How to create a WAR file using the commandline?

Question

I installed JBoss Developer Studio and it's possible to create a WAR file by "right mouse project > Export > WAR file" but I want to export my project to a WAR file using the commandline.

I have maven installed which is one of the requirements of the Studio and I read that I can generate a WAR file using maven but I require a file called pom.xml. When I searched through my workspace and project, pom.xml was missing. I may need to manually create pom.xml but I'm unsure how to.

My directory tree for my project is the following:

Siesta
├── build
│   └── classes
├── src
└── WebContent
    ├── extjs
    ├── extjs-4.2.0
    ├── extjs-4.2.2
    ├── index.jsp
    ├── META-INF
    ├── siesta
    ├── tests
    └── WEB-INF

How do I create a WAR file for my Maven / JBoss project using the command line? I use Linux and would prefer not having to create a pom.xml file but if there isn't another way, then I'll use the xml file to generate the war file.

Edit:

So jar is the way to go to create a war file. I wrote up a tiny script that will create a war file for me for a specific directory.

#!/bin/bash
cd Siesta/WebContent/
jar -cvf ../../Siesta.war *
cd -

Then if you open the war file in a zip utility or archive manager in ubuntu, you'll see this structure

    ├── extjs
    ├── extjs-4.2.0
    ├── extjs-4.2.2
    ├── index.jsp
    ├── META-INF
    ├── siesta
    ├── tests
    └── WEB-INF

I have to CD into the directory that I want to create a war file of which is kind of annoying. I think there may be a better way to do it using jar's -C option but when I used "jar -cvf Siesta.war -C Siesta/WebContent *" it didn't have the same result.

Edit2:

jar -cvf my-app.war myfolder/

For my application to work on TomCat, I use the following:

cd Siesta/WebContent
jar -cvf Siesta.war *

Answer 1

Alright here is a already existing SO with a couple of possibilities on how to create a war file: How to create war files.

I personaly prefer Maven over any other build scenario - Since i migrated from ANT i did not like Maven in the first place but after investing like a day or two into the documentations: http://maven.apache.org/pom.html i started to love it. In your case all you need is refactor your project to meet the maven standard file structure and create a minimum Maven project (a.k.a. pom.xml file) for your sources that has the packaging war instead of the default jar.

If you want to stick with the console only and dont use any build helpers beside the ones delivered by the JDK you can create your war with something like this:

jar cvf my-app.war

Have a look at this: https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/deployment/jar/build.html for a complete reference of the supported options.

(Note: A "war" in the context of java based web applications follows a standard format: http://docs.oracle.com/javaee/6/tutorial/doc/bnaby.html while the technical ".war" file is just the same as a ZIP compressed folder renamed to ".zip".)

(Also note i would realy take the time to get in touch with maven since after that you know about a serious build tool and will be able to create jar, ear, war etc. in a standard process).