Getting Started with CloudBees and Eclipse

Written by: Hannah Inman
4 min read

I've created a series of videos to show how to use the Eclipse IDE with the CloudBees Java PaaS platform that you can find on CloudBeesTV . I spent a day or so working through all this and I thought it would be a good idea to capture what I learnt in some step-by-step tutorials - the integration is really very well-done. BTW, I really like the new Camtasia software for Mac from TechSmith : I've been using an older version for Windows for a while and always liked it, but Camtasia 2 for Mac is awesome.

Eclipse Setup

If you are fairly new to CloudBees and/or Eclipse, then I'd recommend watching Part 1 , which goes through what you need to do to set up your Eclipse environment and particularly which Eclipse plug-ins to install, but for a quick reference here are the plug-ins I'm using with Eclipse Indigo/Juno:

As you can see in the screenshot below, the CloudBees Eclipse plug-in (the CloudBees view is open in the bottom left corner and here I'm using it to watch the output of a Jenkins CI build in the Eclipse console output). You'll need the eGit plug-in for Git SCM integration with the CloudBees Forge and either Subclipse or Subversive if you plan on using SVN, plus the m2e plug-in for Maven integration: you can find all the necessary plug-ins easily on Eclipse Marketplace or just use the URLs from the picture above. Don't forget to install eGit and Subclipse/Subversive before you install the CloudBees Eclipse plug-in or you won't get the CloudBees Forge integration plug-ins.

Getting Started with CloudBees and Eclipse

If you're all good with your Eclipse setup, then the remaining videos will walk through creating both Ant and Maven projects with CloudBees integration within Eclipse, and how to configure these to work with cloud-based PaaS services, including SCM repositories, Jenkins CI continuous build integration and RUN@cloud deployment and monitoring. If you are pretty comfortable with all this, or if you just want to see an overview of how the CloudBees Eclipse integration works, then you might want to start with the CloudBees and Eclipse Overview video, which goes through all the scenarios in one recording; if you want a little more of a step-by-step explanation of any of the features, then here are the links to the videos in the series:

  • Part 1 introduces the CloudBees PaaS environment and walks through my Eclipse setup, which plug-ins to install and how to set up the environment.

  • Part 2 covers using the CloudBees Eclipse plug-in to create a new CloudBees project, and how to deploy locally and to the Cloud. The CloudBees plugin lets you create a web app template that you can use as a starter project.

  • Part 3 explains how easy it is to integrate other cloud-based services with your apps, as well as a quick look at the Jenkins CI (Continuous Integration) service.

  • Part 4 shows how to import Maven projects using the CloudBees plug-in, and how to deploy applications locally and in the Cloud via the Bees SDK and Eclipse. The video also shows how to use CloudBees environments and Maven profiles to control the deployment process. This is a really useful feature and I'll be doing a follow-on blog to drill down a bit deeper into how this works and what you can use it to do.

  • Part 5 illustrates how to use Maven m2e Run Configurations with the CloudBees Maven plug-in to select CloudBees environment profiles when deploying from Eclipse (Part 6 shows how to do the same when deploying to the CloudBees PaaS).

  • Part 6 concludes by showing how to select CloudBees environment profiles when deploying to the CloudBees PaaS.

Try It Yourself

If you want to follow along, just sign up for a CloudBees development account (it's free!) and get busy. I've put the sample app up on GitHub, so just clone from there with

git clone https://github.com/mqprichard/start-cloudbees-eclipse.git

Cheers,

Mark

By Mark Prichard , CloudBees

Mark Prichard is Java PaaS Evangelist and Senior Director of Product Management at CloudBees. He came to CloudBees after 13 years at BEA Systems and Oracle, where he was Product Manager for the WebLogic Platform. A graduate of St John's College, Cambridge and the Cambridge University Computer Laboratory, Mark is based at the CloudBees office in Los Altos, CA.

Follow Mark on twitter and his blog Clouds, Bees and Blogs.

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