# Getting Started

Welcome to Apache ActiveMQ. This document gives you a quick overview of how to get started trying out Apache ActiveMQ.

## Running the broker

From the binary distribution you can run the Apache ActiveMQ server via the bin/activemq command. If you're using Windows, just type

        cd bin
        activemq.bat start

On Unix-like systems, type

        ./bin/activemq console

to start the broker in foreground.

The Apache ActiveMQ broker should now have started

Tip: If you run the bin/activemq command without any arguments it will output usage.

To stop the broker you can press ctrl + c to stop the process.

## Running the broker in the background

The broker can be started as a background process via the bin/activemq command on Unix-like systems, type

        ./bin/activemq start

to start the broker in background. The broker will write to its log in the data/activemq.log file.

## Stopping the broker

The broker can be stopped via the bin/activemq command If you're using Windows, just type

        cd bin
        activemq.bat stop

On Unix-like systems, type

        ./bin/activemq stop

to stop the broker.

## Access the web console

In a web browser you can access the url http://0.0.0.0:8161/admin to access the ActiveMQ web console.
The broker may ask for credentials to login the web console the first time. The default username and password is admin/admin. You can configure this in the conf/jetty-real.properties file.

## Access the web demos

You would need to start the broker with the demos included, which you do as follows: If you're using Windows, just type

        cd bin
        activemq.bat console xbean:examples/conf/activemq-demo.xml

On Unix-like systems, type

        ./bin/activemq console xbean:examples/conf/activemq-demo.xml

In a web browser you can access the url http://0.0.0.0:8161/demo to access the ActiveMQ web demos.
The broker may ask for credentials to login the web console the first time. The default username and password is admin/admin. You can configure this in the conf/jetty-real.properties file.

## Running the example programs

To run the demo producer/consumer tools, you need Java and Ant installed.

### Installing Ant

The example programs depend on Ant being installed. There are more detailed instructions on the Ant website - but essentially you need to follow these steps.

- JAVA_HOME must point to your JDK installation, such that $JAVA_HOME/bin contains the java executable and $JAVA_HOME/lib contains some jar files.
- ANT_HOME must point to where you installed Apache Ant (http://ant.apache.org)
- then you need to add $JAVA_HOME/bin and $ANT_HOME/bin to your PATH variable.

To test this is all working, try typing

        java -version
        cd examples/openwire/swissarmy
        ant -version

### Running the example producer and consumer

Once you've got Java and Ant installed correctly you should be able to run

        cd examples/openwire/swissarmy
        ant consumer

and in another shell

        cd examples/openwire/swissarmy
        ant producer

you can specify exact URLs to connect to via command like arguments. e.g.

        ant producer -Durl=tcp://somehost:port

## Further Readings

You can find more details about Apache ActiveMQ at its website http://activemq.apache.org, as well the guide getting started guide.