value options:

$JBOSS_HOME/bin/standalone.sh -Djboss.home.dir=some/location/AS7/jboss-as \
    -Djboss.server.config.dir=some/location/AS7/jboss-as/custom-standalone

This command starts up a standalone server instance using a non-standard AS home directory and a custom configuration directory. For specific information about system properties, refer to the definitions below.

Instead of passing the parameters directly, you can put them into a properties file, and pass the properties file to the script, as in the two examples below.

$JBOSS_HOME/bin/domain.sh --properties=/some/location/jboss.properties
$JBOSS_HOME/bin/domain.sh -P=/some/location/jboss.properties

The syntax for passing in parameters and properties files is the same regardless of whether you are running the domain.sh, standalone.sh, or the Microsoft Windows scriptsdomain.bat or standalone.bat.

The properties file is a standard Java property file containing key=value pairs:

jboss.home.dir=/some/location/AS7/jboss-as
jboss.domain.config.dir=/some/location/AS7/custom-domain

Other command line parameters

The first acceptable format for command line arguments to the JBoss AS launch scripts is

--name=value

For example:

$JBOSS_HOME/bin/standalone.sh --server-config=standalone-ha.xml

If the parameter name is a single character, it is prefixed by a single '-' instead of two. Some parameters have both a long and short option.

-x=value

For example:

$JBOSS_HOME/bin/standalone.sh -P=/some/location/jboss.properties

For some command line arguments frequently used in previous major releases of JBoss AS, replacing the "=" in the above examples with a space is supported, for compatibility.

-b 192.168.100.10

If possible, use the -x=value syntax. New parameters will always support this syntax.

The sections below describe the command line parameter names that are available in standalone and domain mode.

Controlling the Bind Address with -b

JBoss AS binds sockets to the IP addresses and interfaces contained in the <interfaces> elements in standalone.xml, domain.xml and host.xml. (See Interfaces and Socket Bindings for further information on these elements.) The standard configurations that ship with JBoss AS includes two interface configurations:

<interfaces>
    <interface name="management">
        <inet-address value="${jboss.bind.address.management:127.0.0.1}"/>
    </interface>
    <interface name="public">
       <inet-address value="${jboss.bind.address:127.0.0.1}"/>
    </interface>
</interfaces>

Those configurations use the values of system properties jboss.bind.address.management and jboss.bind.address if they are set. If they are not set, 127.0.0.1 is used for each value.

As noted in Common Parameters, the AS supports the -b and -b<name> command line switches. The only function of these switches is to set system properties jboss.bind.address and jboss.bind.address.<name> respectively. However, because of the way the standard AS configuration files are set up, using the -b switches can indirectly control how the AS binds sockets.

If your interface configurations match those shown above, using this as your launch command causes all sockets associated with interface named "public"  to be bound to 192.168.100.10.

$JBOSS_HOME/bin/standalone.sh -b=192.168.100.10

In the standard config files, public interfaces are those not associated with server management. Public interfaces handle normal end-user requests.

To bind the public interfaces to all IPv4 addresses (the IPv4 wildcard address), use the following syntax:

$JBOSS_HOME/bin/standalone.sh -b=0.0.0.0

You can also bind the management interfaces, as follows:

$JBOSS_HOME/bin/standalone.sh -bmanagement=192.168.100.10

In the standard config files, management interfaces are those sockets associated with server management, such as the socket used by the CLI, the HTTP socket used by the admin console, and the JMX connector socket.

<interface name="public">
   <nic name="eth0"/>
</interface>

Controlling the Default Multicast Address with -u

JBoss AS may use multicast communication for some services, particularly those involving high availability clustering. The multicast addresses and ports used are configured using the socket-binding elements in standalone.xml and domain.xml. (See Socket Bindings for further information on these elements.) The standard HA configurations that ship with JBoss AS include two socket binding configurations that use a default multicast address:

<socket-binding name="jgroups-mping" port="0" multicast-address="${jboss.default.multicast.address:230.0.0.4}" multicast-port="45700"/>
<socket-binding name="jgroups-udp" port="55200" multicast-address="${jboss.default.multicast.address:230.0.0.4}" multicast-port="45688"/>

Those configurations use the values of system property jboss.default.multicast.address if it is set. If it is not set, 230.0.0.4 is used for each value. (The configuration may include other socket bindings for multicast-based services that are not meant to use the default multicast address; e.g. a binding the mod-cluster services use to communicate on a separate address/port with Apache httpd servers.)

As noted in Common Parameters, the AS supports the -u command line switch. The only function of this switch is to set system property jboss.default.multicast.address. However, because of the way the standard AS configuration files are set up, using the -u switches can indirectly control how the AS uses multicast.

If your socket binding configurations match those shown above, using this as your launch command causes the service using those sockets configurations to be communicate over multicast address 230.0.1.2.

$JBOSS_HOME/bin/standalone.sh -u=230.0.1.2