Aspire requires Java 1.6 and a machine with an internet connection. We also strongly recommend installing the Maven command-line client for additional, very useful functionality (see below).

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Install Java JDK 1.6 or 1.7

The version of Java you should use depends on the Aspire version you are targeting:

Aspire 2.1.2 and earlier runs on Java 1.6 or Java 1.7
Aspire 2.2 and later requires Java 1.7

Note: We recommend installing the Java JDK (Java Development Kit), just in case you want to create your own Aspire components/applications in the future. However, only the JRE (Java Runtime Environment) is absolutely required.

1. Download and install the latest version of the Java 1.6 or 1.7 JDK as appropriate: http://java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

If you have a 64 bit machine, we recommend installing the 64-bit version of Java. Thiswill allow you to create large-memory instances of Aspire.
The Aspire framework does not use much memory (100mb or so). However, some applications may store large hash tables to improve performance, so it's best to have the 64-bit JVM (Java Virtual Machine), just in case you need it someday.

3. Add the "JAVA_HOME" environment variable.This is needed by the Maven command-line tool described below.

1. Open up the Control panel and go to the System control panel (may be inside the System and Security category).
2. Open the Advanced System Settings and go to the Advanced tab (may already be selected).
3. Click on Environment Variables and New.
4. Enter JAVA_HOME as the Variable name.
5. Locate the directory in your Program files where java was installed and enter the directory name in the Variable value.

Java 1.6 can be used up to Aspire 2.1.2

Java 1.7 must be use as of Aspire (2.2 Release)

Install the Maven Command-Line Tool

Installing the Maven command-line tool is strongly recommended, but not required.

With Maven command-line, you will be able to automatically build a wider range of Aspire distribution projects, including:

Distributions that work without an internet connection
Separate distributions for development, staging, QA, and production environments
Distributions that are bundled as "App Bundles" and can be re-used inside of other Aspire server instances.

In addition, the Maven command-line tool will be useful for creating new Aspire components and deploying these components to Maven repositories for use in other Aspire installations.

If you do not wish to install Maven command-line, you may download a pre-packaged set of Aspire binaries instead,

1. Download and install Apache Maven: http://maven.apache.org/download.html

1. Download and unpack the latest version
  1. Suggestion: Create a "C:\dev" directory and store it in there.
  2. "C:\dev" is a good place to store open source tools like Apache Maven, since (on rare occasions) they will not work with path names that have spaces in them.

2. Add the "bin" directory from Apache Maven to your environment path.

Windows Instructions:

1. Open your Control panel.
2. Go to System (may be inside the System and Security category).
3. Open the Advanced System settings.
4. Go to the Advanced tab (may already be selected) and select Environment Variables.
  1. Add the bin directory on to the end of the PATH variable in the System Variables section. Note that it needs to be preceded by a semi-colon.
  2. For example, ;C:\dev\apache-maven-3.0.4\bin

3. Test that you can access Maven.

1. Open a new command-shell (in Windows, go to Start, and enter cmd where it says Run or Search for Programs, and then execute the cmd.exe program).
2. Enter: mvn -version

You should see roughly the same response as shown in the image to the right. →

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Installation Instructions

Install Java JDK 1.6 or 1.7

Install the Maven Command-Line Tool