GlassFish 7 in Visual Studio Code

Table of Contents

To set up GlassFish Server in Visual Studio Code, follow these steps:

Setup Java support in Visual Studio Code

Set up Java SE 11, or Java SE 17, Visual Studio Code
Make sure JAVA_HOME environment variable is correctly and points to your Java installations
You will also need to set up the Extension Pack for Java in Visual Studio Code
If you use Gradle for building your project, you’ll also need the Gradle for Java extension.
For more details about installing Java support in VS Code, follow the Java build tools in VS Code guide.

In VS Code, set up the Community Server Connectors extension, which provides a plugin for GlassFish
Then open the Explorer sidebar
Click on the SERVERS section
Right-click on Community Server Connector, and select the Create New Server… option

Then either choose to download and install GlassFish 7, or to use an existing GlassFish Server installation (download GlassFish here)

In Visual Studio Code, open the directory that contains your project. Visual Studio Code will do the rest for you, it will automatically configure your project. Proceed with clean/building the application (e.g. using the Maven or Gradle panel in VS Code sidebar).
After your project is built, right-click the generated WAR file under the target directory (Maven project) or in the build directory (Gradle project), select “Run on Server”, and select GlassFish (select No for Edit deployment parameters when asked).

To open the application in the browser:
- Open the Explorer sidebar in VS Code
- In the SERVERS section, right click on GlassFish and select Server Actions…