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Packaging Configurations

Overview​

Frank configurations can be packaged as .zip or .jar files for deployment. Reasons to package configurations:

  • Single-file delivery simplifies deployment
  • Enables inclusion of custom Java classes
  • Supports versioning in database-deployed configurations

Archive Structure​

META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
my-config/Configuration.xml
my-config/Data.xml
my-config/webcontent/index.html
org/wearefrank/myapp/CustomPipe.class

Rules:

  • The configuration name must differ from ${instance.name}
  • Configuration files live under a top-level directory named after the configuration
  • Frontend code goes in <config-name>/webcontent/
  • Java .class files are siblings of the configuration root directory (not inside it)

Maven Parent POM​

Use the Frank!Framework configuration parent POM to handle packaging automatically:

<parent>
    <groupId>org.frankframework</groupId>
    <artifactId>configuration-parent</artifactId>
    <version>10.2.0</version>
</parent>

Do not configure maven-jar-plugin manually when using the parent POM. The parent POM handles manifest generation, build info, and archive layout.

WAR Packaging​

The Frank!Framework can be packaged as a .war file for deployment on application servers (Apache Tomcat, WildFly, JBoss EAP, WebSphere).

Use Maven with <packaging>war</packaging> in pom.xml:

mvn clean install

The resulting .war file (in target/) is deployed by placing it in the application server's deployment directory (e.g., Tomcat's webapps/).

WAR-based deployments integrate with CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab CI, GitHub Actions).

Uploading Multiple Configurations in the console​

Pack all configuration JAR files into a single .zip file. Use the "Multiple Configurations" checkbox in the "Upload Configuration" screen and upload the zip.

Using autoload of multiple configurations with Docker compose​

When using Docker, you can autoload multiple configurations by placing them in a directory and mounting it to /opt/frank/configurations in the container. The Frank!Framework will automatically load all configurations found in that directory if you use:

    environment:
      - configurations.directory.autoLoad=true

We have a maven module which defines the base for a configuration jar file. This is the configuration-parent module. It is available in the Maven Central repository. You can use it as a parent POM for your configuration project. Assuming you have two configurations named Configuration1 and Configuration2 residing in the src/main/configurations directory of your project. There's also a src/main/resources directory which contains some resources that will be copied to the root of the jar file. The pom.xml file would look like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

    <parent>
        <groupId>org.frankframework</groupId>
        <artifactId>configuration-parent</artifactId>
        <version>10.3.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
    </parent>

	<artifactId>multiple-configs</artifactId>
    
    <properties>
        <configuration.names>Configuration1, Configuration2</configuration.names>
        <framework.version>10.3.0-SNAPSHOT</framework.version>
        <maven.compiler.source>25</maven.compiler.source>
        <maven.compiler.target>25</maven.compiler.target>
        <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
    </properties>

    <build>
        <defaultGoal>install</defaultGoal>
        <resources>
            <resource>
                <directory>${project.basedir}/src/main/configurations</directory>
            </resource>
            <resource>
                <directory>${project.basedir}/src/main/resources</directory>
            </resource>
        </resources>
    ...
</project>

Building this would result in a .jar file with the following structure:

  • META-INF
    • MANIFEST.MF
  • Configuration1
    • Configuration.xml
  • Configuration2
    • Configuration.xml
  • DeploymentSpecifics.properties (copied from /src/main/resources)
  • resources.yml (copied from /src/main/resources)

In the pom.xml file we have defined the configurations that are contained in the jar file using the property <configuration.names>Configuration1, Configuration2</configuration.names>. The configuration names must differ from the ${instance.name} property.