This document explains how you can setup a development environment for Appsmith server. As the server codebase is written in Java and is powered by Spring + WebFlux we need Java and Maven installed to build the code. In addition we also need one instance of MongoDB and Redis each to run Appsmith server. Lastly, we will set up IntelliJ IDEA to let you edit the code. Let's get those prerequisites installed on your machine.
You can run the server codebase in a docker container. This is the easiest way to get the server up and running if you are more interested in contributing to the client codebase.
- A MongoDB database - Refer to the [Setting up a local MongoDB instance](#setting-up-a-local-mongodb-instance) section to setup a MongoDB instance using `Docker`.
- A Redis instance - Refer to the [Setting up a local Redis instance](#setting-up-a-local-redis-instance) section to setup a Redis instance using `Docker`.
- An IDE - We use IntelliJ IDEA as our primary IDE for backend development. To set it up, refer to the [Setting up IntelliJ IDEA](#setting-up-intellij-idea) section.
This document doesn't provide instructions to install Java and Maven because these vary between different operating systems and distributions. Please refer to the documentation of your operating system or package manager to install these. Next we will setup MongoDB and Redis using `Docker`.
Please change the `/path/to/store/data` to a valid path on your system. This is where MongoDB will persist it's data across runs of this container.
Note that this command doesn't set any username or password on the database so we make it accessible only from localhost using the `127.0.0.1:` part in the port mapping argument. Please refer to the documentation of this image to learn [how to set a username and password](https://hub.docker.com/_/mongo).
MongoDB will now be running on `mongodb://localhost:27017/appsmith`.
### Setting up a local Redis instance
The following command will start a Redis docker instance locally:
This generates a bunch of classes required by IntelliJ for compiling the rest of the source code. Without this step, your IDE may complain about missing classes and will be unable to compile the code.
5. Ensure that the environment variables `APPSMITH_MONGODB_URI` and `APPSMITH_REDIS_URI` in the file `.env` point to your local running instances of MongoDB and Redis.
- If the volume containing docker's data root path (macOS: `~/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker/Data/vms/0/`, Ubuntu: `/var/lib/docker/`) has less than 2 GB of free space, then the script may fail with the following error:
```console
Check failed: Docker environment should have more than 2GB free disk space.
```
There are two ways to resolve this issue: (1) free up more space (2) change docker's data root path.
7. Start the Java server by running
```console
./scripts/start-dev-server.sh
```
By default, the server will start on port 8080.
8. When the server starts, it automatically runs migrations on MongoDB and will populate it with some initial required data.
9. You can check the status of the server by hitting the endpoint: [http://localhost:8080](http://localhost:8080) on your browser. By default you should see an HTTP 401 error.
## Local setup on Windows using WSL2
## Pre-requisites
Before you can start to hack on the Appsmith server, your machine should have the following installed:
- WSL2 with Linux distro (preferably Ubuntu LTS). Refer to [WSL2 installation on Windows](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install).
- Docker Desktop for Windows (must be with WSL backed/based engine). Refer to [Install Docker Desktop on Windows](https://docs.docker.com/desktop/windows/install/).
- An IDE - We use IntelliJ IDEA as our primary IDE for backend development.
- Java - OpenJDK 11 in WSL.
- Maven - Version 3+ (preferably 3.6) in WSL.
This document doesn't provide instructions to install Java and Maven because these vary between different operating systems and distributions. Please refer to the documentation of your operating system or package manager to install these.
Next we will setup MongoDB and Redis using `Docker`.
Note that as you have installed Docker Desktop with WSL based engine, you can execute all docker related setup using Windows terminal (CMD). All the docker containers will automatically be available on WSL.
### Setting up a local MongoDB instance
The following command will start a MongoDB docker instance locally:
Please change the `/path/to/store/data` to a valid path on your C drive (C:/) of your system (e.g. C:\mongodata). This is where MongoDB will persist it's data across runs of this container.
Note that this command doesn't set any username or password on the database so we make it accessible only from localhost using the `127.0.0.1:` part in the port mapping argument. Please refer to the documentation of this image to learn [how to set a username and password](https://hub.docker.com/_/mongo).
MongoDB will now be running on `mongodb://localhost:27017/appsmith`.
### Setting up a local Redis instance
The following command will start a Redis docker instance locally:
```console
docker run -p 127.0.0.1:6379:6379 --name appsmith-redis redis
```
Redis will now be running on `redis://localhost:6379`.
With the initial configuration met, let's build the code.
Note that you have to execute further steps into WSL terminal not in CMD.
## Building and running the code
1. Clone Appsmith repository.
2. Change your directory to `app/server`.
3. Run the following command:
```console
mvn clean compile
```
This generates a bunch of classes required by IntelliJ for compiling the rest of the source code. Without this step, your IDE may complain about missing classes and will be unable to compile the code.
4. Create a copy of the `envs/dev.env.example`
```console
cp envs/dev.env.example .env
```
This command creates a `.env` file in the `app/server` folder. All run scripts pick up environment configuration from this file.
5. Ensure that the environment variables `APPSMITH_MONGODB_URI` and `APPSMITH_REDIS_URI` in the file `.env` point to your local running instances of MongoDB and Redis.
6. Run the following command to create the final JAR for the Appsmith server:
```console
./build.sh
```
This command will create a `dist` folder which contains the final packaged jar along with multiple jars for plugins as well.
Note:
- If you want to skip tests, you can pass `-DskipTests` flag to the build cmd.
- On Ubuntu Linux environment docker needs root privilege, hence ./build.sh script needs to be run with root privilege as well.
- On Ubuntu Linux environment, the script may not be able to read .env file, so it is advised that you run the cmd like:
- If the volume containing docker's data root path (macOS: `~/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker/Data/vms/0/`, Ubuntu: `/var/lib/docker/`) has less than 2 GB of free space, then the script may fail with the following error:
9. You can check the status of the server by hitting the endpoint: [http://localhost:8080](http://localhost:8080) on your browser. By default you should see an HTTP 401 error.
To run the project from within the IDE, you will need to make use of the run configuration that is part of the repository. The run configuration uses the [EnvFile](https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/7861-envfile) plugin to include environment variables in the path. Any and all tests can be run within the IDE by cloning this run configuration.
1. Install the plugin EnvFile from https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/7861-envfile. This is required to load the environment configurations when the server starts.
- If you are unable to resolve any issue while doing the setup, please feel free to ask questions on our [Discord channel](https://discord.com/invite/rBTTVJp) or initiate a [Github discussion](https://github.com/appsmithorg/appsmith/discussions) or send an email to `support@appsmith.com`. We'll be happy to help you.
