Introduction to Apache ANT

Apache Ant or ANT is a command-line tool for driving software processes. In Provar, Apache Ant environment variables can run a Provar test suite via the command line or a Continuous Integration (CI) server such as Jenkins. This is achieved by configuring and executing Provar Compile and Run tasks in ANT using a build file.

Before generating a build file, ensure that Apache Ant and Java JDK are installed and their environment variables are correctly configured. Follow the steps below to complete these actions.

Installing Apache ANT in Windows 10

Start by downloading and installing Apache Ant.

To download Apache Ant, visit this page. (If this link is unavailable, see the Apache website, go to the downloads section, select a mirror site directory, then navigate to ant/ and binaries/). Choose your preferred version (1.8 or later), then download the version file ending in bin.zip, e.g., apache-ant-1.10.9-bin.zip.

Note: Earlier versions of Provar may work but have not been tested.

Once the file has been downloaded, extract it to your preferred location. Take note of the directory, e.g., C:\apache-ant-1.10.9 or /Users/hetty.bw/apache-ant-1.10.9, as you must add this information to an environment variable (see below).

Setting the ANT_HOME Environment Variable On Windows

Step 1: Open the System Control panel, then select the Advanced tab.

Step 2: Click the Environment Variables button. The following dialog will appear.

Step 3: Click the New button.

Step 4: In the Variable name, enter ANT_HOME, and in the Variable value, enter the directory to which Apache Ant was extracted previously, e.g., C:\apache-ant-1.10.9.

Step 5: Then click the OK button.

Step 6: Click the Edit button on the Path variable in the System variables section.

Step 7: Click the New button and type %ANT_HOME%\bin in the row at the bottom of the list.

Step 8: Click OK and restart your system.

Setting the ANT_HOME Environment Variable on a Mac

Step 1: Navigate to your User Home folder. The fastest way to do this is using Shift + Command + H, or you can open Finder, select Go in the menubar, and then click Home.

Step 2: Navigate to Library > LaunchAgents folder. If you can’t see this folder, your computer may not show hidden files. To show hidden files, open Terminal and paste the following command: 

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES

Step 3: Then press the Return key. Then right-click on the Finder icon in the dock and select Relaunch. (If you do not see this option, restart your computer to achieve the same result.) Navigate back to User Home, then go to Library > LaunchAgents folder.

If There is No Existing environment.plist file

Create a new file in that folder called environment.plist. This can be done by opening a text editor, saving the file as environment.plist (ensuring no other filetype suffix is added), and adding this into the LaunchAgents folder.

You may be unable to save the file directly to the LaunchAgents folder since this is a hidden folder. If this is the case, save the file to Desktop, open Finder, and move the file manually to the LaunchAgents folder.

In the new, empty file, add the contents below.

Modify the contents by replacing /Users/ravindra/apache-ant-1.10.9 and /Users/ravindra/apache-ant-1.10.9/bin with the same file path you recorded when installing Apache Ant (see above).

Note that the second entry (PATH) should have /bin added at the end of it, while the first entry (ANT_HOME) should not.

Paste the following into the empty file.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>Label</key>
<string>my.startup</string>
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
<string>sh</string>
<string>-c</string>
<string>
launchctl setenv ANT_HOME /Users/hetty.bw/apache-ant-1.10.9
launchctl setenv PATH $PATH:/Users/hetty.bw/apache-ant-1.10.9/bin
</string>
</array>
<key>RunAtLoad</key>
<true/>
</dict>
</plist>