---
title: "Building and Contributing to JMeter"
description: "Build Apache JMeter from source with Java 17+ and Gradle. Clone the repository, compile with ./gradlew build, and contribute patches to the project."
url: https://docs.jmeter.ai/reference/building/
lastUpdated: 2026-10-01
source: docs.jmeter.ai
---

# Building and Contributing to JMeter

## Building JMeter

Before you can compile JMeter, you will need a few things:

- a Java 17 compatible JDK (Java Development Kit)
- Optional: [Gradle](https://gradle.org/) installation
- the JMeter sources as shown in the next section

#### Acquiring the source

The official source releases of Apache JMeter can be downloaded from [download page](download_jmeter.cgi).

#### Compiling and packaging JMeter using Gradle

JMeter can be built entirely using Gradle.
The basic command is:

```plaintext
./gradlew build
```

See the list of available tasks via `./gradlew tasks` (or `./gradlew tasks --all`)
for the other tasks that can be used. More detailed information about the available tasks can be found
in [gradle.md](https://github.com/apache/jmeter/blob/master/gradle.md).

#### Opening project via IntelliJ IDEA

You require IntelliJ 2018.3.1 or newer.

- Open the build.gradle.kts file with IntelliJ IDEA and choose “Open as Project”
- Make sure “Create separate module per source set” is selected
- Make sure “Use default gradle wrapper” is selected
- In the “File already exists” dialogue, choose “Yes” to overwrite
- In the “Open Project” dialogue, choose “Delete Existing Project and Import”

#### Compiling and packaging JMeter using Eclipse

Option 1 : Importing Eclipse project via Eclipse’s “import Gradle project” wizard

Recent Eclipse versions can import Gradle projects automatically, so use
**File → Import…**
Then choose **Existing Gradle Project** and proceed
with the import.

Option 2 : Setting up Eclipse project with Gradle task

Once you have downloaded the sources, you can setup the Eclipse project by running:

```plaintext
./gradlew eclipse
```

You can then import the project using
**File → Import → Existing projects into Workspace** and select the folder containing JMeter sources.

## Contributing to JMeter

### We love contribution

We are very grateful to you if you take some time to contribute to the project.
If you have some time to spend on the project you can pick existing enhancement or bug from [Issues page](/reference/issues/).

You can also contribute to translation, see [JMeter Localisation (Translator’s Guide)](/localising/index/).

### Submitting a patch

If you want to contribute to JMeter for a bug fix or enhancement, here is the procedure to follow:

#### Check your patch

Before submitting your patch ensure you do the following:

Check that patch compiles and follows Tab space policy by running:

```plaintext
./gradlew check
```

Check that patch does not break JUnit tests by running:

```plaintext
./gradlew test
```

#### Create a pull request using Git

- Fork [Apache JMeter mirror](https://www.github.com/apache/jmeter)
- Clone your forked repository locally:  `git clone https://github.com/yourid/jmeter.git`
- Create a branch using for example issue id:  `git branch gh123-thread-group-typo`       (please refrain from using  `master`  and  `main`  branches for pull request)
- Checkout the new branch:  `git checkout gh123-thread-group-typo`
- Commit your fix there:  `git commit -m 'Fix to BUGID' list of files`
- Please avoid creating merge commits in the PR. We embrace small changes, and merge commits are harder to review
- Push it:  `git push origin gh123-thread-group-typo`
- Create a [pull request](https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/proposing-changes-to-your-work-with-pull-requests/creating-a-pull-request)

> **Note**
> Different operating systems have different defaults for end-of-line markers.
> Typical configuration is CRLF for Windows and LF for macOS and GNU/Linux.
>
> It is recommended to follow that configuration by appropriate settings of `core.autocrlf`.
> For Windows
>
> ```plaintext
> git config --global core.autocrlf true
> ```
>
> , and for macOS and GNU/Linux set
>
> ```plaintext
> git config --global core.autocrlf input
> ```
>
> Git will automatically recognize text files in the repository thanks to `.gitattributes`,
> and Git will convert line endings for text files to the appropriate platform-native format (according to `core.autocrlf`)
>
> Certain files (e.g. `*.sh` or `*.bat`) have predefined end of line policy
> no matter the configuration of the developer workstation.

#### Proposing a change with a patch

If you cannot to create a pull request at GitHub, you might submit your changes as a unified diff patch on JMeter dev mailing list.

- Checkout Apache JMeter source
- Code your fix
- Create your patch by Right clicking on Eclipse project and select         **Team → Create Patch …**
- Attach your patch to email message on JMeter dev list

## Automated builds

### Automated (nightly) builds

As part of the development process, the JMeter project has access to various Continuous Integration (CI) server builds.
The build output can be useful for testing recent changes to the code-base.

Please note that the builds have not undergone any QA and should only be used for development testing.
For further information, see the [Nightly builds for developers](/nightly/) page.

## Building Add-Ons

### Building Add-Ons

There is no need to build JMeter if you just want to build an add-on.
Just download the binary archive and add the jars to the classpath or use Maven artifacts to build your add-ons.
You may want to also download the source so it can be used by the IDE.

See the `extras/addons*` files in the source tree for some suggestions