# Elasticsearch in a .war: where to put the plugins directory? **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [March 5, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-in-a-war-where-to-put-the-plugins-directory/11027 "2013-03-05T22:46:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paul\_Sanwald\_2](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/paul_sanwald_2/32/881_2.png) [@Paul\_Sanwald\_2](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Paul_Sanwald_2)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-in-a-war-where-to-put-the-plugins-directory/11027/1 "2013-03-05T22:46:08Z")
Hi Everyone, I'm deploying elasticsearch as part of my web application, packaged as a .war file and using the elasticsearch-transport-wares to start up. In the typical elasticsearch deployment, installing a plugin basically amounts to copying a .jar file into the plugins directory, and you can configure the location of that directory using "path.plugins". I'm struggling to get this working in my deployment, and trying the following: in elasticsearch.yml: path.plugins: /plugins jar -tvf ./target/my-webapp.war | grep plugins 68431 Tue Mar 05 17:15:58 EST 2013 WEB-INF/classes/plugins/elasticfacets/ElasticFacetsPlugin-0.2.2-SNAPSHOT.jar is this not the right location? what am I missing? thanks in advance! --paul -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "elasticsearch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![jprante](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/jprante/32/44941_2.png) [@jprante](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/jprante)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 11:16pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-in-a-war-where-to-put-the-plugins-directory/11027/2 "2013-03-05T23:16:13Z")
Just put elasticfacets plugin (and others) in WEB-INF/lib and it should work. No need for the path.plugins setting, since the jar and the es-plugin.properties can be picked up on the classpath by the webapp classloader. I have tried to improve plugin loading with an "Elasticsearch apps" effort. This alternative approach to path.plugins replaces the ./bin/plugin tool and is loading the plugins together with their dependencies ("the apps") from repositories at node startup time, also using a separate classloader for the plugins. Setup of dependencies and repositories is like in a Maven pom.xml. What is missing is classpath isolation between plugins. See [https://github.com/jprante/elasticsearch-apps](https://github.com/jprante/elasticsearch-apps) Jörg Am 05.03.13 23:46, schrieb Paul Sanwald: > Hi Everyone, > I'm deploying elasticsearch as part of my web application, packaged > as a .war file and using the elasticsearch-transport-wares to start up. > > In the typical elasticsearch deployment, installing a plugin basically > amounts to copying a .jar file into the plugins directory, and you can > configure the location of that directory using "path.plugins". I'm > struggling to get this working in my deployment, and trying the following: > > in elasticsearch.yml: > path.plugins: /plugins > > jar -tvf ./target/my-webapp.war | grep plugins > 68431 Tue Mar 05 17:15:58 EST 2013 > WEB-INF/classes/plugins/elasticfacets/ElasticFacetsPlugin-0.2.2-SNAPSHOT.jar > > is this not the right location? what am I missing? > > thanks in advance! > > ## --paul > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "elasticsearch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send > an email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). > For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "elasticsearch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_Sanwald\_2](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/paul_sanwald_2/32/881_2.png) [@Paul\_Sanwald\_2](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Paul_Sanwald_2)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 2:15pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-in-a-war-where-to-put-the-plugins-directory/11027/3 "2013-03-06T14:15:32Z")
Jörg, hmm, I tried putting the "plugins" directory in WEB-INF/lib, but no dice, the logs don't show the plugin as being loaded, whereas in my standalone instance, I see: [2013-03-05 16:55:06,184][INFO ][org.leskes.elasticfacets.ElasticFacetsPlugin] ElasticFacets plugin initialized strangely, I don't seem to see es-plugin.properties anywhere. From your message, it seems like the plugins loader scans the classpath for a directory called "plugins", possibly the elasticsearch-transport-wares NodeServlet isn't doing this? I will check the source. --paul On Tuesday, March 5, 2013 6:16:13 PM UTC-5, Jörg Prante wrote: > Just put elasticfacets plugin (and others) in WEB-INF/lib and it should > work. No need for the path.plugins setting, since the jar and the > es-plugin.properties can be picked up on the classpath by the webapp > classloader. > > I have tried to improve plugin loading with an "Elasticsearch apps" > effort. This alternative approach to path.plugins replaces the > ./bin/plugin tool and is loading the plugins together with their > dependencies ("the apps") from repositories at node startup time, also > using a separate