Publish WebService for public access

Question

So, i have some experience developing Java WebServices. The problem is, all i do is deploy them to localhost.

My question is:

How can we deploy a WebService to a server other than localhost?

How can i search the web and find the WSDL description for my WebService so that i, or anybody else around the world, can call its services?

If i have it in localhost, nobody else but me on my computer can acess it right?...

Thank you for your time

Answer 1

I don't think you'd want to make an application running in your development environment accessible to anybody else around the world for a variety of reasons. Others on your local network could access your local host via its network hostname, but this isn't users around the world.

Let's discuss your two questions individually:

How can we deploy a WebService to a server other than localhost?

You'll want to establish a server environment that is available (on) as much as possible. If you want to keep using Apache Tomcat, you could sign up with a variety of service providers that host Apache Tomcat applications - there are many who offer tiered pricing based on number and size of pre-configured virtual servers (CPU, memory, disk space, and/or monthly data transfer of the application). You could even sign up with a cloud service provider such as Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services, or Microsoft Azure. All provide the tools to build, provision, and manage virtual server(s) which you would then deploy Tomcat and web service application into. Here's a detailed tutorial on setting up a Tomcat virtual server on Azure. You'd then need to manage those server(s), watch them to see how much they're utilized (which will impact how much they cost you per month, by the way).

If server management isn't what you're looking for - you could also explore "serverless" options such as Google AppEngine or AWS Elastic Beanstalk. In this model, you just upload your WAR file and the hosting service manages things like how many servers are needed to handle all the application SOAP requests your users around the world are making. You'll need to read the specifications for each, as you technically aren't providing Tomcat itself - in Google's example, you're actually running in their own proprietary container, so your app may need some changes depending on what it does.

Depending on what hosting or cloud service provider you select, your "how to deploy" steps vary wildly. On the bright side, all offer tutorials on how to specifically deploy applications into them "their way."

How can i search the web and find the WSDL description for my WebService so that i, or anybody else around the world, can call its services?

Once you've settled on a hosting or cloud services provider and have deployed your application, you'll have a URL to reach it, but you'll need to work on getting the word out. There are some open specifications on (SOAP) web service discovery, but more than likely that's not what you're really looking for. You could also submit your WSDL URL to an online API directory such as ProgrammableWeb or Public APIs.

The simplest way to do-it-yourself would be to run a web site that links to the WSDL, then use search engine optimization techniques to list the site on search engines and make it (and the WSDL it links to) relevant to web searches.

Getting fancier, you can treat your web service as a product via an API Management system. At a high level, this works by hiding the real URL to your web service on its server(s) and instead direct clients to a small website for developers where you document, market, facilitate discovery of your service as well as offer a sign up to use it (so you can track and manage who around the world is using your web service). Clients then consume the web service via separate URL behind what's called an API Gateway. You could charge for access or offer it for free but limit the amount of concurrent requests a client can make - after all, you're likely paying your hosting provider for utilization. Some of the cloud service providers Amazon, Azure, standalone API management vendors such as Apigee, Mashery, and many others.