I am trying to set up a Jenkins Server to build my IntelliJ-project (using BitBucketfor VCS (git)).
I have been able to set up IntelliJ to build correctly locally, and I am pushing it to bitbucket. I have also managed to set up Jenkins to get the code from BitBucket.
The problems to actually doing the build process itself, my problem being that I can't seem to figure out how to set it up with Ant / Maven, which I have never used before.
Any good suggestions?
PS: I am still searching for tutorials or anything that gives some help towards achieving this, and will be updating if I find something that helps.
Jenkins can fetch the code from the repository to its workspace, but it cannot build it for you. You need to give him the tool to do that. Popular choices are Maven/Ant/Gradle to handle project building for you.
You need to refer to the proper documentation for either Maven or Ant. The process is too broad and project-specific for me to go into details here, but Jenkins provides nice integration for both. If you know neither of them, I think I'd suggest Maven, but it's up to personal preferences and project needs.
You should first try to build project locally. Once you acomplish that, doing that with Jenkins shouldn't be a problem.
I'm looking for an IntelliJ IDEA plugin that would run my tests each time I change my code. I looked for such a solution and I found:
Infinitest, which works, but is inconvenient because I need to add the facet to each module, and it opens a new tool window for each module (which means 15 tool windows for me).
Fireworks - didn't work for me, maybe it just doesn't work with IDEA 14 (in its repo I can see that last changes were made in 2009). IntelliJ also reports that it throws exceptions.
There are lots of ways I could run all my tests (including writing a simple script for this), but I'm looking for a tool that would be smart enough to rerun failed tests first, and that would understand module dependencies (so after a change in some module it would run only tests of dependent modules).
I prefer free options, but if there's something paid for a reasonable price, I would accept it as well.
IntelliJ now actually has a Toggle auto-testin the run dialog. Just run a run-configuration and then select Toggle auto-testin the run dialog.
It's not as intelligent as you would have hoped. It just reruns when it detects changes.
I know this is a 3-year-old question but I think it will help people who face the similar problem in future. So I found out a way to enable SBT style auto test execution in IntelliJ studio.
We need to do 2 things to enable auto test execution.
Enabling auto project build - This can be done in settings by going into File -> Settings -> Build, Execution... -> Compiler and selecting "Build Project automatically".
Enabling "Toggle auto-test" in run dialog box
This will start auto testing. Although this works fine, it takes time to build the project even when my project is tiny so for larger projects it will certainly take very long time to complete the build and execute tests.
Reference: Original article which explains these steps
If you are OK running tests which cover a single method chosen by you, you can try this plugin (it is continuos in the sense that you make changes to a method, then click on the method and the plugin will run all the unit tests automatically which cover that method): https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/15063-unit-test-coverage-history-runner
You can use the Intellij Teamcity plugin. Teamcity is a paid product but there is a free version which gives you 20 projects and 3 agents for free .
It has a remote run feature using which you can send in unchecked code to run tests before committing.
It also has options to run failed tests first
Usage instructions for Remote Run
I have a main class that takes a series of arguments and I have 10 run configurations. Is there a way to have eclipse run them one after another?
The other answers are probably better solutions to your problem. However, if you install the Eclipse CDT into your Eclipse installation (using update manager or market place client), then you get an additional launch configuration type called Launch group.
Those launch groups allow creating a list of other launch configurations to be run one after the other. Make sure to set the Post build action in the dialog to "Wait until terminates" for each included launch configuration.
#Steven: To do it quick, you can write a JUnit Test case that just calls the intended classes in desired order and execute it. Eclipse already has the necessary jar for JUnit, so you are ready to go. Definitely, writing ANT/MAVEN script is a good practice.
As #gotuskar suggested, write test cases for your class. If you can afford running your ten configurations each time you build your project put them in its src/test/java directory, otherwise create a sibling project to your original one, make it depend on it, and put your tests there.
How can I configure Netbeans to call Maven Failsafe to run a specific integration test?
I know the Maven command to do this is 'mvn -Dit.test=MyClassIT verify' I also know how to configure 'actions' in Netbeans Project properties.
