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Building Static Content

Overview​

This document explains how you can generate static assets from a WaveMaker web application.

Introduction​

A WaveMaker application consists of two major parts:

  • Frontend (UI) artifacts: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, and other static assets
  • Backend artifacts: Java classes which can be packaged as a WAR file

For better performance, it is recommended to host frontend static assets on a Static Content Server or a CDN (such as AWS CloudFront, Azure CDN, Nginx, or Apache), while the backend can be deployed on an application server like Tomcat.

Generating Deployable Artifacts​

To generate frontend and backend artifacts from a WaveMaker application, follow these steps:

  1. Ensure that the selected profile has the build.ui.mode set as angular.
  2. Execute the following Maven command:
mvn clean install -P<profile-name>

For example

mvn clean install -Pdeployment

This command generates two deployable artifacts: ui-artifacts.zip and project.war, both located in the target folder. Both artifacts are required for the application to function correctly. Deploying only the frontend assets to a CDN without deploying the WAR file will result in an incomplete application.

Preparing Static Assets for CDN Deployment​

  1. Unzip the generated file:
unzip ui-artifacts.zip

  1. Upload the extracted contents to one of the following:

    • AWS CloudFront (via an S3 bucket as the origin)
    • Azure CDN (via a Storage Account container)
    • Static servers such as Nginx or Apache

Configuring CDN URL​

After hosting the static assets, the WaveMaker application must know where to load the frontend assets from. This is done using the property:

app.cdnUrl

The CDN URL usually points to the CDN endpoint followed by the application path.

For example

https://mydomain.cloudfront.net/my_app/1234/

WaveMaker supports multiple ways to configure the CDN URL.

  1. Environment / System Property (Highest Priority)
    Set app.cdnUrl as an environment or system property on the server. For details, see: Using Environment Properties [ link to be given]

  2. Maven Build Parameter
    Pass the CDN URL during the Maven build:

    mvn clean install -Pdeployment \
      -Dapp.cdnUrl=https://mydomain.cloudfront.net/my_app/1234/

  3. Profile Property
    Define the app.cdnUrl directly in the WaveMaker profile configuration.

Build and Deploy Static Content

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Build and Deplo
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