Java CAPS 5 versus CAPS 6

JCAPS 6 uses the JBI runtime environment of OpenESB, which runs on Glassfish.
On the other side JCAPS 6 also uses design time tools inside Netbeans.
All JCaps projects are managed inside a JCaps repository. Netbeans gives support
regarding the JCaps repository and Service environments, where all the integration magic happens.

OpenESB is the umbrella project that takes the core runtime in Glassfish, the design time tooling in Netbeans, and many of the JBI components from OpenJBI and packages them into a single installer which you’re able to download.

First let’s map out the differences between OpenESB and CAPS 6

Glassfish v2 Enterprise AS has extra admin monitoring abilities plus user persistance storage capabilities for high availability.

In CAPS 5 applications were deployed to an integration server (IS). Connectivity information was embedded in repository-based EAR files. There was no connectivity information in the IS. Any change in configuration required a regeneration of the EAR file. A workaround was to use LDAP. However LDAP connectivity information is stored in the EAR file, which means that when the LDAP server is changed, the EAR file must be regenerated.

In CAPS 6 applications are deployed on Glassfish. CAPS 6 includes a new concept called Environment Objects, which represents connection information to an external system. This info is stored in the AS, where it is serialized in the domain.xml. When the EAR is deployed on the AS, environment configuration is overriden with the info stored inside the Environment Objects. You are able to use environment objects in combination with environment variables stored inside LDAP. (OpenDS for instance)