Felix bundles failng to load - osgi

Question

I am attempting to run an application on Apache Felix, using the Felix Dependency bundles. The container is, for some reason, not loading my bundles.
I am doing my development using Bndtools in Eclipse. I am using the Amdatu bundles.
The bundles I am concerned about are the bundles that are in my "Run Requirements":
org.apache.felix.dependencymanager
org.apache.felix.dependencymanager.shell
org.apache.felix.dependencymanager.runtime
osgi.core
osgi.cmpn
All of the above bundles are taken from the Amdatu repository.
I have two bundles which I created:
com.test.demo.reader
com.test.demo.listener
And these bundles are built using org.apache.felix.dependencymanager and osgi.core.
When I attempt to run OSGi, I am getting the following failures:
! could not resolve the bundles: [com.test.demo.reader-1.0.0 Unresolved constraint in bundle
com.test.demo.reader [8]: Unable to resolve 8.0: missing requirement
[8.0] osgi.wiring.package; (&(osgi.wiring.package=org.apache.felix.dm)(version>=3.0.0)(!(version>=4.0.0))),
com.test.demo.listener-1.0.0 Unresolved constraint in bundle com.test.demo.listener [9]:
Unable to resolve 9.0: missing requirement [9.0] osgi.wiring.package;
(&(osgi.wiring.package=com.test.demo.reader)(version>=1.0.0)(!(version>=2.0.0)))
[caused by: Unable to resolve 8.0: missing requirement [8.0] osgi.wiring.package;
(&(osgi.wiring.package=org.apache.felix.dm)(version>=3.0.0)(!(version>=4.0.0)))]]
and
! Failed to start bundle com.test.demo.reader-1.0.0, exception Unresolved constraint in
bundle com.test.demo.reader [8]: Unable to resolve 8.0: missing requirement [8.0]
osgi.wiring.package; (&(osgi.wiring.package=org.apache.felix.dm)(version>=3.0.0)
(!(version>=4.0.0)))
and more
! Failed to start bundle com.test.demo.listener-1.0.0, exception Unresolved constraint in
bundle com.test.demo.listener [9]: Unable to resolve 9.0:
missing requirement [9.0] osgi.wiring.package; (&(osgi.wiring.package=com.test.demo.reader)
(version>=1.0.0)(!(version>=2.0.0))) [caused by: Unable to resolve 8.0: missing requirement
[8.0] osgi.wiring.package; (&(osgi.wiring.package=org.apache.felix.dm)(version>=3.0.0)
(!(version>=4.0.0)))]
I think I understand what is happening: apparently the org.apache.dm package being used is a version that is somehow incompatible with my bundles. But that doesn't make any sense, because according to the Felix documentation the org.apache.dm package is in the org.apache.felix.dependencymanager bundle. That bundle is from the Amdatu repository and it is the only version of the bundle I am using with my application! How is the version incompatible with my bundles when theirs is the only version that my bundles know about???
Someone please advise. What is causing this failure an how can I fix it?

Answer 1

The problem was the runtime I was running and what appears to be a bug in the Amdatu plugin.
I would not advise using the Amdatu configuration in your OSGi project. Not in its current form.
The various Felix Dependency bundles that I have been using from Amdatu are apparently intended to run under Felix version 5. Unfortunately, the Amdatu environment (the "Amdatu Configuration" that you can select when you choose a configuration template for your project) does not load Version 5. When you select the "Bundle- Hub configuration", your choice of runtime environments includes all Felix environments from Version 4.0.2 to Version 5.2, as well as several versions of Equinox. When you select the "Amdatu Configuration" you only runtime choices are Felix 4.0.2 and Felix 4.2.0.
I was using 4.2.0 Felix, and as a result the dependency bundles were not working.
The Amdatu environment in its current form is unusable in Bndtools. It apparently supplies the right bundles for Version 5 but does not provide that environment for the user.
I did try manually changing the runtime environment io Version 5.2. This did not work because apparently when you select a template, Bndtools puts together whatever runtimes are associated with the template. Because the Amdatu template does not include Felix version 5, the runtime environment is unavailable.
In order to get my application to run, I had to create a new project that used the "Bundle- Hub" template and manually download the dependency bundles from the Felix website and include them in my buil and runtime environments. Unfortunately, neither Bndtools nor Amdatu provides any way to add the Amdatu bundles to project after a template is selected. This means that instead of using the ready- made bundles from Amdatu, you have to go out to the source sites and manually include them.
I will probably ty and find a way to create a new repository that can be included in projects and contains all the Amdatu bundles, then include that repository in the "Bundle- Hub" template. I will also report the problems with environments (as well as seversl other problems I've seen) to the Amdatu folks.
In the meantime, my application runs smoothly now that I have set up the right runtime environment.
Special thanks to earcam, whose questions in the comment above gave me a clue as to what to start looking at to solve this problem...