JHipster can be used from a local installation with npm or Yarn or using a Docker image. Alternatively, there is also the JHipster online application we saw earlier.
Among all the options, the best way to utilize the full power of JHipster is by installing the JHipster CLI using NPM. Open a Terminal and run the following:
> npm install -g generator-jhipster
Wait for the installation to finish and, in the Terminal, run jhipster --version. You should see the version info, as shown here:
That's it; we are ready to roll.
If you are someone who cannot wait for new versions to arrive, you can always use the current development code by following these steps after installing the JHipster CLI:
- In a Terminal, navigate to a directory you would like to use. For example, if you have a folder called project in your home directory, run cd ~/projects/ and for Windows, run cd c:Users<username>Desktopprojects.
- Run git clone https://github.com/jhipster/generator-jhipster.git.
- Now, navigate to the folder by running cd generator-jhipster.
- Run npm link to create a symbolic link from this folder into the globally installed application in global node_modules.
- Now when you run the JHipster commands, you will be using the version you cloned instead of the version you installed.
- Once you generate an application, run npm link generator-jhipster in the application folder as well to get the global version we have linked.
Please note that you should be doing this only if you are absolutely sure of what you are doing. Also please note that development versions of the software will always be unstable and might contain bugs.
If you prefer to isolate the installation in a virtual environment, then you can use the Docker image from the JHipster team. Visit http://www.jhipster.tech/installation and scroll down to the Docker installation (for advanced users only) section for instructions on how to use a Docker image.
At the time of writing, the latest JHipster version is 6.5, and this will be used to build applications throughout the book.