Mule as multiple web services host

Question

I am integrating an application with database through Mule. I have exposed database queries as SOAP web services in Mule. In all there are 4 such services. These are in 4 different flows hence will be running on different ports. The problem is there is an internal firewall between application and Mule. I need to tell network administrator upfront the ports that I want to open up for inbound connections from application to Mule.

For any new service I need another HTTP port and ask for changes in firewall rules. One solution I could think of is having common entry flow (hence single HTTP port) which then delegates requests to other flows through VM or JMS transport. However I think it can be designed in better way to remove or minimize dependency on network configurations with multiple HTTP endpoints. Please advise.

Answer 1

If you would be deploying four different web services (i.e. 4 different WSDLs) in a JavaEE container, you would probably use the URL's path to discriminate across the services (say: /accounts /orders...).

You can achieve the same in Mule using a single HTTP endpoint and choice router, since your four services are in 4 different flows (and not 4 different applications, for which case using JMS, or the new shared VM endpoints, would be a must).

In the choice router, you can route the HTTP requests based on the http.request.path inbound property (see: http://www.mulesoft.org/documentation/display/current/HTTP+Transport+Reference#HTTPTransportReference-HTTPProperties )