Use the Ant war task
Another common option is gradle.
http://www.gradle.org/docs/current/userguide/application_plugin.html
To build your war file in a web app:
In build.gradle, add:
apply plugin: 'war'
Then:
./gradlew war
Use the layout from accepted answer above.
**Making War file in Eclips Gaynemed of grails web project **
1.Import project:
2.Change the datasource.groovy file
Like this: url="jdbc:postgresql://18.247.120.101:8432/PGMS"
2.chnge AppConfig.xml
3.kill the Java from Task Manager:
run clean comand in eclips
run 'prod war' fowllowed by project name.
Check the log file and find the same .war file in directory of workbench with same date.
Use the following command outside the WEB-INF folder. This should create your war file and is the quickest method I know.
(You will need JDK 1.7+ installed and environment variables that point to the bin directory of your JDK.)
jar -cvf projectname.war *
A war file is simply a jar file with a war extension, but what makes it work is how the contents is actually structured.
The J2EE/Java EE tutorial can be a start:
http://java.sun.com/j2ee/tutorial/1_3-fcs/doc/WebComponents3.html
And the Servlet specification contains the gory details:
http://java.sun.com/products/servlet/download.html
If you create a new web project in Eclipse (I am referring to the Java EE version), the structure is created for you and you can also tell it where your Appserver is installed and it will deploy and start the application for you.
Using the "Export->WAR file" option will let you save the war file.
Another option would be to build it automatically using Eclipse. Of course if you have continuous integration environment Ant or Maven is recommended. The export alternative is not very convenient because you have to configure every time the export properties.
STEPS:
Enable "Project Archives" support; this might depend on your project (I used it on Java EE/Web project). Right-click project root directory; Configure -> Add Project Archives Support.
Go and create a new archive in the "Project Archives" top dir. You have only jar option, but name you archive *.war.
Configure Fileset-s, i.e what files to be included. Typical is to configure two filesets similar how the Web Deployment Assembly (project property) is configured.
You might need to tweek the fileset exclude property depending where you placed some of the config files or you might need more filesets, but the idea is that once you configured this you don't need to change it.
Build the archive manually or publish directly to server; but is also automatically built for you by Eclipse
I've always just selected Export from Eclipse. It builds the war file and includes all necessary files. Providing you created the project as a web project that's all you'll need to do. Eclipse makes it very simple to do.
We use Maven (Ant's big brother) for all our java projects, and it has a very nifty WAR plugin. Tutorials and usage can be found there.
It's a lot easier than Ant, fully compatible with Eclipse (use maven eclipse:eclipse to create Eclipse projects) and easy to configure.
Sample Configuration:
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-war-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.1-alpha-2</version>
<configuration>
<outputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/tmp/</outputDirectory>
<workDirectory>${project.build.directory}/tmp/war/work</workDirectory>
<webappDirectory>${project.build.webappDirectory}</webappDirectory>
<cacheFile>${project.build.directory}/tmp/war/work/webapp-cache.xml</cacheFile>
<nonFilteredFileExtensions>
<nonFilteredFileExtension>pdf</nonFilteredFileExtension>
<nonFilteredFileExtension>png</nonFilteredFileExtension>
<nonFilteredFileExtension>gif</nonFilteredFileExtension>
<nonFilteredFileExtension>jsp</nonFilteredFileExtension>
</nonFilteredFileExtensions>
<webResources>
<resource>
<directory>src/main/webapp/</directory>
<targetPath>WEB-INF</targetPath>
<filtering>true</filtering>
<includes>
<include>**/*.xml</include>
</includes>
</resource>
</webResources>
<warName>Application</warName>
</configuration>
</plugin>
If you are not sure what to do and are starting from scratch then Maven can help get you started.
By following the the below steps you can get a new war project setup perfectly in eclipse.
mvn archetype:generatemvn eclipse:eclipsemvn package or deploy it by setting up a server in eclipse and simply adding adding the project to the server.As some others have said the downside of using maven is that you have to use the maven conventions. But I think if you are just starting out, learning the conventions is a good idea before you start making your own. There's nothing to stop you changing/refactoring to your own preferred method at a later point.
Hope this helps.
Use ant build code I use this for my project SMS
<property name="WEB-INF" value="${basedir}/WebRoot/WEB-INF" />
<property name="OUT" value="${basedir}/out" />
<property name="WAR_FILE_NAME" value="mywebapplication.war" />
<property name="TEMP" value="${basedir}/temp" />
<target name="help">
<echo>
--------------------------------------------------
compile - Compile
archive - Generate WAR file
--------------------------------------------------
</echo>
</target>
<target name="init">
<delete dir="${WEB-INF}/classes" />
<mkdir dir="${WEB-INF}/classes" />
</target>
<target name="compile" depends="init">
<javac srcdir="${basedir}/src"
destdir="${WEB-INF}/classes"
classpathref="libs">
</javac>
</target>
<target name="archive" depends="compile">
<delete dir="${OUT}" />
<mkdir dir="${OUT}" />
<delete dir="${TEMP}" />
<mkdir dir="${TEMP}" />
<copy todir="${TEMP}" >
<fileset dir="${basedir}/WebRoot">
</fileset>
</copy>
<move file="${TEMP}/log4j.properties"
todir="${TEMP}/WEB-INF/classes" />
<war destfile="${OUT}/${WAR_FILE_NAME}"
basedir="${TEMP}"
compress="true"
webxml="${TEMP}/WEB-INF/web.xml" />
<delete dir="${TEMP}" />
</target>
<path id="libs">
<fileset includes="*.jar" dir="${WEB-INF}/lib" />
</path>
Simpler solution which also refreshes the Eclipse workspace:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project name="project" default="default">
<target name="default">
<war destfile="target/MyApplication.war" webxml="web/WEB-INF/web.xml">
<fileset dir="src/main/java" />
<fileset dir="web/WEB-INF/views" />
<lib dir="web/WEB-INF/lib"/>
<classes dir="target/classes" />
</war>
<eclipse.refreshLocal resource="MyApplication/target" depth="infinite"/>
</target>
</project>
Simplistic Shell code for creating WAR files from a standard Eclipse dynamic Web Project. Uses RAM File system (/dev/shm) on a Linux platform.
#!/bin/sh
UTILITY=$(basename $0)
if [ -z "$1" ] ; then
echo "usage: $UTILITY [-s] <web-app-directory>..."
echo " -s ..... With source"
exit 1
fi
if [ "$1" == "-s" ] ; then
WITH_SOURCE=1
shift
fi
while [ ! -z "$1" ] ; do
WEB_APP_DIR=$1
shift
if [ ! -d $WEB_APP_DIR ] ; then
echo "\"$WEB_APP_DIR\" is not a directory"
continue
fi
if [ ! -d $WEB_APP_DIR/WebContent ] ; then
echo "\"$WEB_APP_DIR\" is not a Web Application directory"
continue
fi
TMP_DIR=/dev/shm/${WEB_APP_DIR}.$$.tmp
WAR_FILE=/dev/shm/${WEB_APP_DIR}.war
mkdir $TMP_DIR
pushd $WEB_APP_DIR > /dev/null
cp -r WebContent/* $TMP_DIR
cp -r build/* $TMP_DIR/WEB-INF
[ ! -z "$WITH_SOURCE" ] && cp -r src/* $TMP_DIR/WEB-INF/classes
cd $TMP_DIR > /dev/null
[ -e $WAR_FILE ] && rm -f $WAR_FILE
jar cf $WAR_FILE .
ls -lsF $WAR_FILE
popd > /dev/null
rm -rf $TMP_DIR
done
Source: Stackoverflow.com