Red Hat Migration Toolkit for Applications - Java Migration Analysis That Actually Works

MTA scans your Java codebase and generates reports that tell you exactly what's going to break when you try to containerize your apps. Whether you're escaping from WebLogic hell or just trying to get ancient Java 8 apps running on containers, MTA will find problems you didn't know you had.

The tool was originally called Windup because that's what happened to your weekend when you tried to migrate without it.

How MTA Prevents Migration Disasters

Here's the reality: migration projects always take 3x longer than estimated. Your "simple" app has 47 dependencies you forgot about, and half use deprecated APIs that don't exist in containers. I watched one team spend 3 weeks debugging ClassNotFoundException: com.sun.image.codec.jpeg.JPEGCodec because MTA's report buried that critical issue in page 47 under "POTENTIAL ISSUES".

MTA analysis takes 15 minutes for toy apps, but plan for 6 hours when it scans real enterprise garbage with decades of technical debt. The questionnaire asks 100 questions to tell you what you already know - your app is a mess.

The official migration paths include escaping from WebLogic to JBoss EAP, upgrading ancient JBoss versions, and getting Java 8 apps to work with modern OpenJDK. The analysis finds hundreds of issues but maybe a dozen actually matter.

Reports are massive HTML dumps that bury the real issues in 500 pages of noise.

The Good, Bad, and Ugly of MTA Analysis

Rule-Based Analysis Engine: MTA has thousands of predefined rules that flag everything from deprecated servlet APIs to hardcoded file paths. Most rules are garbage - the binary analysis loves to flag every servlet as "complex migration" even when they're trivial.

Application Inventory: Version 7.1 added better application cataloging so you can tag and prioritize your apps. Useful for tracking which apps are migration-ready versus which ones will make you cry. Integrates with portfolio management tools and cloud readiness assessments.

Multi-Modal Scanning: MTA can analyze source code, JAR files, and EAR archives. The dependency analysis misses Maven parent POM issues but catches most third-party library conflicts. Binary scanning works when you don't have source access, but expect lots of false alarms.

CI/CD Integration: You can plug MTA into Jenkins pipelines and similar tools. The CLI version works better than the fancy web interface, which times out on large applications.

Web console crashes on anything real.

What MTA Can Actually Migrate

MTA handles the common escape routes from legacy hell:

• WebLogic → JBoss EAP: The most painful migration path, but MTA catches the worst compatibility issues with WebSphere/WebLogic rules. See Oracle WebLogic migration guides and application server comparison matrices for detailed compatibility information
• Ancient JBoss Upgrades: Moving from JBoss 5/6 to modern EAP versions, flagging deprecated EJB patterns and configuration changes
• JDK Modernization: Oracle JDK → OpenJDK migration analysis, catching vendor-specific APIs that break. Consult OpenJDK migration documentation and Java version compatibility guides for version-specific changes
• Framework Hell: Camel 2 → 3/4 upgrades, Spring Boot version jumps, Jakarta EE 9 namespace changes
• Containerization: General "will this app survive Docker?" analysis

Effort estimates are complete fiction - assume everything takes 3x longer than predicted.

Installation and Real-World Usage

MTA needs Java 11/17 and at least 8GB RAM. Large heap requirements aren't mentioned until you run out of memory analyzing enterprise apps.

What Actually Works:
Use the CLI. Everything else crashes on real apps.

OpenShift deployment dies on anything bigger than toy apps. IDE plugins crash but at least they don't timeout like the web console bullshit.

Latest Version Still Sucks: 7.1 dropped in August 2024. RBAC improvements don't fix the fact that rule updates break custom rules without warning. Web UI still times out on anything beyond hello-world demos.

Custom Rules Development: Requires mastering Red Hat's baroque XML rule format and the patience of a saint. Everyone gives up filtering false positives after about a week.

CLI spits out HTML reports and CSV files you can actually use.

Installation Reality Check

MTA offers multiple deployment options, but most don't work as advertised for real enterprise environments.

OpenShift Operator: Only works if you're already trapped in Red Hat's OpenShift subscription model. The web UI crashes on large codebases and the "multi-user collaboration" means everyone can watch it fail together. Requires OpenShift 4.13-4.15 because Red Hat loves forcing upgrades.

