Last Updated: 11 November 2005
Welcome to NetBeansTM IDE 5.0. NetBeans IDE is a modular, standards-based integrated development environment (IDE), written in the JavaTM programming language. The NetBeans project consists of:
- An open source IDE written in the Java programming language.
- An application platform, which can be used as a generic framework to build any kind of application.
For information about new development features in NetBeans IDE, see the What's New in NetBeans IDE 5.0.
If you are looking for information about installing the IDE, see the NetBeans Installation Instructions.
Supported Operating Systems
NetBeans IDE runs on operating systems that support the JavaTM VM. Below is a list of platforms that NetBeans IDE has been tested on.
- Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2
- Solaris operating system (SPARC® and x86 Platform Editions) versions 8, 9, and 10
- Red Hat Fedora Core 3
- Mac OS X 10.4
NetBeans IDE is also known to run on the following platforms:
- Java Desktop System 2
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP3
- Various other Linux distributions
- Open VMS 7.2-1 or later
- Other UNIX® platforms, such as HP-UX
Note: the Sun Java System Application Server may not run on certain platforms.
Minimum Hardware Configuration
- SolarisTM operating system:
- Processor: 450 MHz UltraTM 10 workstation or equivalent
- Memory: 384 megabytes
- Disk space: 125 megabytes of free disk space
- Microsoft Windows operating systems:
- Processor: 500 MHz Intel Pentium III workstation or equivalent
- Memory: 384 megabytes
- Disk space: 125 megabytes of free disk space
- Linux operating system:
- Processor: 500 MHz Intel Pentium III workstation or equivalent
- Memory: 384 megabytes
- Disk space: 125 megabytes of free disk space
- Macintosh OS X operating system:
- Processor: PowerPC G4
- Memory: 512 megabytes
- Disk space: 125 megabytes of free disk space
Recommended Hardware Configuration
- SolarisTM operating system:
- Processor: 500 MHz UltraTM 60 workstation or equivalent
- Memory: 512 megabytes
- Disk space: 125 megabytes of free disk space
- Microsoft Windows operating systems:
- Processor: 780 MHz Intel Pentium III workstation or equivalent
- Memory: 512 megabytes
- Disk space: 125 megabytes of free disk space
- Linux operating system:
- Processor: 800 MHz Intel Pentium III workstation or equivalent
- Memory: 512 megabytes
- Disk space: 125 megabytes of free disk space
- Macintosh OS X operating system:
- Processor: PowerPC G5
- Memory: 1 gigabyte
- Disk space: 125 megabytes of free disk space
Required Software
NetBeans IDE runs on the J2SE JDK 5.0 (JavaTM 2 JDK, Standard Edition), which consists of the Java Runtime Environment plus developer tools for compiling, debugging, and running applications written in the JavaTM language. NetBeans IDE 5.0 also runs on J2SE SDK version 1.4.2, but it has only been tested on JDK 5.0.
Note: If you wish to run the IDE on earlier versions of the SDK or if you prefer to install the IDE manually, you can download archived versions of the IDE at http://java.sun.com/products/archive/index.html.
You can download the JDK for your platform from one of the sites listed below:
- Solaris: http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/download.html
- Windows: http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/download.html
- Linux: http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/download.html
- Mac OS X: http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/javaupdate142.html (Mac OS X 10.3.4 or later). Mac OS upgrades are also available via Apple's Software Update mechanism.
- Open VMS: http://h18012.www1.hp.com/java/download/index.html
- OS/2: http://www.goldencode.com/company/software/j2se/index.html or http://www.innotek.de/products/javaos2/javaos2general_e.html.
If you get a NullPointerException when starting the IDE on OS/2, try changing the name of yourJAVA_HOME/jre
directory to all capital letters.Sun Java System Application Server Requirements
In order to use the J2EE development features of NetBeans IDE 5.0, you must have the Sun Java System Application Server Platform Edition 8 2005Q1 installed on your computer. You can download it here.
Note: Because you also need the Sun Java System Application Server PE 8 2005Q1 to work with the J2EE features of NetBeans IDE 5.0, your computer must also meet the application server's minimum requirements.
Other Application Server Requirements
If you are working with other servers, confirm that your system meets their minimum requirements as listed below:
- JBoss 4. CPU 400MHz, RAM 512MB , JDK 1.4 (recommended 1.4.2).
- WebLogic 9. See WebLogic Server 9.0 Supported Configurations.
- WebSphere 6. RAM 512MB
Note: The IDE only recognizes previous installations where
the user directory resides in the default location. It does not recognize
installations where you have specified a user directory using the --userdir
switch. If you would like to import settings from an IDE that the installer
does not recognize, download an archive version of the IDE instead of the
installer.
Though it is possible to import settings from a previous IDE installation into NetBeans IDE 5.0, it is not possible to import settings from NetBeans IDE 5.0 into an earlier IDE release.
