How to Setup and Test Axis with Tomcat to run Web Services

See also: http://ws.apache.org/axis/java/install.html.

Installation

1. Download and install Tomcat and verify it works (http://localhost:8080)
2. Download and unpack Axis to C:\tools.
3. Copy the directory $AXISDIR\ webapps\axis in $CATALINA_HOME/webapps.
4. Download xerces and extract xercesImpl.jar and xml-apis.jar to $AXISDIR\lib.
5. Downalod JavaBeans Activation Framework and extract activation.jar to $CATALINA_HOME\webapps\axis\WEB-INF\lib and to $AXISDIR\lib.
6. Download JavaMail and extract mail.jar to $CATALINA_HOME \webapps\axis\WEB-INF\lib and to $AXISDIR\lib.
7. Copy tools.jar (from $JAVA_SDK\lib) to $CATALINA_HOME\lib.
8. Set the following environment variables:

AXIS_HOME = $AXISDIR
XIS_LIB = %AXIS_HOME%\lib
AXISCLASSPATH = %AXIS_LIB%;%AXIS_LIB%\axis.jar;%AXIS_LIB%\commons-discovery-0.2.jar;%AXIS_LIB%\commons-logging-1.0.4.jar;%AXIS_LIB%\jaxrpc.jar;%AXIS_LIB%\saaj.jar;%AXIS_LIB%\log4j-1.2.8.jar;%AXIS_LIB%\xml-apis.jar;%AXIS_LIB%\xercesImpl.jar;%AXIS_HOME%;%AXIS_LIB%\wsdl4j-1.5.1.jar;%AXIS_LIB%\activation.jar; %AXIS_LIB%\mail.jar

9. Check the Axis Happiness Page: http://localhost:8080/axis/happyaxis.jsp. There should not be any warnings in the Needed Components section.

10. Test the command line admin tool. Open a command prompt and type:

java -cp %AXISCLASSPATH% org.apache.axis.client.AdminClient list

Testing: Simple A Web Service

To test that Axis is working correctly with Tomcat for simple web services:

1. Create Test.jws in $CATALINA_HOME\webapps\axis:

// Test.jws

public class Test
{
 public String echoString(String test) 
 {
      return test;
   }
   
 public String stapleString(String test1, String test2) 
 {
      return test1 + " : " + test2;
  }
}

2. Build and execute the following Java program:

import org.apache.axis.client.Call;
import org.apache.axis.client.Service;

public class TestClient 
{
 public static void main(String[] args) 
 {
  try 
  {
    String endpoint = "http://localhost:8080/axis/Test.jws";
    String ret = "";
    
    Service service = new Service();
    Call call = (Call) service.createCall();
    call.setTargetEndpointAddress( new java.net.URL(endpoint) );
    
    call.setOperationName("echoString");
    ret = (String) call.invoke( new Object[] { "Hello!" } );
    System.out.println("Sent 'Hello!' to echoString, got '" + ret + "'");
    
    call.setOperationName("stapleString");
    ret = (String) call.invoke( new Object[] { "One","Two" } );
    System.out.println("Sent 'One' and 'Two' to stapleString, got '" + ret + "'");
    
  } 
  catch (Exception e) 
  {
   System.err.println(e.toString());
  }
 }
}

The output should be:

Sent 'Hello!' to echoString, got 'Hello!'
Sent 'One' and 'Two' to stapleString, got 'One : Two'

Testing: Deploying

1. Create Test.class from the following Test.java:

package onjava;

public class Test
{
 public String echoString(String test) 
 {
      return test;
   }
  
 public String stapleString(String test1, String test2)  
 {
       return test1 + " : " + test2;
  }
}

2. Copy Test.class to $CATALINA_HOME\webapps\axis\WEB-INF\classes\onjava.
3. Create the following deploy.wsdd file:

<deployment xmlns="http://xml.apache.org/axis/wsdd/" xmlns:java="http://xml.apache.org/axis/wsdd/providers/java">
 <service name="Test" provider="java:RPC">
  <parameter name="allowedMethods" value="echoString,stapleString"/>
  <parameter name="enableRemoteAdmin" value="false"/>
  <parameter name="className" value="onjava.Test"/>
 </service>
 </deployment>

4. Deploy the service:

java -cp %AXISCLASSPATH% org.apache.axis.client.AdminClient deploy.wsdd

Expected output:

Processing file deploy.wsdd
<Admin>Done processing</Admin>

5. Check that the Test service appears in the service list: http://localhost:8080/axis/servlet/AxisServlet
6. Build and execute the following Java program to test the serivce:

import org.apache.axis.client.Call;
import org.apache.axis.client.Service;

public class TestClient 
{   
 public static void main(String[] args) 
 {
  try 
  {
    String endpoint = "http://localhost:8080/axis/services/Test";
    String ret = "";
    
    Service service = new Service();
    Call call = (Call) service.createCall();
    call.setTargetEndpointAddress( new java.net.URL(endpoint) );
    
    call.setOperationName("echoString");
    ret = (String) call.invoke( new Object[] { "Hello!" } );
    System.out.println("Sent 'Hello!' to echoString, got '" + ret + "'");
    
    call.setOperationName("stapleString");
    ret = (String) call.invoke( new Object[] { "One","Two" } );
    System.out.println("Sent 'One' and 'Two' to stapleString, got '" + ret + "'");
    
  } 
  catch (Exception e) 
  {
   System.err.println(e.toString());
  }
 }
}

The output should be:

Sent 'Hello!' to echoString, got 'Hello!'
Sent 'One' and 'Two' to stapleString, got 'One : Two'

7. The Test.class file can also be archived in a JAR. To be found, the JAR must be copied to $CATALINA_HOME\webapps\axis\WEB-INF\lib and Tomcat restarted.