Development Tools

The following general tools are provided with the Enterprise Server:

• The asadmin Command

• The Admin Console

• The asant Utility

• The verifier Tool

The following development tools are provided with the Enterprise Server or downloadable from Sun:

• The NetBeans IDE

• The Migration Tool

The following third-party tools might also be useful:

• Debugging Tools

• Profiling Tools

• The Eclipse IDE

The asadmin Command

The asadmin command allows you to configure a local or remote server and perform both administrative and development tasks at the command line. For general information about asadmin, see the Sun GlassFish Enterprise Server v2.1.1 Reference Manual.

The asadmin command is located in the as-install/bin directory. Type asadmin help for a list of subcommands.

The Admin Console

The Admin Console lets you configure the server and perform both administrative and development tasks using a web browser. For general information about the Admin Console, click the Help button in the Admin Console. This displays the Enterprise Server online help.

To access the Admin Console, type http://host:4848 (developer profile) or https://host:4848 (cluster and enterprise profiles) in your browser. The host is the name of the machine on which the Enterprise Server is running. By default, the host is localhost. For example:

http://localhost:4848

The asant Utility

Apache Ant 1.6.5 is provided with the Enterprise Server and can be launched from the bin directory using the command asant. The Enterprise Server also provides server-specific tasks for administration and deployment; see Chapter 3, The asant Utility. The sample applications that can be used with the Enterprise Server use Ant build.xml files; see Sample Applications.

For more information about Ant, see the Apache Software Foundation web site at http://ant.apache.org/.

The verifier Tool

The verifier tool checks a Java EE application file, including Java classes and deployment descriptors, for compliance with Java EE specifications. Java EE application files are Java archive (JAR), web archive (WAR), resource adapter archive (RAR), or enterprise archive (EAR) files. Use the verifier tool to check whether an application complies with the Java EE specification and to make applications portable across application servers. The verifier tool can be launched from the command line. For more information, see The verifier Utility in Sun GlassFish Enterprise Server v2.1.1 Application Deployment Guide.

The NetBeans IDE

The NetBeans IDE allows you to create, assemble, and debug code from a single, easy-to-use interface. The GlassFish edition of the Enterprise Server is bundled with the NetBeans 5.5 IDE. To download the NetBeans IDE, see http://www.netbeans.org. This site also provides documentation on how to use the NetBeans IDE with the bundled Enterprise Server.

You can also use the Enterprise Server with the Sun Java Studio 8 software, which is built on the NetBeans IDE. For more information, see http://developers.sun.com/prodtech/javatools/jsenterprise/.

The Migration Tool

The Migration Tool converts and reassembles Java EE applications and modules developed on other application servers. This tool also generates a report listing how many files are successfully and unsuccessfully migrated, with reasons for migration failure. For more information and to download the Migration Tool, see http://java.sun.com/j2ee/tools/migration/index.html.

Debugging Tools

You can use several debugging tools with the Enterprise Server. For more information, see Chapter 4, Debugging Applications.

Profiling Tools

You can use several profilers with the Enterprise Server. For more information, see Profiling Tools.

The Eclipse IDE

A plug-in for the Eclipse IDE is available at http://glassfishplugins.dev.java.net/. This site also provides documentation on how to register the Enterprise Server and use Sun-specific deployment descriptors.