Using Netbeans and JBoss AS 7

Info: There is a more recent article about NetBeans and WildFly Integration: Configuring NetBeans with WildFly

NetBeans IDE is an open-source integrated development environment. NetBeans IDE supports development of all Java application types (Java SE (including JavaFX), Java ME, web, EJB and mobile applications) out of the box. In the last couple of months I’ve been monitoring the Netbeans Bug 200132 which is about adding support for JBoss AS 7. Now the bug is fixed and, starting from the 7.3.1  release you can test it against JBoss AS 7 / EAP 6.

As we said, start by downloading the latest release 7.3.1 of NetBeans from https://netbeans.org/downloads/ . Launch the executable binaries which will install Netbeans on a path of your like. Once installed we will try adding a new server by moving into the “Services” tab and right-clicking “Add Server

 

jboss netbeans tutorial

From there select “JBoss Application Server” and continue the Add Server Instance wizard:

jboss netbeans tutorial

Next choose the Server Location:

jboss netbeans tutorial

As final step, select the Server Configuration you are going to use.

jboss netbeans tutorial

Once the server has been added, you should be able to select it as “Server” when you are defining a new Application, as the following picture displays:

jboss netbeans tutorial

EAP 6.1 and Wildfly support

What I found interesting is that the Add Server wizard is able to bind as well the EAP 6.1 instances (which feature a different filesystem for the application server modules):

jboss netbeans tutorial

As you can see from the following picture, by including the EAP 6.1 platform as server library Netbeans is able to include required libraries without an issue.

jboss netbeans tutorial

As last test, I’ve tried to bind a new Server instance to WildFly 8 but this test fails in the Step 3 (Instance Properties); so right now the only option to manage and deploy applications on WildFly 8 on Netbeans is via Maven (which is however built-in into Netbeans) so, meanwhile WildFly will be the new standard for running your applications, you can enjoy coding your JBoss AS applications on NetBeans 7.3.1