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You can access the documentation of the *latest released distribution* of Petals ESB [here|petalsesb42:] (version 4.2).
The top menu will help you to browse all the documentation spaces. You can download Petals ESB on its [web site|http://petals.ow2.org].
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{center}!schema_2.1.jpg!{center}
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*Petals ESB* is an open-source Enterprise Service Bus.
The last Petals release comes with...
* A stand-alone [server|Petals Documentation#Petals Server]

* A set of [JBI Components|Petals Documentation#JBI Components]

* [Administration|Petals Documentation#Administration] Tools

* Support for [Platform Monitoring|Petals Documentation#Platform Monitoring]

* A customizable solution for [Business / Flows Monitoring|Petals Documentation#Flow Monitoring]

* [Development|Petals Documentation#Development] Tools

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Petals ESB and almost all its tools are licensed under the terms of the *LGPL* license.
The only exception is Petals Studio, licensed under the terms of the *EPL* license.

See details below and in the documentation spaces.
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The last Petals distribution includes...
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h3. The Petals Server   [!user_guide.png!|petalsesb42:Container User Guide]
* Petals ESB comes as a *stand-alone Java server*.
* This server is made up of several modules (service registry, routing, transporters...).
* It supports a *distributed mode*, which means several instances can constitute a single virtual ESB.

h3. JBI Components   [!user_guide.png!|petalscomponents:Components User Guide]
* *Binding Components* enable bridges between Petals services and external systems or applications.
* *Service Engines* are components with internal logic, such as service orchestration, transformation, routing, etc.

h3. Administration
* *Petals CLI* is a [command-line interface|petalscomponents:Petals CLI] to administrate a set of Petals servers.
* The *Petals ANT tasks* is a set of ANT tasks to execute administration commands.

h3. Platform Monitoring
* Petals ESB includes a JMX server.
* This *JMX API* has been designed so that it can be used with tools like [Cacti|http://www.cacti.net/] and [Nagios|http://www.nagios.org].

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h3. Flow Monitoring
* Petals ESB supports an additional log level called *MONIT*.
* Used in combination with specific *log handlers*, it is possible to extract and collect messages and flows information.
* Exploitation tools are not part of the Petals suite. They depend on the context (from BI tools to custom dedicated applications).

h3. Development
* *Petals Studio* is a [custom Eclipse distribution|petalsstudio:Petals Studio] for Petals ESB.
* The *Petals Maven plugin* is a [Maven plugin|petalscomponents:Maven Petals Plug-in] with additional support for Petals ESB.

h3. Packaging
* Petals and its tools can be installed manually through a *ZIP archive*.
* There are also *Debian packages* for the Petals server, Petals CLI, and their extensions.

h3. Experimental
* The *Petals Web Console* is a [web application|https://github.com/petalslink/petals-web-management] to administrate a set of Petals servers.
* Petals *Simple Flow Viewer* is a [web application|https://github.com/petalslink/petals-simple-flow-viewer] to visualize Petals flows extracted with the default file-based logger.
* A [log handler|https://svn.petalslink.org/svnroot/trunk/product/dev/prod/petals/tools-commons/petals-log-mongodb/] that stores flow information in *Mongo DB*.
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You will find documentation about these different parts in the space associated with your Petals distribution.
A Petals distribution is an archive with Petals ESB and all of its supported and compatible tools and components. The only exception is Petals Studio, which is too big to be included in the distribution, and therefore available separately. This notion of Petals dsitribution exists since the version 4.0 of Petals ESB. Previously, elements were released in several archives.
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h3. Wiki Contributors

This documentation is published under [CC-by-nc-dn|http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/] and is hosted on a wiki.
Feedback and contributions are welcome, see [Contributor Guidelines|Contributor Guidelines] for more information.
You can [create an account|///signup.action] to [comment and customize pages|Registering on Petals Documentation].

If you have questions about Petals ESB, use the [forum|http://forum.petalslink.com] instead.
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