I've been using Anypoint Platform for 3 + years now, at the beginning I was only familiar on how to deploy my applications directly to CloudHub which was enough at that time for the work I did.
Eventually, I needed tot make use of own servers where I needed to install Mulesoft runtime in order to take advantage of custom memory and disk size. So basically on this tutorial, I will try to explain what steps I took in order to complete a full installation of the runtime.
So first, I got an AWS Server with Ubuntu 16.04, 120 GB on disk and 16GB memory, these settings based on performance requirements for applications what consumes a lot of memory transforming data in general.
Once we have the machine, we can follow the next steps:
Install JAVA, personally I always like how Digital Ocean makes their tutorials, they explain step by step how to achieve installations of any kind, so in my flow I check this tutorial from them:
https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-install-java-with-apt-get-on-ubuntu-16-04
Installing the Default JRE/JDK
The easiest option for installing Java is using the version packaged with Ubuntu. Specifically, this will install OpenJDK 8, the latest and recommended version.
First, update the package index.
Next, install Java. Specifically, this command will install the Java Runtime Environment (JRE).
There is another default Java installation called the JDK (Java Development Kit). The JDK is usually only needed if you are going to compile Java programs or if the software that will use Java specifically requires it.
The JDK does contain the JRE, so there are no disadvantages if you install the JDK instead of the JRE, except for the larger file size.
You can install the JDK with the following command:
Installing the Oracle JDK
If you want to install the Oracle JDK, which is the official version distributed by Oracle, you will need to follow a few more steps.
First, add Oracle's PPA, then update your package repository.
Then, depending on the version you want to install, execute one of the following commands:
Oracle JDK 8
This is the latest stable version of Java at time of writing, and the recommended version to install. You can do so using the following command:
Oracle JDK 9
This is a developer preview and the general release is scheduled for March 2017. It's not recommended that you use this version because there may still be security issues and bugs. There is more information about Java 9 on the official JDK 9 website.
To install JDK 9, use the following command:
Managing Java
There can be multiple Java installations on one server. You can configure which version is the default for use in the command line by using update-alternatives
, which manages which symbolic links are used for different commands.
The output will look something like the following. In this case, this is what the output will look like with all Java versions mentioned above installed.
Output
You can now choose the number to use as a default. This can also be done for other Java commands, such as the compiler (javac
), the documentation generator (javadoc
), the JAR signing tool (jarsigner
), and more. You can use the following command, filling in the command you want to customize.
Setting the JAVA_HOME Environment Variable
Many programs, such as Java servers, use the JAVA_HOME
environment variable to determine the Java installation location. To set this environment variable, we will first need to find out where Java is installed. You can do this by executing the same command as in the previous section:
Copy the path from your preferred installation and then open /etc/environment
using nano
or your favorite text editor.
At the end of this file, add the following line, making sure to replace the highlighted path with your own copied path.
/etc/environment
Save and exit the file, and reload it.
You can now test whether the environment variable has been set by executing the following command:
This will return the path you just set.
PREPARING MULE RUNTITME IN THE VM MACHINE
After java is installed then we can proceed with Download Mulesoft runtime, you can get a copy of Mule 3.9.1 from here, upload the file into the VM machine using any SSH application for file transfer.
Now, from terminal access to your vm via SSH, and locate the mule391 that we just uploaded in my case is under /mule/391

Here's how I think about the folder content:
/mule/mule391/bin - This keeps all important binary files, the ones that make mulesoft runtime to work properly. also this folder is the one that has the src/main/resources folder, meaning that if you are downloading files or generating file, will be stored here.
/mule/mule391/conf - This folder has all configuration files we need, this allow tot customize how mule work in your server, depending of the hardware you can set multiple options. Mainly the file we use to set those options is the wrapper.config file.
/mule/mule391/logs - Store all logs separated by application name, for example (my-mule-app.log) you cans stream the content of this file from terminal using this command
From this point the runtime is ready, uploading and running the runtime just like this will allow you to use it for a month, so if you get a Mulesoft subscription you need to make sure su have a core for this server because then Mulesoft will provide a .lic file that you need to install (https://docs.mulesoft.com/mule-runtime/4.2/installing-an-enterprise-license)
CONNECT MY SERVER TO RUNTIME MANAGER.
Runtime Manager, allows you basically to monitor and see metrics from your applications, even CloudHub or custom (Hybrid) ones. In order to see our server we need to follow this steps:
- Login into AnyPoint Platform (https://anypoint.mulesoft.com) you can create a trial account if you want to test all functionality.
- Select Runtime Manager from the Menu on the left and then clic on "Servers" this will load the servers already created in case you have some already

On the top right we should see a button "Add Server", clic on it and then you should get a command that you need to copy in order to use it in your server
Go back in your terminal, and locate the mule391 folder, and get into the /bin folder, the path should be something like this /mule/mule391/bin.
In there you jus need to past the command you copied from runtime Manager
this will install the communication between your server and Runtime Manager. You can see the server created in your environment
From the terminal now go into the bin folder (/mule/mule391/bin/). So now we can start mule, use this command
the -M-Denv option lets me to specify the environment variable I want to use, basically we are telling the server what environment is. you can add more variables like the masterkey to decrypt properties files etc.
After the command is executed you should see your server running in Runtime Manager
So now you have your server ready to deploy applications, in another post we should explain how to deploy manually selecting a compressed project file and later how to do the same using maven.
Hopefully this gives you an idea on how easy is to set the full environment, overall after a few times to do it, it will take around 30 mins to 1 hour to get working.