JRebel Quick Start

By IDE Standalone
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NetBeans

1. Installation

  1. Open Tools > Plugins.
  2. Select the Available Plugins tab.
  3. Find JRebel and press Install.

Didn't Work?

Don’t worry, you can also get the JRebel plugin here.

Once downloaded, open Tools > Plugins and find the Downloaded tab. Press Add Plugins, browse to the downloaded file and press Install.

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?

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

3. Project Configuration

  1. Open Window > JRebel panel.
  2. Enable JRebel for the desired modules by selecting the jrebel-ide-icon column checkboxes.
  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
JRebel is automatically enabled for servers launched from NetBeans.

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. IDE Configuration

  1. Right-click your project node. Select Properties.
  2. Enable Build > Compile > Compile on Save.
  3. Disable Run > Deploy on Save.

Why Do This?

These options will avoid unintended redeploys, making your experience a lot smoother.

JRebel relies upon your IDE to do the compiling. JRebel reloads your compiled .class files and not your .java files. When you change code, JRebel pushes the changed classes and resources to the server without redeploying.

6. Reload Your Code

  1. Restart your application server or Java application.
  2. Change something in the application code and save.
  3. Refresh the application in the browser to see the changes!

Learn More From JRebel Documentation

View Docs