This page describes how to build and install Ice for Java from source. If you prefer, you can also download a binary distribution.
Ice for Java builds and runs properly on Windows, macOS, and any recent Linux distribution, and is fully supported on the platforms listed on the supported platforms page.
You need the Slice to Java compiler to build Ice for Java and also to use
Ice for Java. The Slice to Java compiler (slice2java) is a command-line tool
written in C++. You can build the Slice to Java compiler from source, or
alternatively you can install an Ice binary distribution that includes
this compiler.
Ice for Java requires J2SE 1.7.0 or later.
Make sure that the javac and java commands are present in your PATH.
Ice for Java uses the Gradle build system, and includes the Gradle wrapper version 2.4 in the distribution. You cannot build the Ice for Java source distribution without an Internet connection. Gradle will download all required packages automatically from ZeroC's Maven repository located at
https://repo.zeroc.com/nexus/content/repositories/thirdparty
Ice for Java supports protocol compression using the bzip2 classes included with Apache Commons Compress.
The Maven package id for the commons-compress JAR file is as follows:
groupId=org.apache.commons, version=1.14, artifactId=commons-compress
The demos and tests are automatically setup to enable protocol compression by adding the commons-compress JAR to the manifest class path. For your own applications you must add the commons-compress JAR to the application CLASSPATH to enable protocol compression.
These classes are a pure Java implementation of the bzip2 algorithm and therefore add significant latency to Ice requests.
The build system requires the Slice to Java compiler from Ice for C++. If you
have not built Ice for C++ in this source distribution, you must set the
ICE_HOME environment variable with the path name of your Ice installation. For
example, on Linux:
$ export ICE_HOME=/opt/Ice-3.7.1 (For local build)
$ export ICE_HOME=/usr (For RPM installation)
On Windows:
> set ICE_HOME=C:\Program Files\ZeroC\Ice-3.7.1 (MSI installation)
On Windows if you are using Ice for C++ from a source distribution, you must set
the CPP_PLATFORM and CPP_CONFIGURATION environment variables to match the
platform and configuration used in your C++ build:
> set CPP_PLATFORM=x64
> set CPP_CONFIGURATION=Debug
The supported values for CPP_PLATFORM are Win32 and x64 and the supported
values for CPP_CONFIGURATION are Debug and Release.
Before building Ice for Java, review the settings in the file
gradle.properties and edit as necessary.
To build Ice, all services, and tests, run
> gradlew build
Upon completion, the Ice JAR and POM files are placed in the lib subdirectory.
If at any time you wish to discard the current build and start a new one, use these commands:
> gradlew clean
> gradlew build
To install Ice for Java in the directory specified by the prefix variable in
gradle.properties run the following command:
> gradlew install
The installation installs the following JAR files to <prefix>/lib.
glacier2-compat-3.7.1.jar
ice-compat-3.7.1.jar
icebox-compat-3.7.1.jar
icebt-compat-3.7.1.jar
icediscovery-compat-3.7.1.jar
icegrid-compat-3.7.1.jar
icelocatordiscovery-compat-3.7.1.jar
icepatch2-compat-3.7.1.jar
icestorm-compat-3.7.1.jar
POM files are also installed for ease of deployment to a Maven-based distribution system.
Some of the Ice for Java tests employ applications that are part of the Ice for
C++ distribution. If you have not built Ice for C++ in this source distribution
then you must set the ICE_HOME environment variable with the path name of your
Ice installation. On Linux or macOS:
$ export ICE_HOME=/opt/Ice-3.7.1 (For local build)
$ export ICE_HOME=/usr (For RPM installation)
On Windows:
> set ICE_HOME=C:\Program Files\ZeroC\Ice-3.7.1
Python is required to run the test suite. To run the tests, open a command window and change to the top-level directory. At the command prompt, execute:
> python allTests.py
If everything worked out, you should see lots of ok messages. In case of a
failure, the tests abort with failed.