NetBeans Home Directory

Posted byrcuprakPosted inNetBeans

In NetBeans 7.2 the NetBeans home directory (.netbeans) is no longer stored in the user’s home directory. Instead, it is stored in a platform specific directory. What this means, if you are attempting to remove NetBeans or reset its settings, deleting ~/.netbeans (present if you have older installations of NetBeans) won’t do anything. To find out where NetBeans has stored its settings, including the cache directory, choose NetBeans | About NetBeans on MacOS X and Help | About on Windows.

MacOS X directory:
User directory: /Users//Library/Application Support/NetBeans/7.x
Cache directory: /Users//Library/Caches/NetBeans/7.x

Windows: (may vary depending on configuration):
User directory: C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\NetBeans\7.x
Cache directory: C:\Users\\AppData\Local\NetBeans\Cache\7.x

The default location can be overridden in one of two different ways:
1. Launch NetBeans from the command line and pass in –userdir and –cachedir to specify overrides.
2. Change netbeans.conf in the installation directory – /Applications/NetBeans/NetBeans 7.x.app/Contents/Resources/NetBeans/etc on MacOS X or C:\Program Files\NetBeans 7.x\etc.

Published by rcuprak

Ryan Cuprak is an e-formulation analyst at Enginuity PLM and president of the Connecticut Java Users Group that he has run since 2003. At Enginuity PLM he is focused on developing data integrations to convert clients’ data and also user interface development. Prior to joining Enginuity he worked for a startup distributed-computing company, TurboWorx, and Eastman Kodak’s Molecular Imaging Systems group, now part of Carestream Health. At TurboWorx he was a Java developer and also a technical sales engineer supporting both presales and professional services. Cuprak has earned a BS in computer science and biology from Loyola University Chicago. He is a Sun Certified NetBeans IDE Specialist. He can be contacted at rcuprak@acm.org.