Frequently Asked Questions
This page provides answers to some frequently asked questions. To understand what Mule is and how it works, see the Getting Started Guide.
Discover
What's the difference between MuleSoft.com and MuleSoft.org?
We now have two websites where you can find information and resources:
MuleSoft.com - MuleSoft corporate website offers:
- ROI reports, analyst validation, and technical webinars
- Product datasheets and overviews of available services
- Details on the MuleSoft partner network
- Customer case studies
- Technical resources, examples, and documentation for Tcat Server
MuleSoft.org - Community & Documentation site includes:
- Community resources, including blogs, user forums, and community-oriented content and events
- Technical guides, examples, and documentation for Mule and iBeans
- MuleForge where you can start/contribute to/learn from projects
Involvement in the community can get you points, fame, and cool prizes. We also have been actively working with media and technology partners to get you discounts on things like event passes, books, and other products.
This site was made for you! If you have any feedback please email community@mulesoft.com.
What products does MuleSoft offer, and how are they licensed?
MuleSoft offers some products as open source projects, under the CPAL license, while others are commercial products offered on a subscription basis for production deployments. Some of these commercial products are free for use in development and pre-production.
What is the open source license for Mule ESB and iBeans?
The open source Mule ESB Community and iBeans projects are both available under the Common Public Attribution License (CPAL). Under this license, the software is free for use and distribution, with some modest requirements for attribution.
Click here to read the full CPAL definition.
MuleSoft also has some commercial products that require a subscription for production deployment. These products include:
- Mule ESB Enterprise
- Mule MQ
- Mule Data Integrator
- Tcat Server
Some of these products can be used for free in development and pre-production. Click here to learn more.
Where can I find the Mule Galaxy project?
The open-source Mule Galaxy project is still active and can be found here. In response to customer feedback, we have included an enterprise-class service registry with Mule ESB Enterprise subscriptions. The service registry is based on Mule Galaxy and includes features such as service and artifact management, publishing, indexing and discovery of services, governance and lifecycle management, deployment and runtime stability, and more. You can read about all the service registry features here.
Getting Up and Running
Where can I find product overviews for MuleSoft products?
- For Mule ESB, go here.
- For Tcat Server, go here.
- For Mule iBeans, go here.
- For all other modules, go to the MuleForge.
Where can I find guides, tutorials, documentation, and transports for Mule?
On the Mule tab, you can find downloads, documentation, screencasts, and more. When you're first starting to use Mule, these will help you get off the ground:
- Get Started: here you can find everything from "What is Mule" to installation and basic usage.
- Meet Mule: a 20-minute screencast that walks you through downloading, installing, and configuring Mule.
- Mule User Guide: here you can find more detailed documentation on using Mule, configuration reference, and more. Note: you must be a Mule community member to view the Mule User Guide; see "Getting Involved" below.
As you expand your use of Mule, you can leverage the available transports which can be found here .
Where can I find guides and documentation for Tcat Server?
All information about Tcat Server is on www.mulesoft.com on the Tcat Server page.
Where can I find guides and documentation for Mule iBeans?
Go to the Mule iBeans Documentation for complete information on getting started, using iBeans, and developing new iBeans.
How can I get training on Mule ESB?
MuleSoft offers a full complement of training courses for Mule ESB and Apache Tomcat, developed by the product experts and industry thought-leaders. MuleSoft Training is ideal for developers, administrators and architects who are looking to build knowledge about development, usage, administration, and architecture using Mule ESB and/or Tomcat. Courses are held as self-paced, virtual and public role-based training classes. In addition, MuleSoft provides on-site training worldwide that can be tailored to customers' specific needs.
You can find all courses here
Getting Involved
Who should become a member of the community and how can I join?
Anyone interested in learning about, deploying, modifying, or contributing to Mule and other MuleSoft products should join the online community. Members of the community get:
- Access to extensive documentation
- Guides and screencasts on how to get up and running with MuleSoft products
- Periodic updates on the product roadmap and MuleSoft offerings
- Access to a MuleSoft account executive who can answer questions about subscriptions, licensing, and training
To join the community, simply fill out this quick online form.
How can I connect with other community members and get answers to my questions?
After you join the community, go to the Mailing List page for the product you're interested in and choose which lists you'd like to join:
You can use the mailing list to ask questions, connect with other community members, and interact with the core MuleSoft team. You can also search the forums, where the discussion threads are archived. You can go to the Community tab to find threads from all community mailing lists, or go to a product's tab to see forums just for that product. There is also a forum just for MuleForge projects.
How can I get support on Apache Tomcat?
Do you have a question on installing, configuring, or deploying Apache Tomcat? We recommend searching the MuleSoft Tomcat FAQs for the information you seek. In case you still have questions, MuleSoft has a team of Tomcat experts on staff to help solve your problems, at no charge to you. For details, go to Free Tomcat Assistance.
How can I contribute code back to the community?
MuleForge is the developer center for hosting extensions to Mule and other MuleSoft products. MuleForge is managed by the MuleSoft core developers as well as community members. When you create an extension or project, you can upload it to MuleForge to avoid having to manage that project or extension on your own. All community members have access to MuleForge and are encouraged to contribute to its projects. The projects are often tested professionally by MuleSoft and included in updated releases of the products.
You can contribute to MuleForge in four easy steps:
- Register for a MuleForge account.
- Go to: http://www.mulesoft.org/display/MULEFORGE/Propose.
- Review and agree to the MuleSoft CLA.
- Propose your project.
How can I contribute an iBean?
From the Mule iBeans console, you can submit a completed iBean to the sandbox for testing purposes. After it has been reviewed and deemed of interest to the rest of the community, the community manager will promote the iBean to iBeans Central, allowing other Mule iBeans users to download and use your iBean.
