Hibernate L2 Cache with WildFly

What You Will Learn

How to use Infinispan as the built-in Hibernate L2 cache provider in WildFly, exposed through JAX-RS REST endpoints that step through cache operations one by one.

Prerequisites

Java 8+
WildFly application server

Step 1: Configure the Persistence Unit

WildFly ships with Infinispan as its default Hibernate cache provider. Configure META-INF/persistence.xml to use the WildFly JTA datasource and enable caching:

   <persistence-unit name="events">
      <jta-data-source>java:jboss/datasources/ExampleDS</jta-data-source>
      <shared-cache-mode>ENABLE_SELECTIVE</shared-cache-mode>
      <properties>
         <!-- Create/drop database in each run -->
         <property name="hibernate.hbm2ddl.auto" value="create-drop" />
         <property name="hibernate.show_sql" value="false" />

         <!-- Enables second level cache -->
         <property name="hibernate.cache.use_second_level_cache" value="true"/>
         <!-- Enable query cache -->
         <property name="hibernate.cache.use_query_cache" value="true"/>

         <!-- Generate statistics to see effects of second level cache -->
         <property name="hibernate.generate_statistics" value="true" />

         <!-- Entity specific configuration, e.g. via property:
            hibernate.cache.infinispan.<WAR/EAR name>#<PersistenceManager Unit name>.<Entity FQN>.expiration.max_idle
         -->
         <property name="hibernate.cache.infinispan.wildfly-local.war#events.org.infinispan.tutorial.simple.hibernate.cache.wildfly.local.model.Person.expiration.max_idle"
                   value= "1000"/>
      </properties>
   </persistence-unit>

Step 2: Create the Persistence Manager EJB

A stateless EJB handles entity operations within JTA transactions:

@Stateless
@Interceptors(ClearStatistics.class)
public class PersistenceManager {

   @Inject
   private EntityManager em;

   public void persistEntities() {
      em.persist(new Event("Caught a pokemon!"));
      em.persist(new Event("Hatched an egg"));
      em.persist(new Event("Became a gym leader"));
   }

   public void findEntity(long id, StringBuilder out) {
      Event event = em.find(Event.class, id);
      out.append(String.format("Found entity: %s%n", event));
   }

Step 3: Expose Cache Steps as JAX-RS Endpoints

The REST resource exposes each cache operation as a separate GET endpoint:

@Path("/")
public class InfinispanHibernateCacheWildflyLocal {

   public static final String EVENT_REGION_NAME = "wildfly-local.war#events." + Event.class.getName();
   public static final String PERSON_REGION_NAME = "wildfly-local.war#events." + Person.class.getName();

   @Inject
   private Logger log;

   @Inject
   private EntityManager em;

   @Inject
   private PersistenceManager ejb;

   @GET
   @Path("/hibernate-cache/1")
   @Produces("application/json")
   public String step1_persistEntities() {
      // Persist 3 entities, stats should show 3 second level cache puts
      ejb.persistEntities();
      SecondLevelCacheStatistics eventCacheStats = getCacheStatistics(EVENT_REGION_NAME);
      return printfAssert("Event entity cache puts: %d (expected %d)%n", eventCacheStats.getPutCount(), 3);
   }

Step 4: Run the Tutorial

Build and deploy the WAR to a running WildFly instance:

mvn clean package wildfly:deploy

Then call each step in sequence:

for i in {1..13}; do
  curl http://localhost:8080/wildfly-local/infinispan/hibernate-cache/$i
done

Each endpoint returns the cache statistics for that step, showing puts, hits, misses, and query cache behavior.

What’s Next

Hibernate L2 cache standalone for the same pattern without an application server
Hibernate L2 cache with Spring Boot for a Spring Boot variant