Auto-Naming

Auto naming is an asadmin feature added to help with the naming of instances, deployment groups, and other resources by resolving name conflicts and auto-generating names for dynamic resources.

Usage

The autoname option is enabled either by specifying --autoname or -a on the command line before or after the command name. This is technically an asadmin option rather than a command parameter so should be specified before the command name - it will however still accept being specified after the command name (see examples below).

There are some circumstances in which specifying the --autoname or -a option after the command name will result in the option not taking effect, which is why we recommend that you place it always before the command name.

When enabled, this feature allows commands that accept String names as their primary parameter (the parameter that you don’t have to specify, e.g. the instancename parameter for the create-instance command) to generate a name. To automatically generate a name for your instances or resources, simply enable the autoname option and omit providing a name.

Specifically for the create-instance and create-local-instance commands, the autoname option can also be used to automatically resolve any name conflicts. When resolving a name conflict, Payara Server will simply append a new name to the existing name, like so: instance1-BamboozledBarracuda.

When creating an instance from the admin console, there is a new Auto Name checkbox present, which performs the same conflict resolution function as the autoname CLI option.

This checkbox does not currently allow you to generate an instance name from scratch - it simply resolves any name conflicts.

It should be stressed that these options are optional and disabled by default - if you wish to retain the original behaviour of prompting for a name or refusing to create an instance due to a name conflict, no action is necessary.

Examples

Example 1 - Name generation:

asadmin -a create-instance --node localhost-domain1
-> BemusedCatfish created

asadmin create-local-instance --node localhost-domain1 --autoname
-> ConfusedCarp created

asadmin create-instance --node localhost-domain1
Please enter an instance name: instance1
-> instance1 created

asadmin create-instance --node localhost-domain1
Please enter an instance name: instance1

-> command failed: instance name already in use

Example 2 - Name conflict resolution:

asadmin --autoname create-instance --node localhost-domain1 instance1
-> instance1 created

asadmin create-instance --node localhost-domain1 --autoname instance1
-> instance1-BemusedCatfish created

asadmin create-instance --node localhost-domain1 instance1
-> command failed: instance name already in use