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phase4 can persist several categories of data to disk. Two configuration properties control where that data lives and whether persistence is enabled at all.

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Data path (global.datapath)

The data path is the root directory for persistent application data managed by phase4’s internal managers.
PropertyDefaultDescription
global.datapathphase4-dataRoot directory for persistent data. Relative paths are resolved against the application working directory.
application.properties
# Relative path (resolved from working directory)
global.datapath=phase4-data

# Or an absolute path
#global.datapath=/var/lib/as4/data
When phase4.manager.inmemory=false, the following are stored under global.datapath:
  • PModes — as XML files, one file per PMode.
  • Duplicate detection state — incoming message IDs retained for the configured disposal window.

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In-memory vs. file-based managers (phase4.manager.inmemory)

PropertyDefaultDescription
phase4.manager.inmemorytrueWhen true, all managers operate in memory only. When false, data is persisted to global.datapath.
# PModes and state live only in memory.
# All data is lost when the application restarts.
phase4.manager.inmemory=true
For most production deployments, phase4.manager.inmemory=true is the right choice. PModes are typically constructed programmatically at startup and do not need to survive restarts. Set it to false only if you use the web-based PMode management UI or require runtime PMode persistence.

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Duplicate detection window

phase4 records the Message ID of every accepted incoming message for a configurable time window. If the same Message ID arrives again within the window, the message is rejected as a duplicate.
PropertyTypeDefaultDescription
phase4.incoming.duplicatedisposal.minuteslong10Minutes that incoming message IDs are retained.
application.properties
# Keep IDs for 30 minutes
phase4.incoming.duplicatedisposal.minutes=30
When phase4.manager.inmemory=true, the duplicate detection state is also kept in memory and resets on restart.

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Dump path (phase4.dump.path)

Message dumps are stored separately from the main data path, under phase4.dump.path.
PropertyDefaultDescription
phase4.dump.pathphase4-dumpsRoot directory for message dump files. Relative paths are resolved against the application working directory.
application.properties
phase4.dump.path=/var/lib/as4/dumps
Dumping is controlled at runtime by registering a dumper with AS4DumpManager. The built-in file-based dumpers write files under this path.

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What is stored in the dump path

Dump files are organized into subdirectories by direction:
SubdirectoryContents
incoming/Files written by AS4IncomingDumperFileBased — one file per received AS4 message.
outgoing/Files written by AS4OutgoingDumperFileBased — one file per sent AS4 message, per attempt.
Each file is a raw byte stream of the HTTP message body (optionally including HTTP headers if the dumper is configured to include them).

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Enabling message dumps

Dumping is off by default. Register a dumper at application startup: 
import com.helger.phase4.dump.AS4DumpManager;
import com.helger.phase4.dump.AS4IncomingDumperFileBased;
import com.helger.phase4.dump.AS4OutgoingDumperFileBased;

// Use the dump path from configuration (phase4.dump.path)
AS4DumpManager.setIncomingDumper(new AS4IncomingDumperFileBased());
AS4DumpManager.setOutgoingDumper(new AS4OutgoingDumperFileBased());
Or specify a fixed directory: 
import java.io.File;
import com.helger.phase4.dump.AS4DumpManager;
import com.helger.phase4.dump.AS4IncomingDumperFileBased;
import com.helger.phase4.dump.AS4OutgoingDumperFileBased;

File dumpDir = new File("/var/lib/as4/dumps");
AS4DumpManager.setIncomingDumper(
    AS4IncomingDumperFileBased.createForDirectory(dumpDir));
AS4DumpManager.setOutgoingDumper(
    AS4OutgoingDumperFileBased.createForDirectory(dumpDir));
To disable dumping at runtime: 
AS4DumpManager.setIncomingDumper(null);
AS4DumpManager.setOutgoingDumper(null);

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Full storage configuration example

application.properties
# Persistent data (PModes, duplicate detection)
global.datapath=/var/lib/as4/data
phase4.manager.inmemory=false

# Duplicate detection window
phase4.incoming.duplicatedisposal.minutes=30

# Message dumps
phase4.dump.path=/var/lib/as4/dumps
In containerized deployments, mount a persistent volume at the same path for both global.datapath and phase4.dump.path so that data and dumps survive container restarts.

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