Cargo supports deploying to an already running container. This feature is called Hot Deployment). You call it by using the (cargo:deploy) goal (e.g. mvn cargo:deploy).

Using a local deployer

A local deployer is a deployer that deploys deployables on a Local Container (i.e. a container installed on the same machine where the deployer is executing). Thus you'll need to use a local container id in <containerId>. You can check that by reviewing the supported container list and selecting the container you wish to use.

Example of doing a local deploy to an existing configuration:

[...]
<configuration>

  <!-- Container configuration -->
  <container>
    <containerId>resin3x</containerId>
    <home>c:/apps/resin-3.0.9</home> or
    <zipUrlInstaller>
      <url>http://www.caucho.com/download/resin-3.0.9.zip</url>
      <downloadDir>${project.build.directory}/downloads</downloadDir>
      <extractDir>${project.build.directory}/extracts</extractDir>
    </zipUrlInstaller>
  </container>

  <!-- Configuration to use with the container (which will also configure the deployer) -->
  <configuration>
    <type>existing</type>
    <properties>
      [...]
    </properties>
  </configuration>

  <!-- Deployables configuration -->
  <deployables>
    <deployable>
      <groupId>war group id</groupId>
      <artifactId>war artifact id</artifactId>
      <type>war</type>
      <properties>
        <context>optional root context</context>
      </properties>
      <pingURL>optional url to ping to know if deployable is done or not</pingURL>
      <pingTimeout>optional timeout to ping (default 20000 milliseconds)</pingTimeout>
    </deployable>
    <deployable>
      <groupId>ear group id</groupId>
      <artifactId>ear artifact id</artifactId>
      <type>ear</type>
      <pingURL>optional url to ping to know if deployable is done or not</pingURL>
      <pingTimeout>optional timeout to ping (default 20000 milliseconds)</pingTimeout>
    </deployable>
    [...]
  </deployables>
</configuration>
[...]

Using a remote deployer

A remote deployer is a deployer that deploys deployables on a Remote Container (i.e. a container that is running and that has been started externally from Cargo). Thus you'll need to use an id for a remote container in <containerId> and a Runtime Configuration.

Example of doing a remote deploy using a runtime configuration:

[...]
<configuration>

  <!-- Container configuration -->
  <container>
    <containerId>tomcat6x</containerId>
    <type>remote</type>
  </container>

  <!-- Configuration to use with the container (which will also configure the deployer) -->
  <configuration>
    <type>runtime</type>
    <properties>
      <cargo.remote.username>username</cargo.remote.username>
      <cargo.remote.password>password</cargo.remote.password>
    </properties>
  </configuration>

  <!-- Deployables configuration -->
  <deployables>
    <deployable>
      <groupId>war group id</groupId>
      <artifactId>war artifact id</artifactId>
      <type>war</type>
      <properties>
        <context>optional root context</context>
      </properties>
      <pingURL>optional url to ping to know if deployable is done or not</pingURL>
      <pingTimeout>optional timeout to ping (default 20000 milliseconds)</pingTimeout>
    </deployable>
    [...]
  </deployables>

</configuration>
[...]

As you can see the information to connect and do the deployment to the remote container is specified in the runtime configuration (cargo.remote.username and cargo.remote.password). The properties to define are deployer-dependent.

Here's an another example, this time deploying the current project's artifact to a running JBoss 4.2.x container using a default 8080 port and default authorizations:

[...]
<configuration>
  <container>
    <containerId>jboss42x</containerId>
    <type>remote</type>
  </container>
</configuration>
[...]

Just type mvn cargo:deploy. Notice that we haven't specified a <deployer> element nor a <configuration> one: this is because the plugin is smart enough to create default instances for you.

Handling of deployment or undeployment failures

If the deployment, undeployment or redeployment is done without any watchdog, Codehaus Cargo will rely on the error codes return by the container's deployer to detect failures.

This is sometimes not desired: for example, if one calls cargo:undeploy but the target deployable (be it a web application, EAR, etc.) is actually not deployed, then the call to cargo:undeploy will return a failure indicating that the deployble to undeploy is not deployed.

To work around the issue, make sure you define your deployable together with a watchdog. For example:

<deployables>
  <deployable>
    <location>${project.build.directory}/${project.build.finalName}.${project.packaging}</location>
    <pingURL>http://localhost:${servlet.port}/mycontext/index.html</pingURL>
  </deployable>
</deployables>

In that case:

• When you will call cargo:deploy:
  • If the deployer returns a failure, Codehaus Cargo will log a message The deployment has failed, with the error returned by the deployer and a severity INFO.
  • It will then start the watchdog, to check if the deployable is deployed.
  • If the watchdog detects that the deployable is indeed deployed, the overall result is a BUILD SUCCESSFUL
  • If the watchdog detects that the deployable is not deployed, you then get a BUILD FAILURE
• When you will call cargo:undeploy:
  • If the deployer returns a failure, Codehaus Cargo will log a message The undeployment has failed, with the error returned by the deployer and a severity INFO.
  • It will then start the watchdog, to check if the deployable is not deployed.
  • If the watchdog detects that the deployable is indeed not deployed, the overall result is a BUILD SUCCESSFUL
  • If the watchdog detects that the deployable is still deployed, you then get a BUILD FAILURE

This functionality is available in the Java API, Ant tasks and Maven 3 plugin.