classloader for the plugins. Setup of dependencies and > repositories is like in a Maven pom.xml. What is missing is classpath > isolation between plugins. See > [https://github.com/jprante/elasticsearch-apps](https://github.com/jprante/elasticsearch-apps) > > Jörg > > Am 05.03.13 23:46, schrieb Paul Sanwald: > > > Hi Everyone, > > I'm deploying elasticsearch as part of my web application, packaged > > as a .war file and using the elasticsearch-transport-wares to start up. > > > > In the typical elasticsearch deployment, installing a plugin basically > > amounts to copying a .jar file into the plugins directory, and you can > > configure the location of that directory using "path.plugins". I'm > > struggling to get this working in my deployment, and trying the > > following: > > > > in elasticsearch.yml: > > path.plugins: /plugins > > > > jar -tvf ./target/my-webapp.war | grep plugins > > 68431 Tue Mar 05 17:15:58 EST 2013 > > WEB-INF/classes/plugins/elasticfacets/ElasticFacetsPlugin-0.2.2-SNAPSHOT.jar > > > is this not the right location? what am I missing? > > > > thanks in advance! > > > > ## --paul > > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > > Groups "elasticsearch" group. > > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send > > an email to [elasticsearc...@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearc...@googlegroups.com) \. > > For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "elasticsearch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![jprante](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/jprante/32/44941_2.png) [@jprante](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/jprante)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 2:35pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-in-a-war-where-to-put-the-plugins-directory/11027/4 "2013-03-06T14:35:25Z")
Do not worry about a "plugins" folder. Just put the JAR of the plugin (or the JARs) in WEB-INF/lib, like you would do with any other in-WAR dependency. es-plugin.properties is in a plugin JAR on the root level. An App server is loading all the JARs and adds them to the class path of the web app, so everything should work just by putting the JARs in place. Jörg Am 06.03.13 15:15, schrieb Paul Sanwald: > Jörg, > hmm, I tried putting the "plugins" directory in WEB-INF/lib, but no > dice, the logs don't show the plugin as being loaded, whereas in my > standalone instance, I see: > [2013-03-05 16:55:06,184][INFO > ][org.leskes.elasticfacets.ElasticFacetsPlugin] ElasticFacets plugin > initialized > > strangely, I don't seem to see es-plugin.properties anywhere. From > your message, it seems like the plugins loader scans the classpath for > a directory called "plugins", possibly the > elasticsearch-transport-wares NodeServlet isn't doing this? I will > check the source. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "elasticsearch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_Sanwald\_2](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/paul_sanwald_2/32/881_2.png) [@Paul\_Sanwald\_2](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Paul_Sanwald_2)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-in-a-war-where-to-put-the-plugins-directory/11027/5 "2013-03-06T16:44:47Z")
Jörg, your help is much appreciated! I've added the jar to my WEB-INF/lib directory, but it's still not loading. I feel as though I may be missing some step to tell my node that it should scan for plugins. I've confirmed that the plugin jar does contain the properties file: $ jar -tvf target/my-exploded-war/WEB-INF/lib/ElasticFacetsPlugin-0.2.2-SNAPSHOT.jar | grep es-plugin.properties 51 Sat Feb 02 15:57:02 EST 2013 es-plugin.properties but, nothing in the logs that indicate the plugin is being loaded. --paul On Wednesday, March 6, 2013 9:35:25 AM UTC-5, Jörg Prante wrote: > Do not worry about a "plugins" folder. Just put the JAR of the plugin > (or the JARs) in WEB-INF/lib, like you would do with any other in-WAR > dependency. es-plugin.properties is in a plugin JAR on the root level. > An App server is loading all the JARs and adds them to the class path of > the web app, so everything should work just by putting the JARs in place. > > Jörg > > Am 06.03.13 15:15, schrieb Paul Sanwald: > > > Jörg, > > hmm, I tried putting the "plugins" directory in WEB-INF/lib, but no > > dice, the logs don't show the plugin as being loaded, whereas in my > > standalone instance, I see: > > [2013-03-05 16:55:06,184][INFO > > ][org.leskes.elasticfacets.ElasticFacetsPlugin] ElasticFacets plugin > > initialized > > > > strangely, I don't seem to see es-plugin.properties anywhere. From > > your message, it seems like the plugins loader scans the classpath for > > a directory called "plugins", possibly the > > elasticsearch-transport-wares NodeServlet isn't doing this? I will > > check the source. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "elasticsearch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![jprante](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/jprante/32/44941_2.png) [@jprante](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/jprante)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-in-a-war-where-to-put-the-plugins-directory/11027/6 "2013-03-06T17:58:04Z")