How can I submit an issue request for product defects or enhancements?
After you register for a Community account, you can view existing requests or create a new one through JIRA.
How can I contribute to the documentation?
Documentation for our products is developed by the MuleSoft core developers and our Technical Publications team. Community members are encouraged to contribute their findings and best practices to the documentation. If you're interested in contributing to the documentation, please contact us to become a site editor: wikiedits@mulesoft.com.
Learning About the Mule Advantage
Why does open source make sense for my project?
With the downturn in the economy, analysts and users alike are turning to open source for solutions. Following are resources that provide strong arguments for going with open source:
Open source products offer developers the freedom to try for low to no cost. Three key advantages of Mule open source are:
- No expensive up-front license commitments, resulting in rapid return on investment
- Option to modify and extend the platform with direct access to source code and APIs
- Thriving community of Mule developers and experts delivering best practices, modules, and other resources
You can read a white paper on the business case for Mule Enterprise here.
How well will Mule perform in my environment?
Mule is a highly flexible, powerful, and high-performing integration platform.
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Try
Where can I download Mule ESB?
- You can download a free 30-day trial of Mule ESB Enterprise here.
- You can download the community edition of Mule ESB here.
Where can I download Tcat Server?
- You can download a free trial (unlimited for development; subscription required for production) here.
- You can learn more about obtaining a subscription here.
Where can I download Mule iBeans?
How can I migrate to new versions of Mule?
On the Mule tab on the Documentation and Resource Center, you can find directions on migrating Mule from one version to another, as well as from Mule Community to Mule Enterprise. MuleSoft Enterprise customers can use the Migration Tool and accompanying Migration Guide (available on the Customer Portal) to help migrate their files.
How can I develop with Mule IDE?
Mule IDE works with Eclipse to give you the fastest and easiest start to developing your Mule applications. To learn more about Mule IDE, see the Mule IDE User Guide.
Where can I download the Mule management and monitoring tool?
The Mule management and monitoring tool is included exclusively with the subscription-based Mule Enterprise suite. If you would like a trial of this tool, please email sales@mulesoft.com.
Where can I download Mule High Availability?
Mule High Availability is available exclusively with the subscription-based Mule Enterprise suite. For details including technical highlights, requirements, and installation details, please email sales@mulesoft.com.
Where can I get additional transports, modules, and extensions contributed by the community?
You can find transports, modules, tools, and community examples on MuleForge.
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Buy
How can I get trained on Mule?
MuleSoft offers a full complement of training courses for Mule ESB and Apache Tomcat, developed by the product experts and industry thought-leaders. MuleSoft Training is ideal for developers, administrators and architects who are looking to build knowledge about development, usage, administration, and architecture using Mule ESB and/or Tomcat. Courses are held as self-paced, virtual and public role-based training classes. In addition, MuleSoft provides on-site training worldwide that can be tailored to customers' specific needs.
You can find all courses here
Where can I learn more about MuleSoft's subscription offerings?
With a MuleSoft subscription, customers get access to features, tools, and technical support not otherwise available. For a single annual fee, a MuleSoft subscription offers a unique combination of support, sophisticated management tools, and reduced total cost of ownership (TCO), making it a must-have for enterprise-level deployments and mission-critical applications.
You can read more about MuleSoft subscriptions for Mule ESB here. You can read more about MuleSoft subscriptions for Tcat Server here.
When should I consider subscribing to MuleSoft?
A MuleSoft subscription provides many benefits. The following table compares the resources available to users of the Enterprise Edition vs. the Community Edition.
| Resource |
Enterprise Edition |
Community Edition |
| Access to source code |
 |
|
| Access to public wiki and mailing lists |
|
|
| Premium features (see below) |
|
 |
| Expert-level technical support (guaranteed email/phone SLA, optional 24/7) |
|
|
| Extensive knowledge base, professional guidance, and technical bulletins |
|
|
| Professional QA and platform certification |
|
|
| Commercial-quality documentation, consulting, and training |
|
|
| Commercial license providing benefits such as indemnity against potential IP claims |
|
|
Mule Enterprise Edition includes the following premium features:
- Mule High Availability, a solution that provides basic failover capability for Mule
- Management console
- Migration tool, which migrates from older versions of Mule (starting at Mule 1.4.4)
- A service registry that provides service and artifact management, governance and lifecycle management, deployment and runtime stability, and more
- Retry policies for creating self-healing connections
- Multi-resource transactions
- Premium JDBC transport
- Premium WebSphere MQ transport
- Premium attributes in the FTP transport
For more information, see Enterprise Subscriptions and Support.
When do I need Mule ESB vs. Mule iBeans?
Mule ESB provides a standards-based and vendor-neutral ESB that enables seamless integration with existing applications, web services, business processes, and messages services. Includes a simplified programming model designed with the Java developer in mind that can easily handle the most advanced and complex integration scenarios.
Mule iBeans provides very simple integration for sending a message between two services. If you do not require advanced routing, Mule iBeans are the best solution for you.
How can I get consulting services for my project?
MuleSoft offers a full range of consulting services to help developers go from download to deployment and beyond. Roles that our consultants can fill include:
- SOA Solution Architect
- Technical Lead
- Project Manager
- Integration Developer
- Technical Account Manager (TAM)
If you're interested in engaging with MuleSoft for consulting, please email sales@mulesoft.com.
How can I build a business case for subscribing to the enterprise version of the product?
You may be recommending Mule or Tcat Server to your management team and need supporting arguments about why you need a licensed version and/or support. Or, you may be still evaluating the products and trying to decide if the Enterprise edition is right for you. For videos, podcasts, technical papers, and more, see ESB & Integration Resources and Tcat Server Resources.
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