Quickstart

Get WebJET CMS running locally in minutes using Gradle and Tomcat.

This guide walks you through getting WebJET CMS running on your local machine: from cloning the source code to logging in to the admin interface and creating your first web page.

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you have the following installed:

Java 17

WebJET CMS requires OpenJDK 17. Download from Adoptium.

Tomcat 10 or 11

The Jakarta namespace version requires Tomcat 11. Download from tomcat.apache.org.

Database

Supported: MySQL/MariaDB 5.0+, PostgreSQL 16+, Microsoft SQL 2012+, Oracle 11g+.

SMTP server

Required for email notifications. Can be a local relay or a service like Amazon SES.

Minimum server specs: 8 GB RAM, dual-core 2 GHz CPU, 40 GB disk space.

Step 1 — Get the source code

The base project template is at github.com/webjetcms/basecms. Clone it to start a new project:

git clone https://github.com/webjetcms/basecms.git my-project
cd my-project

Set the WebJET version in build.gradle:

ext {
    webjetVersion = "2026.0-jakarta"
}

Use a -SNAPSHOT version (e.g. 2026.0-jakarta-SNAPSHOT) for the latest fixes and features. Use a stabilized version (e.g. 2026.0-jakarta) for production deployments.

Step 2 — Configure the database

Edit src/main/resources/poolman.xml to point to your database.

MariaDB / MySQL

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<poolman>
    <datasource>
        <dbname>iwcm</dbname>
        <driver>org.mariadb.jdbc.Driver</driver>
        <url>jdbc:mariadb://localhost/your_schema</url>
        <username>your_db_user</username>
        <password>your_db_password</password>
    </datasource>
</poolman>

For a new MariaDB/MySQL database, create the schema with full UTF-8 support first:

CREATE DATABASE your_schema DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 DEFAULT COLLATE utf8mb4_general_ci;
CREATE USER your_db_user IDENTIFIED BY 'your_db_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON your_schema.* TO `your_db_user`@`%`;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Step 3 — Build and run

1. Run locally with Gretty

   Start WebJET CMS on an embedded Tomcat server using Gradle:

   ./gradlew appStart
   

   WebJET will be available at http://localhost.

2. Or build a WAR for deployment

   To build a deployable WAR file:

   ./gradlew war
   

   The WAR is generated at build/libs/. Copy it to your Tomcat webapps/ directory and start Tomcat.

Step 4 — Initialize the database

On first startup with an empty database, WebJET logs errors because the schema does not yet exist. This is expected.

1. Open the setup page

   Navigate to http://localhost/wjerrorpages/setup/setup in your browser.

   The setup page is only accessible from localhost for security reasons.

2. Enter installation details

   Review the pre-filled database connection values (taken from poolman.xml). Enter a unique installation name — no spaces or accented characters, for example myproject2024.

3. Click OK and wait for restart

   WebJET populates the schema from a built-in SQL script and then restarts automatically. Watch the logs — you should see INIT DONE when startup completes.

Step 5 — First login

1. Open the admin interface

   Go to http://localhost/admin/. Log in with the default credentials:

   • Username: admin
   • Password: heslo
2. Change your password

   WebJET immediately prompts you to set a new password. Choose a strong password and save it.

3. Set admin permissions

   Go to Users → List of users, open the Admin user, and on the Rights tab enable at minimum:

   • Configuration
   • Configuration — view all variables

   Log out and back in to apply the new rights.

Step 6 — Create your first web page

1. Open the web pages tree

   In the admin sidebar, navigate to Web pages. You will see a tree structure of folders and pages.

2. Create a page

   Right-click a folder and choose New page. Enter a title and save.

3. Edit the content

   Open the newly created page and use the built-in editor to add content. Save and publish.

4. Preview

   Open http://localhost/ to see the page on the public-facing site.

Next steps

Installation overview

Detailed system requirements and deployment options.

Configuration

Database connection, SMTP, logging, and other key settings.

MultiWeb

Run multiple domains from a single WebJET installation.

OAuth2 / SSO

Log in with Google, Keycloak, GitHub, and other providers.