How can I set the context root in Liberty using server configuration (server.xml) for my EAR-packaged WARs?

Question

I tried to set my context root with the value "new-ctx" in Liberty server config:

server.xml

<application id="my-ear" location="my-ear.ear" name="my-ear" context-root="new-ctx"/>

This was intended to override the setting in my EAR-level pom, which uses maven-ear-plugin to generate an application.xml with context root "old-ctx" for my WAR:

pom.xml (EAR)

    <build>
        <finalName>${project.artifactId}</finalName>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-ear-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>3.2.0</version>
                <configuration>
                    <modules>
                        <webModule>
                            <groupId>io.openliberty.guides</groupId>
                            <artifactId>guide-maven-multimodules-war</artifactId>
                            <uri>my.war</uri>
                            <contextRoot>old-ctx</contextRoot>
                        </webModule>
                    </modules>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>

However this didn't work, I still see 'old-ctx':

 [INFO] [AUDIT   ] CWWKT0016I: Web application available (default_host): http://<host>:9080/old-ctx/

Answer 1

SOLUTION

Add a <web-ext> element with a context-root attribute as a child element of <application>, e.g.:

server.xml

<application id="my-ear"  location="my-ear.ear"  name="my-ear">
    <web-ext moduleName="my.war" context-root="new-ctx"/>
</application>

OR, (using <enterpriseApplication> instead of <application>)

<enterpriseApplication id="my-ear"  location="my-ear.ear"  name="my-ear">
    <web-ext moduleName="my.war" context-root="new-ctx"/>
</enterpriseApplication>

NOTE:

The moduleName attribute of <web-ext> should match the <web-uri> element value (contents) in application.xml.

E.g. in my example (though all details are not shown), this application.xml value originates from the <uri>my.war</uri> element value within the particular <webModule> configured via the maven-ear-plugin configuration (since this plugin generates the application.xml).

EXPLANATION

The context-root attribute of the <application> is not really used when the <application> location points to an EAR. This <application> element has the ability to be used to configure either an EAR or a WAR, and the context-root can be used when configuring a WAR.

When configuring an EAR, however, the context root needs to be set on the level of the individual WAR(s) within the EAR, and so something like the <web-ext> child element must be used.