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Frequently Asked Questions About Eclipse GlassFish

What is Eclipse GlassFish?

Eclipse GlassFish is an open-source Jakarta EE platform application server project started by Sun Microsystems, then sponsored by Oracle Corporation, and now living at the Eclipse Foundation.

What is Embedded GlassFish and when should I use it?

Embedded GlassFish is a self-contained executable JAR that runs a full GlassFish instance without any installation or configuration. You start it with java -jar glassfish-embedded-all.jar and optionally pass applications and configuration on the command line.

Use Embedded GlassFish when you want to:

  • Deploy to cloud environments or containers without managing a server installation
  • Run Jakarta EE applications as self-contained microservices
  • Embed GlassFish as a library directly inside your application
  • Run integration tests against a real Jakarta EE runtime as part of your build

Embedded GlassFish is a fully supported and actively maintained feature since GlassFish 7.1.0, covered by the internal test suite, and suitable for production use.

Is Eclipse GlassFish open-source?

Yes, Eclipse GlassFish is an open-source project made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v. 2.0. Find out more in the Eclipse GlassFish NOTICE file.

Can I contribute to the project?

Yes, the Eclipse GlassFish Project is open for contributions and your help is greatly appreciated. You can report an issue with a bug, feedback, or an enhancement request. You can also contribute code or improve the documentation or the website. Find out more in the Contributing to Eclipse GlassFish page.

Is Eclipse GlassFish supported?

Yes, there are multiple companies that provide Enterprise Support and other Professional Services. There’s a list of those companies on the Professional Services and Enterprise Support page.

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