gf

name	gf
description	GlassFish dev workflow CLI tool

Execution

Run the GlassFish dev workflow command:

./gf $ARGUMENTS

If no arguments were provided, show the quick reference below instead of running a command.

---

Command Reference

Commands

Server Lifecycle

Command	Description
./gf start [--no-debug]	Start domain (debug on port 9009 by default)
./gf stop	Stop the domain
./gf setup [--delete]	Configure JDBC/JMS/JNDI resources from db.properties + env.properties
./gf run [--no-debug]	Start + build WAR + deploy (zero to running)
./gf restart [--no-debug]	Stop + start + build + deploy

Development

Command	Description
./gf ui	rsync XHTML/CSS/JS/images + .jrxml reports to exploded deployment
./gf classes [-v]	Incremental javac + JDWP hot-swap (~3-6s)
./gf sync [-v]	UI sync + classes hot-swap (most common)
./gf full	Clean WAR build + asadmin redeploy (~30-60s)
./gf deploy	Build WAR + fresh deploy
./gf undeploy	Remove the deployed application

Diagnostics

Command	Description
./gf log [--err]	Tail server log (--err filters errors only)

When to Use Which Command

• Changed XHTML/CSS/JS only → ./gf ui
• Changed .jrxml report templates → ./gf ui
• Changed Java code (method bodies) → ./gf classes -v
• Changed both → ./gf sync -v
• Structural Java changes (new fields/methods, entity changes) → ./gf full
• First time or clean state → ./gf run

Architecture

./gf sync -v
  │
  ├─ UI + resource sync (rsync)
  │    src/main/webapp/           ──rsync──► GF exploded deployment dir
  │    src/main/resources/reports/ ──rsync──► WEB-INF/classes/reports/
  │
  └─ Classes hot-swap
       1. find -newer → changed .java files
       2. javac (incremental, Lombok processorpath)
       3. HotSwap.java → JDWP redefineClasses on port 9009
       4. If IDE debugger attached → compile only, skip redeploy
       5. If structural change → fallback: mvnw package + asadmin redeploy

Key Files

File	Purpose
gf	Main CLI script (project root)
tools/HotSwap.java	JDWP client that redefines classes in running GlassFish
tools/.classpath.cache	Cached Maven classpath for incremental javac (gitignored)