I tracked the null pointer issue down to a non-operation JMS service.
The Java Message Service was specified as an EMBEDDED type service in the GlassFish Administration Console.
For some reason the lazy loading feature is not working because the service does not startup on demand.
I changed the type designation to LOCAL and all is well.
But there is a problem here with using the EMBEDDED Type. As far as I know EMBEDDED type worked the last time I deployed a JMS application. I did not change any settings in GlassFish but I may have accepted an automated update or two.
Should this be reported as an issue?
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