Note:If you edit the Project Properties for a project that was created in NetBeans IDE 4.1 or earlier in NetBeans IDE 5.0, the project will no longer work in the earlier NetBeans IDE versions.
Note: The NetBeans IDE and Sun Java System Application Server bundle creates the admin user with password adminadmin by default. Users should use these settings to log in via the web console.
The unresolved issues for this release are as follows:
NetBeans fails on startup with SELinux option enabled.
Description:
When starting NetBeans with the Security-enhanced Linux option enabled, startup fails.
Workaround:
If this happens, disable SELinux temporarily by typing #setenforce 0 in the command line. Note that this requires root priviledges. Then add selinux=0 to your kernel command line to disable SELinux at boot.
- Issue #26965
Description:
If you have an incompatible version of sax.jar in your JDK installation, the IDE installer crashes with the following message: "The wizard cannot continue because of the following error: could not load wizard specified in /wizard.inf (104)"
Workaround:
Temporarily remove jre/lib/endorsed/sax.jar from the JDK directory during IDE installation.
- Issue #32463 (Macintosh OS X only)
Description:
Right-click mouse behavior not emulated on multiple files.
Workaround:
Press and hold Control while selecting multiple files one at a time. Note that the contextual menu will appear after each mouse click and may obstruct subsequent selections.
- Issue #47645
Description:
Cannot run a target with
a task that has failonerror=true from within the IDE even though the same script runs outside of the IDE without problems. Workaround:
If this occurs, it is recommended that you run the script from the command line. Alternately, you may rewrite the script.
- Issue #51880 (Windows XP)
Description:
JSPs in free-form projects unable to be debugged when attaching the debugger to a process.
Workaround:
Use an ant debug target as described in Writing A Debug Target for a Free-Form Web Project instead.
- Issue #52856 (Windows XP only)
Description:
Sun Java System Application Server installation fails. Note that this problem has been known to occur both when using the NetBeans 5.0 IDE and Sun Java System Application Server Platform Edition 8 Bundle installer as well as the stand-alone Application Server installer. This happens when a previous installation of the Application Server has failed and subsequent attempts at uninstallation were also unsuccessful (i.e. some registry entries or configuration files weren't deleted).
Workaround:
If this happens, remove all previous installations of the Sun Java System Application Server. Then delete the installer's
<USERHOME>\Local Settings\temp\
directory and the Application Server'sdirectory (note that files may also be located in
\Application Data\Sun\tmp\ <WINDIR>\Sun\
). If a previous uninstallation attempt of the Application Server was unsuccessful, also delete the<SYSTEMDIR>/productregistry
file. Next, create a new directory within which to install the software and ensure that the directory is empty and writable. Finally, reinstall the Application Server in the new location on your system.
- Issue #56910
Description:
Sun Java System Application Server is restarted in some cases after deployment. This occurs when a module that is deployed to the application server has errors in its sources, such as when a remote method does not throw a RemoteException.
Workaround:
If this occurs, run the integrated J2EE verifier to obtain information about why the archive can not be loaded and then edit the source file to correct any errors.
- Issue #57282 (Linux only)
Description:
Sun Java System Application Server is not installed on 64bit JDK on Linux/AMD64. The Application Server installer but does not run on 64bit JDK and therefore the Application Server cannot be installed using a 64bit JDK. This does not mean, however, that the Application Server itself will not RUN on 64bit JDK.
Workaround:
If this occurs, run the Application Server bundle installer on a 32bit JDK. After installation you should be able to run both the IDE and Application Server on a 64bit JDK.
- Issue #59253 (Mac OSX only)
Description:
Tomcat fails when using Java 1.5 on Mac OS X causing all webapps to fail once they are deployed.
Workaround:
If this happens, move the following native binary files to a new subdirectory:
- Issue #63084 (Linux only)
Description:
NetBeans freezes while debugging an application on the Weblogic9 server started with the Bea JDK (JRockKit).
Workaround:
If you experience this behavior, start Weblogic with the Sun JDK that is bundled with WebLogic. To do this, set the system property JAVA_VENDOR to value Sun. Note that the performance of the server will also benefit from this adjustment.
The built-in help system for NetBeans IDE 5.0 has not been completely updated to cover the J2EE development features. For information about the J2EE development features, see the following documents:
NetBeans IDE 5.0 Quick Start Guides:
NetBeans IDE 5.0 Import Guides: Complete list of NetBeans 5.0 Documentation:Note: If you are running the NetBeans IDE on Mac OS X, see Using NetBeans on Mac OS X for more information about keyboard equivalents, tips and tricks, and other Mac-specific topics.
You can find news, articles, additional modules, and other useful information on the NetBeans project web site. Since NetBeans is an open-source project, the web site also provides access to source code, a bug database, information on creating your own NetBeans modules, and much more.
For more information, visit http://www.netbeans.org/.
You can keep up to date on NetBeans IDE and interact with the NetBeans community by signing up for NetBeans project mailing lists at http://www.netbeans.org/community/lists/.