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Java packager

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Source updated June 2, 2025

The Java Packager tool is a tool included in the JDK which allows to package Java applications from the command line. It is an alternative to using other packaging tools like Apache Ant.

Note that the Java Packager does not automatically produce a Jar file. Many other formats are available, including native executable formats for the platform.

The Java Packager tool also manipulates modules (added in Java 9), allowing for example to package a module and all the modules it depends on.

01Example

For example, the following command will create a outputJar.jar file with the content of the classesDir directory, and will set the myPackager.MainClass as the executable class of the jar file:

javapackager -createjar -appclass myPackager.MainClass -srcdir classesDir -outdir out -outfile outputJar -v

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Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Java packager”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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