In this blog, which follows on from the introduction to Cloud Connectors in Payara Micro, we'll guide you through the process of setting up Payara Micro as a Kafka Client, which can produce and consume data from Apache Kafka.

Payara Micro 172 brings with it support for JCA adapters, meaning it can be used as a client for Java Messaging Service (JMS) brokers. JMS is a Java EE API which provides a common interface for standard communication protocols. This means that you can send and receive messages between systems in a platform and language independent way. With Payara Micro now supporting JMS, you can setup your Micro instance as a JMS client with Message Driven Beans (MDBs) to listen and respond to messages from other systems through a message broker.

In the last few weeks, we have released two builds of Payara Server; our new major version 172 and third patch build of version 171 - 171.3. This is the first time we've ever released two distinct builds in the same month, so why are we doing it?

This spring's silver lining, Payara Server 4.1.2.172, a highly cloud-focused release, is now available!

Focusing on enhancing Payara Server and Payara Micro's ease-of-use in cloud environments, we've brought in new features to make working with Docker more seamless and secure, native support for SaaS monitoring solutions and a huge increase in messaging capabilities for Payara Micro! Inside this quarter's release you will find 54 fewer bugs, a host of ecosystem and cloud improvements, and an update to match GlassFish 4.1.2. Carry on reading for a summary of this quarter's changes, or check out the full release notes for a complete list of changes.

In prior releases of Payara Server, it was not possible to control the maximum number of concurrent Stateless EJB instances in Payara Server. It was, however, possible to control the number of pooled Stateless EJB instances, as well as concurrent MDB instances. These features were available in Oracle GlassFish Server 3.1 and earlier but not in the GlassFish Open Source editions (3.1.2.x and 4.x).

In the current release of Payara Server (171), it is now possible to limit concurrent Stateless EJB instances that are dispatched, allowing fine-grained control of resources, limiting surface area for DDOS attacks and making applications run more smoothly and efficiently.

This quick vlog shows off a few of the recent features and changes we added to Payara Micro in the 171 release. In it, we’ll cover sending asadmin commands to Micro instances from the DAS, how config changes in a pre-existing Payara Micro domain now get packaged up when creating an Uber JAR, as well as a couple of quality of life changes we’ve added.

We’re very excited to announce two new Payara Team members - Arjan Tijms and Gaurav Gupta, who joined us last week!

 I'm sure some of you recognise their names - both Arjan and Gaurav are passionate Java EE advocates and community contributors. Arjan is a member of the JCP, Founder of the OmniFaces project and the zeef.com website; while Gaurav is a NetBeans Dream Team member and a creator of Jeddict ( formerly known as JPA Modeler).

Read along to find out more about Arjan and Gaurav and what they’ll be working on at Payara.

Since being introduced as a technical preview, the Request Tracing Service has been improved and polished to meet production quality requirements. In the latest Payara Server version 171, it was extended to allow tracing of more request types and more events that happen during the requests. It can also remember traces of the slowest 20 requests for viewing them later, though the number stored can be increased or decreased.

In case you missed the news earlier this week - we are pleased to announce a new release of Payara Micro and Payara MicroProfile 171 to start the new year with a bang! With this new release, we have implemented substantial changes that are meant to improve the stability and usability of both 'regular' and MicroProfile version of Payara Micro. As is usual with our releases, keep special attention to our blog in the following weeks to read detailed articles on these changes and features to take full advantage of them!

For Payara support customers, LTS - Long Term Support - has been introduced for both Payara Micro and Payara MicroProfile so you can expect a full year of patch releases which only include fixes - great news for users who value stability over new features (find out more about the support services here)! 

All new changes and features introduced in this release are also included in Payara MicroProfile unless explicitly stated.

Kick-starting yet another year, we are pleased to announce our largest release yet - Payara Server 4.1.1.171. Building on a year's worth of updates and improvements, in this release, you can find 18 brand new features and over 60 new fixes and enhancements for Payara Server & Payara Micro! Given the size of the additions, look out for detailed blogs in the near future. For now, check out below for a summary of the changes in 171 release, and have a look at the full release notes.