If you create an index or add a table column, redeploying the app should be sufficient. You might also have to redeploy the *-ds.xml file. You can change a JSP file without redeploying, though there is a setting in the global web.xml that governs this. (And I have a vague recollection of an issue with this in 5.0.0, but I cannot recall if that was with GA or one of the CRs or Betas.) As far as redeploying an arbitrary file - that depends on the type of file: * Static files (images, CSS, HTML, etc.) should be picked up automatically, though the users will have to hit the refresh buttons on their browsers to force the browser to reload the file. * JSPs I already covered. * Property and configuration files read by your app depend on your app - if it reads those files only once and never checks for updated then they will be ignored until you redeploy the app - but this is the fault of your code. * Class and JAR files require the app to be redeployed. For those cases where the app needs to be redeployed, provide an updated application.xml file - that will cause the app server to redeploy the app. Another possibility - I usually recommend that the hot deployer be turned off in a production environment. Doing so prevent surprises should something be accidentally changed. In such a situation, you can redeploy an app by having a script that first copies the updated files and then calls the MainDeployer mbean to redeploy the app. View the original post : http://www.jboss.org/index.html?module=bb&op=viewtopic&p=4231676#... Reply to the post : http://www.jboss.org/index.html?module=bb&op=posting&mode=reply&a...