Ant Installation - Web Tutorial

by Michael Thomas

Ant Home Page

Windows Download and Install (XP Pro)

• Download Ant - as of 04/27/08 - version 1.7.0
  • http://ant.apache.org
  • On the left side panel click "Binary Distributions" under Download
  • apache-ant-1.7.0-bin.zip - (~11meg) - download this file to any directory.
• Install Ant
  • I'll step you through the install process.
    (FYI - The online install guide is under the link: Documentation, Manual, "Installing Ant".)
  • There is no installation utility.  You extract the zip file into the directory you plan on using.
  • Create the following directory: C:\java\apache\ant  - (Note: I wish windows used "programs" as the main directory and not "Program Files")
    • Windows Issues: 
      There is issues with Ant and long directory names (must conform to format 8.3) because of a limitation in the "for" batch-file statement
      Also, you may need more environment space (we will cover this later).
      The Ant web site suggests: c:\ant (but I suggest the above)
  • Extract the zip file into this directory.
  • Add/Verify Environment System Variables
    • Go to the Environment Variable add/edit screen:
      Win XPPro: Settings, Control Panel, System, Advanced tab, click on "Environment Variable" button
    • Add the ANT_HOME environment system variable:
      In the System Variable section, click "New"
      Variable Name: ANT_HOME
      Variable Value: C:\java\apache\ant\apache-ant-1.7.0
    • Edit the PATH environment variable to include the ANT_HOME path:
      Click on the variable "PATH", then click "Edit"
      Add the following to the end of the current value: ;%ANT_HOME%\bin
    • Verify/Add the JAVA_HOME environment system variable:
      In the System Variable section, click "New"
      Variable Name: JAVA_HOME
      Variable Value: <Full path to the home directory of your JDK install>
      Ex: C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_03
      (Note: The Sun java installs (JDK and/or JRE) modifies the PATH variable and does not create the variable "JAVA_HOME".)
  • Older Windows Environments - config.sys
    • For Windows NT and ME (and older) add the following to the config.sys file (probably in the c:\ directory):
      shell=c:\command.com c:\ /p /e:32768
  • Install is finished, now test.
• Test your Install - find the ant version.
  • At the Command Prompt (Run, cmd.exe), the command below should return similar results.:
    C:\>ant -version
    Apache Ant version 1.7.0 compiled on December 13 2006
  • Possible Errors:
    • Possible errors corrected by completing the Environment Variables section above.  When correcting these errors make sure you exit and re-launch the command prompt window.
      • Error:
        C:\>ant -version
        'ant' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
        operable program or batch file.
        Note: Probably PATH related.
      • Error:
        C:\>ant -version
        Unable to locate tools.jar. Expected to find it in C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_03\lib\tools.jar
        Apache Ant version 1.7.0 compiled on December 13 2006
        Note: Probably JAVA_HOME related.  Point it to the JDK directory (not the JRE).
      • Error:
        C:\>ant -version
        Access is denied.
        Note: Probably JAVA_HOME related.
• ANT Docs   
  • To view Ant's docs, open up a web browser and go to:
    C:\java\apache\ant\apache-ant-1.7.0\docs\index.html  - the same content you will find at Apache's web site!
• ANT Version & Command Line Help
  • Create and run the batch file "ant_help_commandline.bat" to see Command Line Help for ANT (in the download!).
    rem Note: ant will turn off commandline echo!
    echo on
    call ant -version
    echo on
    call ant -help
    pause
• Finished Installation
  • You have completed the Ant Install.
  • Next, return to the Ant home page and continue with the next steps in the tutorial.
• Miscellaneous Notes
  • If you don't want to use Environment System Variables you can do the following in a batch file:
    set ANT_HOME=C:\java\apache\ant\apache-ant-1.7.0
    set JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_03
    set Path=%PATH%;%ANT_HOME%\bin
  • Pre & Post batch files - before the Ant build is started "%HOME%\antrc_pre.bat" is executed if it exists.  After the Ant build has completed "%HOME%\antrc_post.bat"
  • XML Issues - Ant needs an XML parser.  A parser is located in the Ant/lib directory.
  • Proxy Configurations - research the "ANT_OPTS" environment variable.