Apache Ant is a Java-based build tool. Instead of using an extended model using shell-based commands, Ant is extended using Java classes that use XML-based configuration files. The configuration files call out a target tree that executes various tasks. Each task is run by an object that implements a particular Task interface. This gives you the ability to perform cross platform builds. Please also note that if needed, Ant provides an <exec> task that allows commands to be executed based on the Operating System it is executing on. For more information on Apache ANT please click here.

You will need to build your JBoss Application Server source files before you can run the application server. Apache Ant is shipped with the JBoss Application Server source files and can be executed from the <source_directory>/tools/bin directory.

The source files can also be built using Apache Maven which is also shipped with the JBoss Application Server source files under <source_directory>/tools/maven directory. For more information about Apache Maven, please refer to http://maven.apache.org/.

Like Java, you also need to set the environment variables for Apache ANT and/or Apache Maven. The following example illustrates a desirable configuration for the .bashrc file. In the example the file is edited using the gnome text editor (gedit).

[user@localhost ~]$ gedit .bashrc

# Source global definitions
if [ -f /etc/bashrc ]; then
/etc/bashrc
fi
......
# User specific aliases and functions
# The following are the environment variables for Java , ANT and Maven
	
export JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/jdk1.6.0_07/
export PATH=$PATH:$JAVA_HOME/bin

export ANT_HOME=/home/downloads/jboss-<source_directory>/tools/
export PATH=$PATH:$ANT_HOME/bin

export MAVEN_HOME=/home/downloads/jboss-<source_directory>/tools/maven
export PATH=$PATH:$MAVEN_HOME/bin

To implement the changes you've made to the .bashrc file, type the following on a terminal.

[user@localhost ~]$ source .bashrc
[user@localhost ~]$

If any errors are displayed, please check your .bashrc file for errors and ensure that all directory paths are correct.