My problems are:
Netbeans sometimes runs the action (and calls Maven), and sometimes just uses its own compiler and test runner. Don't know how to tell it to use which. Bizarre
Netbeans adds "Test" to the class name. Instead it should add "IT". But the bizarre part is that there's nothing in the action that defines this behavior. The action just passes the class name.
I don't want to override the normal Test File and Debug Test File actions, because I need those for normal tests. But custom actions only appear in the Project's 'Custom' context menu, and not for any individual file! So they're unusuable. It would also be nice if I could make toolbar buttons for them.
If the planets align correctly and Netbeans issues the right command, Maven is launched with correct settings, but the debugger doesn't work
Using Netbeans 7.1 and Netbeans Dev 201201260600
If you right click on a project, theres a 'custom' option with as only one child option 'goals'. You can use it to run custom mvn commands; also notice that old commands are kept, so you don't need to type it every time.
I see reference of ant a lot but I don't get exactly what its meant to do? from what i've heard its supposed to compile your projects but can't i just do that by clicking Run->Run in eclipse?
Edit : I guess I should rephrase my question. I already know that ant is a 'build automation software', my question is, what exactly is build automation? I thought that you're supposed to test your app, and when it is running you click the 'build' button in eclipse or through command-line java, and it makes a .jar file out of it? So why do you need to 'automate' this process?
I already know that ant is a 'build automation software', my question is, what exactly is build automation? I thought that you're supposed to test your app, and when it is running you click the 'build' button in eclipse or through command-line java, and it makes a .jar file out of it? So why do you need to 'automate' this process?
Not all the Java development is done through eclipse and not all the jars may be built from the command line ( or should be built from the command line ) .
You may need additionally run test cases, unit tests, and many, many other process.
What ant does, is provide a mechanism to automate all this work ( so you don't have to do it every time ) and perhaps you may invoke this ant script each day at 6 p.m.
For instance, in some projects, a daily build is needed, the following are the task that may be automated with ant, so they can run without human intervention.
Connect to subversion server.
Download/update with the latest version
Compile the application
Run the test cases
Pack the application ( in jar, war, ear, or whatever )
Commit this build binaries to subversion.
Install the application in a remote server
Restart the server
Send an email with the summary of the job.
Of course for other projects this is overkill, but for some others is very helpful.
rogeriopvl is absolutely correct, but to answer your "can't I just do that by clicking Run->Run in Eclipse?" question: that's fine for a project that you're working on on your own, and don't need a repeatable, scriptable build in multiple environments.
If you're working on an open source project, however, or professional software which needs to be able to build on a build server etc, requiring a particular IDE to be running isn't a good idea.
Ant is used to automate a build process, but a build process is often much more than compiling. Ant has "tasks" that can be used to perform miscellaneous useful functions. You can create your own task to do just about anything by writing a java class and telling ant where to find it. You can then mix and match these tasks to create targets that will execute a set of tasks.
You can also set up a dynamic environment in which to build your application. You can set up property files to hold variables that can be used in the build process, i.e. to hold file paths, class paths, etc. This is useful for instance to differentiate between test and production builds where deployment paths, database instances, etc. might change. Ant also includes flow control (if, etc.)
Some things I've seen ant do:
Compile code
Use version control to checkout the latest version or to tag the version being built
Run sql scripts to build or rebuild a test database
Copy files from an external resource for inclusion in a project
Bundle code into a jar, war or ear file
Deploy a web application to an application server
Restart an application server
Execute a test suite
Static analysis, i.e. CheckStyle or PMD
Send email to a team to alert them to a build.
Generate files based on information from the build.
Example: I have a jsp in my app that does nothing but display version/build information. It is generated by ant when I run a build, and the production operations team checks this page when they deploy the application to make sure they've deployed the correct build.
In many larger companies (and likely some smaller ones), you'll find that production code is not built by the people who developed it. Instead, the developers may check their code into a source code repository and tag it. Then they give this tag to a build team.
