JRebel Quick Start

By IDE Standalone
IBM logo.

Rational Application Developer

1. Installation

  1. Install the JRebel plugin using the update site.
  2. Work with this URL – http://update.zeroturnaround.com/update-site/.

Didn't Work?

Don’t worry, you can also install JRebel by downloading the ZIP archive from http://update.zeroturnaround.com/update-site/update-site.zip. Once downloaded, open Help > Install New Software and press Add. Select Archive to point to the ZIP archive of the update site. Press OK to proceed.

Avoid installing the JRebel plugin using the marketplace as this may produce a non-functioning installation.

Did this work?

If the installation was a success, your IDE will restart. After the restart, JRebel will alert you via a notification.

2. Activation

  1. Open Help > JRebel > Activation.
  2. Fill out the form.
  3. Press Activate JRebel.

Have a License?

Press I already have a license in the activation window.

  • Activation code. Paste your activation code if you have one already.
  • License file from the hard drive. Point to your jrebel.lic file. You get this file via email when you purchase JRebel.
  • Connect to ZeroTurnaround License Management or an on-premises License Server. Enter your team URL and email. You get the team URL from your network administrator.

Did This Work?

JRebel will let you know that your license is activated via a notification.

You can also see your license status from Help > JRebel > Activation.

3. Project Configuration

  1. Open Help > JRebel > Configuration > Projects.
  2. Select the jrebel-ide-icon check-box next to your project. This will generate rebel.xml and keep it up to date.
  3. Redeploy your application (or restart your standalone application)!

Didn't Work?

Did This Work?

When building your application, rebel.xml should be included within the application archive.

  • In case of JAR files, rebel.xml should be included in the root folder.
  • When working with WAR files, the rebel.xml should be located within the WEB-INF/classes folder.
  • EAR files require a rebel.xml for each internal EAR module (that means JARs and WARs).

4. Startup Configuration

Run via IDE 

  1. Open Help > JRebel > Configuration > Startup.
  2. Select Run via IDE.
  3. Select the check-box next to your application server. Doing this will automatically run it with the required JVM arguments.

Good to know

Not running your server from the IDE? Follow another application server startup method.

Did this work?

When successful, you will see the JRebel banner in the console right at server startup. This is what the JRebel banner should look like:

2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  #############################################################
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  JRebel Agent 7.0.0 (201611081555)
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  (c) Copyright ZeroTurnaround AS, Estonia, Tartu.
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  Over the last 1 days JRebel prevented
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  at least 0 redeploys/restarts saving you about 0 hours.
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  Licensed to ZeroTurnaround.
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  #############################################################

 

  1. Open Help > JRebel > Configuration > Startup.
  2. Select Run locally from command line.
  3. Pick your desired Java and target environment.
  4. Follow the instructions provided to set up JRebel for your application server.

Good to Know

Not running your server from a command line? Follow another application server startup method.

You can find the same command line instructions in the JRebel reference manual.

Did this work?

When successful, you will see the JRebel banner in the console right at server startup. This is what the JRebel banner should look like:

2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  #############################################################
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  JRebel Agent 7.0.0 (201611081555)
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  (c) Copyright ZeroTurnaround AS, Estonia, Tartu.
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  Over the last 1 days JRebel prevented
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  at least 0 redeploys/restarts saving you about 0 hours.
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  Licensed to ZeroTurnaround.
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  #############################################################
  1. Open Help > JRebel > Configuration > Startup.
  2. Select Run on a remote server.
  3. Pick your desired Java, target environment and operating system.
  4. Follow the instructions provided to set up JRebel for your remote application server.


Good to Know

Not running your server remotely Follow another application server startup method.

You can find more help for setting JRebel up with a remote server over here.


Did This Work?

When successful, you will see the JRebel banner in the console right at server startup. This is what the JRebel banner should look like:

2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  #############################################################
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  JRebel Agent 7.0.0 (201611081555)
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  (c) Copyright ZeroTurnaround AS, Estonia, Tartu.
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  Over the last 1 days JRebel prevented
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  at least 0 redeploys/restarts saving you about 0 hours.
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  Licensed to ZeroTurnaround.
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  
2016-11-15 12:19:20 JRebel:  #############################################################

5. Reload Your Code

  1. Make sure Project > Build Automatically is enabled!
  2. Restart your application server or Java application.
  3. Change something in the application code.
  4. Refresh the application in the browser to see the changes!

Why Do This?

JRebel relies upon your IDE to do the compiling. Enabling Build Automatically ensures that your .java files are compiled to .class files.

Learn More From JRebel Documentation

View Docs