How to create an application distribution package with Maven

2012-12-13

How to create an application distribution package with Maven

There are several ways to prepare a whole application bundle with all it's dependencies, properly written MANIFEST.MF and all other necessary things.

Appassembler plugin

The best way I have found is the Appassembler plugin.

<project>
  ...
  <build>
    <plugins>
      <plugin>
        <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
        <artifactId>appassembler-maven-plugin</artifactId>
        <version>1.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
        <executions>
          <execution>
            <id>appassemble</id>
            <goals><goal>assemble</goal></goals>
            <phase>package</phase>
          </execution>
        </executions>
        <configuration>
          <programs>
            <program>
              <mainClass>com.mycompany.app.App</mainClass>
              <name>app</name>
            </program>
          </programs>
        </configuration>
      </plugin>
    </plugins>
  </build>

  <pluginRepositories>
    <pluginRepository>
      <id>codehaus</id>
      <name>Codehaus Release Repo</name>
      <url>http://repository.codehaus.org</url>
    </pluginRepository>
    <pluginRepository>
      <id>codehaus-snapshot</id>
      <name>Codehaus Snapshot Repo</name>
      <url>http://snapshots.repository.codehaus.org</url>
    </pluginRepository>
  </pluginRepositories>

</project>

This creates an application ready for zipping in target/appassembler/. More advanced example at plugin's usage page.

Preparing the bits for manual packaging

This pom.xml copies the dependencies to the target/lib/ dir and creates the MANIFEST.MF file.

<project>

  <properties>
    <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
    <mainClass>cz.dynawest.jtexy.sandbox.swing.SwingSandboxApp</mainClass>
  </properties>

  <build>
    <plugins>

      <!-- Jar - MANIFEST.MF options. -->
      <plugin>
        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
        <artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
        <configuration>
          <archive>
            <manifest>
              <addClasspath>true</addClasspath>
              <mainClass>${mainClass}</mainClass>
              <classpathPrefix>lib/</classpathPrefix>
            </manifest>
          </archive>
        </configuration>
      </plugin>

      <!-- Dependencies to lib/ . -->
      <plugin>
        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
        <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
        <configuration>
          <outputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/lib</outputDirectory>
          <includeScope>runtime</includeScope>
        </configuration>
      </plugin>


    </plugins>
  </build>

  <profiles>
    <!-- "Create distribution zip" profile. -->
    <profile>
      <id>dist</id>
      <build>
        <plugins>

          <!-- dependency:copy-dependencies -->
          <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
            <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
            <executions>
              <execution>
                <id>dep-copy</id>
                <phase>package</phase>
                <goals> <goal>copy-dependencies</goal> </goals>
              </execution>
            </executions>
          </plugin>

          <!-- It's also a good idea to create SOURCES and JAVADOC .jar's. -->
          <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId> <artifactId>maven-source-plugin</artifactId> <version>2.1.1</version>
            <executions> <execution> <id>attach-sources</id> <phase>verify</phase>  <goals>  <goal>jar-no-fork</goal> </goals> </execution> </executions>
          </plugin>
          <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId> <artifactId>maven-javadoc-plugin</artifactId>  <version>2.6.1</version>
            <executions> <execution> <id>attach-javadoc</id> <phase>verify</phase>  <goals>  <goal>jar</goal> </goals> </execution> </executions>
          </plugin>

        </plugins>
      </build>
    </profile>

  </profiles>

</project>
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