How to build a project

This document will help you compile and build a project in your maven and set your IDE.

Building the Project

Since we are using Git submodule, we do not recommend using the GitHub tag or release page to download source codes for compiling.

Maven behind the Proxy

If you need to execute build behind the proxy, edit the .mvn/jvm.config and set the follow properties:

-Dhttp.proxyHost=proxy_ip
-Dhttp.proxyPort=proxy_port
-Dhttps.proxyHost=proxy_ip
-Dhttps.proxyPort=proxy_port 
-Dhttp.proxyUser=username
-Dhttp.proxyPassword=password

Building from GitHub

  1. Prepare git, JDK 11, 17, 21 (LTS versions), and Maven 3.6+.

  2. Clone the project.

    If you want to build a release from source codes, set a tag name by using git clone -b [tag_name] ... while cloning.

    git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/apache/skywalking.git
cd skywalking/
   
OR
   
git clone https://github.com/apache/skywalking.git
cd skywalking/
git submodule init
git submodule update

  3. Run ./mvnw clean package -Dmaven.test.skip

  4. All packages are in /dist (.tar.gz for Linux and .zip for Windows).

Building from Apache source code release

  • What is the Apache source code release?

For each official Apache release, there is a complete and independent source code tar, which includes all source codes. You could download it from SkyWalking Apache download page. There is no requirement related to git when compiling this. Just follow these steps.

  1. Prepare JDK11+ and Maven 3.6+.
  2. Run ./mvnw clean package -Dmaven.test.skip.
  3. All packages are in /dist.(.tar.gz for Linux and .zip for Windows).

Advanced compiling

SkyWalking is a complex maven project that has many modules. Therefore, the time to compile may be a bit longer than usual. If you just want to recompile part of the project, you have the following options:

  • Compile backend and package

./mvnw package -Pbackend,dist

or

make build.backend

If you intend to compile a single plugin, such as one in the dev stage, you could

cd plugin_module_dir & mvn clean package

  • Compile UI and package

./mvnw package -Pui,dist

or

make build.ui

Building docker images

You can build docker images of backend and ui with Makefile located in root folder.

Refer to Build docker image for more details.

Setting up your IntelliJ IDEA

NOTE: If you clone the codes from GitHub, please make sure that you have finished steps 1 to 3 in section Build from GitHub. If you download the source codes from the official website of SkyWalking, please make sure that you have followed the steps in section Build from Apache source code release.

  1. Import the project as a maven project.
  2. Run ./mvnw compile -Dmaven.test.skip=true to compile project and generate source codes. The reason is that we use gRPC and protobuf.
  3. Set Generated Source Codes folders.
    • grpc-java and java folders in apm-protocol/apm-network/target/generated-sources/protobuf
    • grpc-java and java folders in oap-server/server-core/target/generated-sources/protobuf
    • grpc-java and java folders in oap-server/server-receiver-plugin/receiver-proto/target/generated-sources/fbs
    • grpc-java and java folders in oap-server/server-receiver-plugin/receiver-proto/target/generated-sources/protobuf
    • grpc-java and java folders in oap-server/exporter/target/generated-sources/protobuf
    • grpc-java and java folders in oap-server/server-configuration/grpc-configuration-sync/target/generated-sources/protobuf
    • grpc-java and java folders in oap-server/server-alarm-plugin/target/generated-sources/protobuf
    • antlr4 folder in oap-server/oal-grammar/target/generated-sources