Limitations of using the custom WildFly modules

When using the custom modules provided by the feature packs you’re going to give up on some of the integration which the application server normally automates.

For example, enabling an Infinispan 2nd level cache is straight forward when using the default Hibernate ORM module, as WildFly will automatically setup the dependency to the Infinispan and clustering components. When using these custom modules such integration will no longer work automatically: you can still enable all normally available features but these will require explicit configuration, as if you were running Hibernate in a different container, or in no container.

You might be able to get a matching feature pack from the Infinispan or Ehcache projects, you can create a module yourself (after all it’s just a simple XML file), or you can just add such additional dependencies in your application as in the old days: modules and feature packs give you some advantages but good old-style jars are also still a viable option.

Needless to say, those users not interested in having the very latest versions can just use the versions integrated in WildFly and benefit from the library combinations carefully tested by the WildFly team.