The J2EE 1.4 SDK Update 1 is now available with several bug fix improvements. The J2EE SDK contains the Sun Java System Application Server Platform Edition 8 featuring support for JavaServer Faces technology and is free for both development and deployment. Sun Java System Application Server Platform Edition 8 is also available as a bundle with JavaStudio Creator and NetBeans 3.6. In addition to a freely deployable application server, the J2EE SDK includes the latest J2EE Blueprints, J2SE 1.4.2, and sample code.

In addtion to the SDK, you can also download the Java Application Verfication Kit for free. The Java Application Verification Kit is a tool intended to help developers test their applications for correct use of J2EE APIs and portability across J2EE compatible application servers, and to help developers avoid inadvertently writing non-portable code.

Get it now for free at: http://java.sun.com/j2ee/1.4/download.html

If you install the J2EE 1.4 SDK + Application Server on Windows, you'll discover that Sun's installation program does not register the application server as a Windows service.

I'd like to run the app server as a Windows service. I am disappointed that Sun does not provide this functionality.

If the app server is Java you can use http://www.multiplan.co.uk/software/javaservice/downloads.html to set it up as a Windows service. I'm using this with JBoss....

For services, we've been using Java Service Wrapper ( http://wrapper.tanukisoftware.org/doc/english/index.html ); been using it to autostart Tomcat, JBoss, and other apps as a service.

Seems to work on Windows, Linux, Solaris, and Mac OS X (they say it also works on FreeBSD, HPUX, Irix, and AIX, but we've not tried those).

rob.

Sun AS 8 Platform Edition has many features, except standard J2EE, ripped off to do not compete with future release of Enterprise Edition. (In comparison with version 7 EE)

you can maually add a service entry directly in the registry. To save having to repeat the excercise you can export the service entry using regedit.

jv16 powertoys is a good utility for this kind of thing and I am sure the resource kit for windows has functionality to do the same.

Have fun.

P.S. you can always message Sun - they were very quick to reply when I got onto them about their new dev env...

The J2EE SDK contains the Sun Java System Application Server Platform Edition 8

I am unable to run one of my legacy applications in the Sun Java System Application Server (8.0, Update 1, Platform Edition).

The application needs to a context-root value of "/"

Sun's app server can't load the web module.

The bug is explained in Sun's bug database:

Having Context Root as / or " " doesn't work
http://bugs.sun.com/bugdatabase/view_bug.do?bug_id=5034023