Hotswap configuration files in Jira Plugins - like Apache Felix

[Tormod Haugene]

In the Apache Felix framework that Jira runs on, there is a concept that allows you to define configuration files with hotswap functionality. Is this somehow possible to achieve in Jira Plugins as well?

Example from Karaf

In Karaf - which also is based on Apache Felix - this works by annotating Spring/Blueprint components with a configuration class, such as:

@Component(name="MyComponent")
@Designate(ocd = MyConfig.class)
public class MyComponentImpl implements MyComponent {

  @Activate
  public void activate(MyConfig config) {
    // Do something with the config object
    AssertTrue(config.getUsername() == "username")
  }

}

Then define that configuration class with some default values:

@ObjectClassDefinition(name = "MyConfigFileName")
@interface MyConfig {

  String username() default "username";
  String password() default "password";

}

If you then drop a file named `MyConfigFileName.cfg` into the folder `karafhome/etc`, the Apache Felix framework will reload all Spring components (here `MyComponent`) that use the `MyConfig` configuration, and update it's values:

# MyConfigFileName.cfg

username = helloWorld
password = h3110W0rld!

Is this possible in Jira?

From what I understand, the functionality described above should be possible to achieve in Jira as well, but the question is: how? If we import the Maven dependency required for the annotations and give it a spin, which folder should configurations be added to?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

No, it reads config at startup and caches most of it.

[Tormod Haugene]

Thanks for your answer, Nic! Do you know if there are any unofficial ways of doing this?

I imagine that if Jira runs on top of Felix, then this should be possible. However, for all I know Jira could be a wrapper for the entire Felix framework, which would complicate things.

The reason why I'm asking is because not having the ability to hot-swap configuration makes it much more difficult for our DevOps team, and we would rather not implement a custom solution if we don't have to.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Not that I'm aware of, it's just not coded for.  Because once your Jira is configured correctly on a system level, you should not be messing with it.  It's rare to need to change the system files, they're definitely not things you should be "hot swapping"