Title: Building Jackrabbit
The easiest way to use Jackrabbit is to [download](http://jackrabbit.apache.org/download.cgi)
 a binary release, but if you want to access the latest development
version, you need to get the Jackrabbit sources and build them using the [Maven 2|http://maven.apache.org/]
 build environment.

The first step in building Jackrabbit is to check out the Jackrabbit
sources from the [Subversion](http://subversion.tigris.org/)
 source repository at [http://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/jackrabbit/]
. The source tree is divided in standard parts: [trunk|http://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/jackrabbit/trunk/]
, [branches|http://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/jackrabbit/branches/]
, [tags|http://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/jackrabbit/tags/]
 and [commons|http://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/jackrabbit/commons/]
 ([more info about commons|http://jackrabbit.apache.org/commons/]). The
latest development version is found within trunk, while the other parts are
used to keep track of the source code of the Jackrabbit releases.

The trunk contains the top-level build environment and a number of [component projects](jackrabbit-components.html)
 within subdirectories. See the README.txt files within each subdirectory
for a brief description of the component project. There is also a [sandbox|http://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/jackrabbit/sandbox/]
 directory with miscellaneous contributions that are not yet a part of the
official Jackrabbit releases.


<a name="BuildingJackrabbit-CheckingoutthesourceswithSubversion"></a>
## Checking out the sources with Subversion

You need a [Subversion](http://subversion.tigris.org/)
 client to access the Jackrabbit source repository. Take a look at the [Subversion client list|http://subversion.tigris.org/project_links.html#clients]
 unless you already have a one installed. Once you have the Subversion
client installed you can checkout the main Jackrabbit source tree with the
following command or its equivalent in the client you are using:

    svn checkout http://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/jackrabbit/trunk jackrabbit

The above checkout will create a subdirectory named jackrabbit that
contains the latest Jackrabbit sources. See the [Subversion book](http://svnbook.red-bean.com/)
 or the documentation of your Subversion client for more information on how
to manage your source tree and keep it up to date with latest development.


<a name="BuildingJackrabbit-BuildingthesourceswithMaven"></a>
## Building the sources with Maven

Jackrabbit uses [Maven 2](http://maven.apache.org/)
 as the build system and the component sources are mostly organized
according to the Maven [Standard Directory Layout|http://maven.apache.org/guides/introduction/introduction-to-the-standard-directory-layout.html]
.
The standard build environment is Maven 2 with the Java Development Kit
(JDK) 1.5 (but the build is known to work also with Java 6).

{info:title=Jackrabbit 1.x}
The standard build environment for 1.x versions is Maven 2 with the Java
Development Kit (JDK) *1.4* (but the build is known to work also with Java
5 and 6).
{info}

See the [Running Maven](http://maven.apache.org/run-maven/index.html)
 page and the related documentation on the Maven web site for instructions
on how to use Maven. You may also want to check for Maven 2 integration
with your favourite Integrated Development Environment (IDE).

There are Maven project descriptors (POMs) within both the top level
jackrabbit directory you checked out above and all the
jackrabbit\-_something_ component subdirectories. The easiest way to build
Jackrabbit is to use the "multimodule" setup within the top level
directory:

    $ cd /path/to/jackrabbit; mvn install

This will build and package all the component projects and place the
resulting artifacts within your local Maven 2 repository. You can also find
the artifacts within the created target subdirectories of the component
projects.