Installing actor-IaC

Problem Definition

Build actor-IaC from source code and complete verification of operation.

How to do it

Prerequisites

The following software is required.

Software	Version	Purpose
Java (JDK)	21 or higher	Runtime environment for actor-IaC
Maven	3.8 or higher	Building actor-IaC
Git	Any	Obtaining source code

Verify the Java version.

java -version

openjdk version "21.0.2" 2024-01-16
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 21.0.2+13-Ubuntu-222.04.1)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 21.0.2+13-Ubuntu-222.04.1, mixed mode, sharing)

If Java 21 is not installed, install it using SDKMAN.

curl -s "https://get.sdkman.io" | bash
source "$HOME/.sdkman/bin/sdkman-init.sh"
sdk install java 21-tem      # Temurin 21
sdk install maven 3.9.12

Build

Obtain and build the source code.

git clone https://github.com/scivicslab/actor-IaC.git
cd actor-IaC
mvn clean install

After the build completes, Maven generates target/actor-IaC-2.14.0.jar.

Startup Methods

actor-IaC has three startup methods.

Method	Command	Features
Direct JAR execution	java -jar target/actor-IaC-2.14.0.jar	Works with JDK only
JBang launcher	./actor_iac.java	Automatically resolves JAR path
Native binary	./actor-iac	Fast startup, no JDK required

First, verify operation with direct JAR execution.

java -jar target/actor-IaC-2.14.0.jar --help

actor-IaC 2.14.0
Usage: java -jar actor-IaC-2.14.0.jar [COMMAND]
Commands:
  run         Execute actor-IaC workflows
  list        List workflows
  describe    Display workflow descriptions
  log-info    Display workflow execution logs
  log-server  Serve H2 TCP server for logging
  merge-logs  Merge log databases

Verification

Execute a Hello World workflow.

mkdir -p ~/my-workflows
cd ~/my-workflows

Create the file hello-world.yaml.

name: Hello World Workflow
steps:
  - transitionName: say-hello
    states: ["0", "1"]
    actions:
      - actor: nodeGroup
        method: localExec
        arguments:
          - "echo"
          - "Hello, actor-IaC!"

Execute the workflow.

java -jar ~/actor-IaC/target/actor-IaC-2.14.0.jar run -w hello-world.yaml

Hello, actor-IaC!
Workflow completed successfully

Under the hood

How the JBang Launcher Works

When you git clone actor-IaC, a JBang script called actor_iac.java is included. This script automatically detects and executes the actor-IaC JAR file.

JAR file search order:

1. Path specified by the environment variable ACTOR_IAC_JAR
2. Maven local repository ~/.m2/repository/com/scivicslab/actor-IaC/<VERSION>/actor-IaC-<VERSION>.jar

When you execute mvn install, the JAR file is installed to the Maven local repository. The JBang launcher automatically finds and executes this JAR.

To use JBang, install JBang in advance.

sdk install jbang

Copy actor_iac.java to your workflow directory and use it.

cp ~/actor-IaC/actor_iac.java ~/my-workflows/
cd ~/my-workflows
./actor_iac.java run -w hello-world.yaml

JBang compiles the script and caches it on the first run. Subsequent runs use the cache, making startup faster.