Not sure what you are doing, how does the code look like that starts the node or the transport client in the web app? Can you gist an example? Jörg Am 06.03.13 17:44, schrieb Paul Sanwald: > Jörg, > your help is much appreciated! I've added the jar to my WEB-INF/lib > directory, but it's still not loading. I feel as though I may be > missing some step to tell my node that it should scan for plugins. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "elasticsearch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_Sanwald\_2](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/paul_sanwald_2/32/881_2.png) [@Paul\_Sanwald\_2](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Paul_Sanwald_2)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 7:00pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-in-a-war-where-to-put-the-plugins-directory/11027/7 "2013-03-06T19:00:38Z")
I'm using the elasticsearch wares plugin to fire up the node: > I've configured it in my web.xml as follows: node org.elasticsearch.wares.NodeServlet 1 --paul On Wednesday, March 6, 2013 12:58:04 PM UTC-5, Jörg Prante wrote: > Not sure what you are doing, how does the code look like that starts the > node or the transport client in the web app? Can you gist an example? > > Jörg > > Am 06.03.13 17:44, schrieb Paul Sanwald: > > > Jörg, > > your help is much appreciated! I've added the jar to my WEB-INF/lib > > directory, but it's still not loading. I feel as though I may be > > missing some step to tell my node that it should scan for plugins. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "elasticsearch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![jprante](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/jprante/32/44941_2.png) [@jprante](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/jprante)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-in-a-war-where-to-put-the-plugins-directory/11027/8 "2013-03-06T20:14:38Z")
I never used the NodeServlet but I will try to reproduce... Jörg Am 06.03.13 20:00, schrieb Paul Sanwald: > I'm using the elasticsearch wares plugin to fire up the node: -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "elasticsearch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_Sanwald\_2](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/paul_sanwald_2/32/881_2.png) [@Paul\_Sanwald\_2](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Paul_Sanwald_2)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-in-a-war-where-to-put-the-plugins-directory/11027/9 "2013-03-06T20:25:48Z")
Jörg, just got this working! it was a maven problem on my side, the jar I was including had gotten corrupted somehow. thanks for your help, I'm using the plugin successfully now. --paul On Wednesday, March 6, 2013 3:14:38 PM UTC-5, Jörg Prante wrote: > I never used the NodeServlet but I will try to reproduce... > > Jörg > > Am 06.03.13 20:00, schrieb Paul Sanwald: > > > I'm using the elasticsearch wares plugin to fire up the node: -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "elasticsearch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![jprante](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/jprante/32/44941_2.png) [@jprante](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/jprante)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 11:09pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-in-a-war-where-to-put-the-plugins-directory/11027/10 "2013-03-06T23:09:43Z")
FYI I just opened a pull request [Create a ready-to-deploy es.war webapp for better out-of-the-box experience by jprante · Pull Request #8 · elastic/elasticsearch-transport-wares · GitHub](https://github.com/elasticsearch/elasticsearch-transport-wares/pull/8) in the hope the ES deployment experience as a web app can be improved, just by providing a simple web.xml and a build routine for a simple es.war. There are no plugins in WEB-INF/lib. Tested against JBoss AS 7.1.1 I hope this can be useful. Jörg Am 06.03.13 21:25, schrieb Paul Sanwald: > Jörg, just got this working! it was a maven problem on my side, the > jar I was including had gotten corrupted somehow. thanks for your > help, I'm using the plugin successfully now. > > --paul > > On Wednesday, March 6, 2013 3:14:38 PM UTC-5, Jörg Prante wrote: > > ``` > I never used the NodeServlet but I will try to reproduce... > > Jörg > > Am 06.03.13 20:00, schrieb Paul Sanwald: > > I'm using the elasticsearch wares plugin to fire up the node: > > ``` > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "elasticsearch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send > an email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). > For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "elasticsearch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:elasticsearch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com). For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out). ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 2:47am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/elasticsearch-in-a-war-where-to-put-the-plugins-directory/11027/11 "2017-07-06T02:47:55Z")