CLI Tool: The only reliable option. Download from the CLI guide, ignore the "8GB minimum" recommendation (you need 16GB for real apps), and prepare for command-line hell. At least it doesn't crash when analyzing large codebases.

IDE Extensions: The VS Code extension and IntelliJ plugin crash constantly but provide useful inline warnings when they work. Eclipse support is better because Red Hat actually cares about Eclipse users.

Skip the OpenShift operator and web console. CLI works, IDE plugins crash.

The Real Assessment Process

Forget the "structured approach" - here's what actually happens:

Step 1: App Discovery Hell: MTA's inventory system sounds great until you realize your organization has 200+ Java apps scattered across different teams with zero documentation. The CSV import feature chokes on special characters, and half your apps don't fit MTA's classification categories.

Step 2: Questionnaire Nightmare: The assessment questionnaire asks 100 questions that developers can't answer ("What's the business criticality of this random EJB?"). Most teams skip this and go straight to code analysis, which is actually the useful part.

Step 3: Analysis Wait: Despite claims of "15-30 minutes per application," real enterprise apps take 2-6 hours to analyze. The tool loads every dependency into memory and scans billions of lines of generated code in JAR files. Plan accordingly.

Step 4: Report Filtering: MTA generates massive HTML reports with hundreds of issues. 90% are false positives. Search for "MANDATORY" issues first, ignore everything else until you've fixed the blockers.

What the Analysis Actually Tells You

MTA reports are overwhelming but contain useful information if you know how to read them:

Issue Categories That Matter:

• MANDATORY: Actual blockers like deprecated APIs that don't exist in target environments
• CONNECTION POOL: Database connection issues that will crash your app
• HARDCODED: Configuration that breaks in containers

Ignore These Categories:

• INFORMATION: Useless noise about best practices
• OPTIONAL: Suggestions for Red Hat products you don't need
• Most POTENTIAL issues are false positives

Effort Estimates Are Garbage: MTA claims "industry benchmarks" but the story point estimates assume you're migrating hello-world apps with perfect documentation. Multiply everything by 3x and add time for debugging the issues MTA missed.

Reports dump everything into HTML sections nobody reads.

What Actually Works in Practice

After using MTA on dozens of migration projects, here's what helps:

Start Small: Pick your simplest app first to learn MTA's quirks. Don't analyze your most complex legacy monster until you understand the tool's false positive patterns.

Use CLI in Scripts: Write wrapper scripts around the MTA CLI to filter results and generate usable reports. The default HTML output is designed for people who've never seen a migration project. Pro tip: always run with --verbose or you'll get mystery failures with no useful error messages. Consider using Jenkins integration for automated analysis or GitHub Actions workflows for CI/CD integration.

Custom Rules Are Worth It: Despite the painful XML syntax, custom rules that flag your organization's specific anti-patterns are more useful than generic rules about deprecated J2EE features.

IDE Integration for Greenfield: Use the IDE extensions for new development to avoid creating migration issues, but don't expect them to help with legacy code cleanup.

Common Gotchas Nobody Mentions

Memory Issues: Exception in thread \"main\" java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space happens even with 32GB heap. MTA tries to load your entire Maven repo into memory because apparently that seemed reasonable in 2005. Check the JVM tuning guidelines and memory optimization techniques for container deployments.

Network Dependencies: MTA shits itself behind corporate firewalls with Could not resolve dependencies for project errors. Your internal Maven artifacts? Good luck with that. Configure Maven proxy settings and review corporate firewall requirements for Red Hat repositories.

Rule Updates Break Everything: MTA updates change rule behavior without warning. Your custom rules that worked fine in 7.0 will break in 7.1 because Red Hat "improved" the rule engine.

Windows Path Hell: The filename or extension is too long breaks every Maven project with deep dependency hierarchies. Windows path limit is 260 characters and your enterprise app has paths like com/company/verylongprojectname/submodule/deeppackage/AnotherVeryVeryLongClassName.java. Review Windows path length limitations and consider using WSL2 or Docker Desktop for longer path support.

The Bottom Line: MTA finds real migration issues if you can filter through the noise. It's better than manual code review for large codebases, but expect to spend weeks learning its quirks before it becomes useful. The CLI tool actually works; everything else is marketing fluff.

Takes 2-3 weeks to figure out which warnings matter and which are garbage.