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How to Create and Execute a .Jar File in
Linux Terminal
Aaron Kili Last Updated: August 23, 2018 Linux Commands 1 Comment

A JAR (Java ARchive) is platform-independent �le format used to aggregate many Java class
�les and associated metadata and resources such as text, images, etc, into a single �le for
distribution.
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It allows Java runtimes to ef�ciently deploy an entire application in one archive �le, and Linux for Free [with Examples]
provides many bene�ts such as security, its elements may be compressed, shortening
download times, allows for package sealing and versioning, supports portability. It also
supports packaging for extensions.

In this article, we will show how to create a simple Java application and bundle it into a JAR �le,
Red Hat RHCSA/RHCE 8
and demonstrate how to execute a .jar �le from the Linux terminal.
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To do this, you must have java command line tool installed to launche a Java application, and
the -jar �ag to execute a program encapsulated in a JAR �le. When this �ag is used, the
speci�ed JAR �le is the source of all user classes, and other class path settings are ignored.
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How to Create a JAR File in Linux LFCE Certi�cation Study Guide

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1. First start by writing a simple Java class with a main method for an application called
TecmintApp, for demonstration purpose.

$ vim TecmintApp.java
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Copy and paste the following code to TecmintApp.java �le.
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public class TecmintApp {
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public static void main(String[] args){
System.out.println(" Just executed TecmintApp! "); 14 Useful Examples of Linux
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}
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Save the �le and close it.
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2. Next, we need to compile and pack the class into a JAR �le using the javac and jar utilities as
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shown.

$ javac -d . TecmintApp.java
$ ls
$ jar cvf tecmintapp.jar TecmintApp.class
$ ls

3. Once tecmintapp.jar created, now you can excute the �le using java command as shown.

$ java -jar tecmintapp.jar

no main manifest attribute, in tecmintapp.jar

From the output of the above command, we encountered an error. The JVM (Java Virtual
Machine) couldn’t �nd our main manifest attribute, thus it could not locate the main class
containing the main method (public static void main (String[] args)).

The JAR �le should have a manifest that contains a line in the form Main-Class:classname that
de�nes the class with the main method that serves as our application’s starting point.

4. To �x the above error, we will need to update the JAR �le to include a manifest attribute
together with our code. Let’s create a MANIFEST.MF �le.

$ vim MANIFEST.MF If You Appreciate What We Do

Here On TecMint, You Should
Consider:
Copy and paste the following line to MANIFEST.MF �le.

Main-Class: TecmintApp

Save the �le and let’s add the �le MANIFEST.MF to our tecmintapp.jar using following
command.

$ jar cvmf MANIFEST.MF tecmintapp.jar TecmintApp.class

5. Finally, when we executed the JAR �le again, it should produce the expected result as shown
in the output.
 $ java -jar tecmintapp.jar

Just executed TecmintApp!

For more information, see the java, javac and jar command man pages.

$ man java
$ man javac
$ man jar

Reference: Packaging Programs in JAR Files.

That’s all! In this short article, we have explained how to create a simple Java application and
bundle it into a JAR �le, and demonstrated how to execute a .jar �le from the terminal. If you
have any questions or supplementary ideas to share, use the feedback form below.

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