Deploying Web Applications to Sun Java System Web Server 7.0 With NetBeans 6.0

Note: Though several screen shots in the rest of this article show NetBeans 5.0, they also apply to NetBeans 6.0.

Next, register Web Server 7.0 in NetBeans 6.0. Follow these steps:

1. In the Runtime tab, select the Servers node and then right-click and choose Add Server from the context menu.
   
   The Add Server Instance wizard is displayed. See Figure 1.
   
   

   Figure 1: Choose Server Pane in Add Server Instance Wizard

    
   
2. Under Server, select Sun Java System Web Server 7.0. Click Next.
   
   The Server Location and Configuration pane is displayed. See Figure 2.
   
   

   Figure 2: Server Location and Configuration Pane in Add Server Instance Wizard

    
   
3. Fill in the details on the Web Server 7.0 instance on your local machine or any remote machine.
   
   Note: For some of the Web Server 7.0 JAR files, even if you are registering only a remote instance, the plug-in needs a local Web Server 7.0 instance on the same machine.

If your Web Server 7.0 instance contains multiple configurations, when you first open its node in NetBeans 6.0, a dialog box with a drop-down list of the configurations that contain at least and at most one virtual server and one associated instance is displayed. See Figure 3. You must select one of those configurations for deployment from the IDE. This is a one-time selection only.

Figure 3: Selection of Configuration for Deployment

After registration, the Sun Java System Web Server 7.0 node is displayed under Servers in the Runtime tab of the IDE. To start the Administration Server, right-click the Sun Java System Web Server 7.0 node and choose Start from the context menu. See Figure 4.

Note: You cannot start the Administration Server if the server was registered as a remote server.

Figure 4: Start Menu Item for Administration Server of Web Server 7.0

You can expand the nodes to view all the Web applications, resources, and so forth in a configuration. Figure 5 is an example.

Figure 5: Components in a Web Server Configuration

To create a Web application for Web Server 7.0, follow these steps:

1. Choose File > New Project and then select Web under Categories and Web Application under Projects. Click Next.
   
   The Name and Location pane in the New Web Application wizard is displayed. See Figure 6.
   
   

   Figure 6: Name and Location Pane in New Web Application Wizard

    
   
2. Under Server, choose Sun Java System Web Server 7.0 from the drop-down list.
   
   
3. Click Next and proceed to create the Web project.
   
   Once you've created the project, its node is displayed in the Projects tab. Figure 7 shows an example.
   
   

   Figure 7: New Web Application Project

    
   

You can see that all the basic files are in place, including the Web Server 7.0-specific deployment descriptor, the sun-web.xml file. To edit that file, double-click its name to open a GUI editor on the right. Alternatively, right-click its name and choose Edit from the context menu.

The Web application project is now ready: You can edit, compile, and deploy it to Web Server 7.0. You can also run or debug the application from the IDE.

You can debug Web applications by right-clicking the Web project in the IDE and choosing Debug from the context menu. Web Server will then start in debug mode and the IDE will stop executing the program at the breakpoint you have set in your application.

For details on debugging Web applications in NetBeans 6.0, see the IDE's online help.

Following are the Web Server 7.0 operations you can perform in NetBeans 6.0 with the plug-in installed:

• Start or stop the Administration Server. ¹
  
  
• Launch the Administration Console.
  
  
• View the logs for the Administration Server and the server instance associated with a configuration. ¹
  
  
• View the server.xml file of the server instance. ¹
  
  
• Set breakpoints and debug the Web applications deployed on Web Server 7.0.
  
  
• List all deployed Web applications.
  
  
• Disable or enable Web applications.
  
  
• Undeploy Web applications.
  
  
• List all server resources: Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) resource, mail resource, custom resource, external Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI) resource.
  
  
• Delete server resources.
  
  
• List resource properties from a resource's context menu. You can also update those properties from the IDE.
  
  
• From the Web project, create a new server resource (mail, JDBC, custom, or external JNDI) in the IDE's New File wizard by selecting the Web Server 7.0 resources category. Afterwards, register the new resource with the Web application's target Web Server 7.0 instance.
  
  For details on creating and registering server resources, see NetBeans IDE online help.
  
  
• List, update, or do both on the Java virtual machine properties. For the update to take effect, you must restart Web Server 7.0.

¹ This capability is not available for the remote server.