Spring’s transaction abstraction is generally application server-agnostic. Additionally, Spring’s JtaTransactionManager class (which can optionally perform a JNDI lookup for the JTA UserTransaction and TransactionManager objects) autodetects the location for the latter object, which varies by application server. Having access to the JTA TransactionManager allows for enhanced transaction semantics — in particular, supporting transaction suspension. See the JtaTransactionManager javadoc for details.

Spring’s JtaTransactionManager is the standard choice to run on Java EE application servers and is known to work on all common servers. Advanced functionality, such as transaction suspension, works on many servers as well (including GlassFish, JBoss and Geronimo) without any special configuration required. However, for fully supported transaction suspension and further advanced integration, Spring includes special adapters for WebLogic Server and WebSphere. These adapters are discussed in the following sections.

For standard scenarios, including WebLogic Server and WebSphere, consider using the convenient <tx:jta-transaction-manager/> configuration element. When configured, this element automatically detects the underlying server and chooses the best transaction manager available for the platform. This means that you need not explicitly configure server-specific adapter classes (as discussed in the following sections). Rather, they are chosen automatically, with the standard JtaTransactionManager as the default fallback.