The build team, in a separate (clean) area - possibly on some headless server (i.e. with no GUI) - will then check out the code and run a build script. The build script will be completely independent of the desktop environment/IDE.
This ensures that nothing which happens to be on any one developer's computer is "polluting" the build. (Or, more likely, nothing outside source control is required for the system to work!)
So most software you use will never, ever be built from a developer's desktop.
PS. You might also want to look at the idea of Continuous Integration
The short answer is that Ant is a great way to create a complete project build that is independent of any particular tool any developer may be using. Without an independent build, things can go haywire quickly - especially for large project teams.
And now for the long answer... I have been brought into several projects without any sense of an independent build. On one project, there was one guy who was not a developer that was tasked with building and deploying the software. He had created 147 separate windows batch files to compile each EJB, each servlet, and each client component. There was no error checking for this build. All log messages, including error messages went to standard out. It was up to him to manually recognize by reading this log which exception or message printed was a normal and which message was an error. He also had to deploy this software he just built. Deploying was equally as complex since there were several load-balanced tiers. Each module had to be placed in the right place manually with options setup to match downstream and upstream tiers. Building and deploying this software took him at least 3 days using this method. Of course, only then could anyone determine if the build "worked". Usually, after this period all the programmers would scramble to debug the build. Programmers would say my module works fine in my IDE. I just click run like this, see?
Indeed, the individual software modules usually worked, but the build and deployment was horribly ineffective. And just as bad, it was equally as difficult for anyone to deploy a build to more than one environment. Management would say, ok you now have this build working in our regression testing environment. Now deploy that same build in this other environment so the sales guys can demo up and coming software. That should be simple to do, but it also took at least 2 days, followed by a "debugging the build" period. Builds and deploys were never simple and never accurate. It really slowed the project down.
Anyway, we replaced this entire procedure with a complete Ant based build and deploy mechanism. The end result was that a complete build could be created and deployed in less than 30 minutes, completely automated. The QA guy managing the builds and deploys could keep a whiteboard of which environment had which build deployed to it and which group was using that environment. This was something that was just not possible with the old system.
Ant is for automating software build processes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_Ant
Ant allows CRISP (complete, repeatable, informative, schedulable, portable) builds. You can find great info on it in this presentation by Mike Clark and in his book, Pragmatic Project Automation.
Ant is a build tool, akin to makefiles (albeit with a very different syntax in XML). If you're only using Eclipse it's fine to stick to that and you can always convert an Ant build file into an Eclipse project (Eclipse's launch configurations are then, if I remember correctly, the equivalent of Ant's build targets).
If you want to deploy the source code of the application and allow others to easily build or set it up, automating that using Ant is probably not a bad idea. But it's usually not a consistent experience for users or at least I haven't seen much consensus on what targets should be there and doing what so far.
Ant may also be used for regular automated builds (you wouldn't want to hit Run in Eclipse every night, right? :-))
If there's one close to you I think you'd get a lot out of CITCON, the Continuous Integration and Testing Conference. You get to talk with lots of people about the benefits of automation applied to building and testing software.
Basically people use Ant (with other tools) to automate everything they want to have happen after a commit. The basic advantages of such automation are faster, better and cheaper.
Faster because things happen right away without waiting for a human to get around to it.
Better because computers are really really good at doing the same thing the same way every time. (Humans tend to suck at that.)
Cheaper because you have fewer mistake and the mistakes that occur are caught sooner and therefore cheaper to fix.
You are also referring to the ""Export ant buildfile".
If you write your own Ant script for building your application outside eclipse, you can write your own targets that use the Ant task to delegate to the generated build.xml.
Also, you can configure a project's 'builders' (project properties ยป Builders) to run any script (ant or otherwise) you want when you build the project, manually or automatically.
Joel (Spolsky) has a great article on "The Joel Test." Many of them revolve around being able to do important things often, quickly and reliably. One of those things is your build.
Eclipse is using ant for building, running, deploying, ...
"Ant is a Java-based build tool. In theory, it is kind of like Make, without Make's wrinkles and with the full portability of pure Java code." (from link text