I write the answer by myself, after having found this interesting article.
In particular have a look at the sections Using the Karaf Shell and Distributed integration tests in Karaf
http://planet.jboss.org/post/advanced_integration_testing_with_pax_exam_karaf
This is basically what the article says:
first of all you have to change the test probe header, allowing the dynamic-package
@ProbeBuilder
public TestProbeBuilder probeConfiguration(TestProbeBuilder probe) {
probe.setHeader(Constants.DYNAMICIMPORT_PACKAGE, "*;status=provisional");
return probe;
}
After that, the article suggests the following code that is able to execute commands in the Karaf shell
@Inject
CommandProcessor commandProcessor;
protected String executeCommands(final String ...commands) {
String response;
final ByteArrayOutputStream byteArrayOutputStream = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
final PrintStream printStream = new PrintStream(byteArrayOutputStream);
final CommandSession commandSession = commandProcessor.createSession(System.in, printStream, System.err);
FutureTask<string> commandFuture = new FutureTask<string>(
new Callable<string>() {
public String call() {
try {
for(String command:commands) {
System.err.println(command);
commandSession.execute(command);
}
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace(System.err);
}
return byteArrayOutputStream.toString();
}
});
try {
executor.submit(commandFuture);
response = commandFuture.get(COMMAND_TIMEOUT, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace(System.err);
response = "SHELL COMMAND TIMED OUT: ";
}
return response;
}
Then, the rest is kind of trivial, you will have to implement a layer able to start-up a child instance of Karaf
public void createInstances() {
//Install broker feature that is provided by FuseESB
executeCommands("admin:create --feature broker brokerChildInstance");
//Install producer feature that provided by imaginary feature repo.
executeCommands("admin:create --featureURL mvn:imaginary/repo/1.0/xml/features --feature producer producerChildInstance");
//Install producer feature that provided by imaginary feature repo.
executeCommands("admin:create --featureURL mvn:imaginary/repo/1.0/xml/features --feature consumer consumerChildInstance");
//start child instances
executeCommands("admin:start brokerChildInstance");
executeCommands("admin:start producerChildInstance");
executeCommands("admin:start consumerChildInstance");
//You will need to destroy the child instances once you are done.
//Using @After seems the right place to do that.
}