SOLVED! "Application ConfigExport could not be found in the registry"

‘Application “com.bea.alsb.core.ConfigExport” could not be found in the registry’ is due to some artifacts left in the build directories from the previous build. Clean them up and the error will be gone.

Did you have your OSB build failed for no reason with this puzzling message: Application “com.bea.alsb.core.ConfigExport” could not be found in the registry.

(No? You’re lucky, you can enjoy life; the rest - please read on)

!ENTRY org.eclipse.osgi 4 0 2013-07-31 19:22:53.626
!MESSAGE Application error
!STACK 1
java.lang.RuntimeException: <strong>Application "com.bea.alsb.core.ConfigExport" could not be found in the registry.</strong> The applications available are: org.eclipse.ant.core.antRunner, org.eclipse.ant.ui.antRunner, org.eclipse.datatools.connectivity.console.profile.StorageFileEditor, org.eclipse.emf.codegen.CodeGen, org.eclipse.emf.codegen.JMerger, ...

The message seemingly suggests that the classpath is the issue. Somehow our builder app is not in path anymore, right?

At this point a skilled java developer investigates all the JARs presented in the classpath and those that not, scans their content, plays with OSB_HOME and MIDDLEWARE_HOME variables and does everything within his abilities - and fails.

OSB OEPE-based build is a major pain. But sometimes it goes further and acts just like a premeditated torture device.

The error message, as it turns out, is totally misleading.

Experiments lead me to believe the root cause was some work files left over after the build. After incessant bi-section I narrowed it down to one directory. Take a look at this property you pass to the OEPE builder:

-configuration output.dir

Now look at the parent of this output.dir directory. You’ll find an innocently looking directory named p2/ over there.

Delete it! :D

Delete that directory and the output directory (output.dir) too before every build, and you won’t see the ConfigExport error anymore.

At least I don’t.