A method, system, and computer program product for enabling efficient start up of an application server with the components required for complete operation of the supported application. A pre-processor autonomically determines the specific services that are required by the application to be initiated within the application server during start up of the application. The specific services are selected from a comprehensive list of available services for start up of the application server. The application server is then started up with only the specific services required by the application, rather than the full list of services.