---
name: "ant"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "ant"
version: "1.10.15-1"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/ant"
---

# ant(1)

a Java based make tool.

## NAME

ant - a Java based make tool.

## SYNOPSIS

**ant** \[*OPTIONS*\] \[*TARGET* \[*TARGET2* \[*TARGET3*\] ...\]\]

## DESCRIPTION

Like  **make** **ant** is a tool by which projects can be build. But unlike it,  **ant** is based on Java which means it will run on every platform for which a Java Virtual Machine is available. This makes it a great tool for building Java software.

By default it takes information from **build.xml** which describes the targets.

- **-help, -h**

  print help on the command line options

- **-projecthelp, -p**

  print project help information

- **-version**

  print the version information

- **-diagnostics**

  print information that might be helpful to diagnose or report problems

- **-quiet, -q**

  be extra quiet

- **-silent, -S**

  print nothing but task outputs and build failures

- **-verbose, -v**

  be extra verbose

- **-debug, -d**

  print debugging information

- **-emacs, -e**

  produce logging information without adornments

- **-lib** \<*path*\>

  specifies a path to search for jars and classes

- **-logfile** \<*file*\>

  use the given file to output log to

- **-logger** \<*classname*\>

  use the given class to perform logging

- **-listener** \<*classname*\>

  add an instance of the given class as a project listener

- **-noinput**

  do not allow interactive input

- **-buildfile, -file, -f** \<*file*\>

  use the given buildfile instead of the default **build.xml** file. This is the  **ant** equivalent of **Makefile**

- **-D**\<*property*\>=\<*value*\>

  use value for the given property

- **-keep-going, -k**

  execute all targets that do not depend on failed target(s)

- **-propertyfile** \<*name*\>

  load all properties from file with -D properties taking precedence

- **-inputhandler** \<*class*\>

  the class which will handle input requests

- **-find, -s** \<*file*\>

  search for buildfile towards the root of the filesystem and use it

- **-nice** \<*number*\>

  A niceness value for the main thread: 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest); 5 is the default

- **-nouserlib**

  Run ant without using the jar files from ${user.home}/.ant/lib

- **-noclasspath**

  Run ant without using CLASSPATH

- **-autoproxy**

  Java 5 or later : use the OS proxy settings

- **-main** \<*class*\>

  Override Ant's normal entry point

## SEE ALSO

[**make**(1)](/make/1.md) [**mvn**(1)](/mvn/1.md)

## AUTHOR

This manpage is written by Egon Willighagen \<egonw@sci.kun.nl\>