Integration tests for web services with Maven

There is a very nifty Maven plugin, called Maven Jetty plugin through which you can set up quick integration tests as part of your build. This is very valuable to catch erroneous check-ins that cause your code to compile and unit tests to pass but still can induce service start up failures.

With this plug in, you can start up a Servlet container (Jetty) and run your web service in it, as part of your build, in the pre-integration test phase. A sample configuration is pasted below. The following goes in the tag of your Maven pom.xml:

     <plugins>  
             <plugin>  
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>  
                 <artifactId>maven-failsafe-plugin</artifactId>  
                 <version>2.9</version>  
                 <executions>  
                     <execution>  
                         <goals>  
                             <goal>integration-test</goal>  
                             <goal>verify</goal>  
                         </goals>  
                     </execution>  
                 </executions>  
             </plugin>  
             <plugin>  
                 <groupId>org.mortbay.jetty</groupId>  
                 <artifactId>jetty-maven-plugin</artifactId>  
                 <version>7.4.4.v20110707</version>  
                 <configuration>  
                     <connectors>  
                         <connector implementation="org.eclipse.jetty.server.nio.SelectChannelConnector">  
                             <port>9099</port>  
                             <maxIdleTime>60000</maxIdleTime>  
                         </connector>  
                     </connectors>  
                     <stopKey>foo</stopKey>  
                     <stopPort>9999</stopPort>  
                     <!-- webXml>src/main/resources/override-web.xml</webXml> -->  
                     <webAppConfig>  
                         <contextPath>/facebookConnectServlet</contextPath>                          
                     </webAppConfig>                      
                 </configuration>  
                 <executions>  
                     <execution>  
                         <id>start-jetty</id>  
                         <phase>pre-integration-test</phase>  
                         <goals>  
                             <goal>run</goal>  
                         </goals>  
                         <configuration>  
                             <scanIntervalSeconds>0</scanIntervalSeconds>  
                             <daemon>true</daemon>  
                         </configuration>  
                     </execution>  
                     <execution>  
                         <id>stop-jetty</id>  
                         <phase>post-integration-test</phase>  
                         <goals>  
                             <goal>stop</goal>  
                         </goals>  
                     </execution>  
                 </executions>  
             </plugin>  
         </plugins>  

The first plugin, Maven Failsafe Plugin, is designed to run integration tests. The second plug in, Maven Jetty Plugin, is configured subsequently to run Jetty in the pre-integration test phase and stop Jetty in the post integration test phase.

You can then make smoke test level requests to your web service, in the integration test phase, to check if the basic functionality works.

Making AES 256 bit encryption work for Java

There are regulatory issues in exporting software that contains AES 192 bit and greater encryption. Read about it here:
http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/Security/AES/AES_v1.html
[Section: Strong Versus Unlimited Strength Cryptography]

To make AES 256 bit encryption work, you'll have to download the policy files from:
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jce-6-download-429243.html

The zip file contains 2 jars: US_export_policy.jar and local_policy.jar

You'll have to copy the jars in your JRE_HOME/lib/security directory. This will make 256 bit AES work.

Also skim through the README file in the zip file for additional insight.