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jaorizabal
Asked: 2012-02-06 17:15:14 +0800 CST

How can I execute a .jar file from the terminal

  • 772

I know that to execute a file, I use the . command, then the file name with a space between them. But I'm trying to execute a .jar file using the . and it does not work. I went into the properties and marked it as executable and made it run with Java.

Is there a way to execute a file with Java in the Bash Terminal? I am trying to execute a Minecraft.jar file

I am trying to execute the Minecraft.jar file.

command-line java

9 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    The . syntax can only be used to run (by "sourcing") shell scripts.

    You'll need to use the java command to run a .jar file:

    java -jar Minecraft.jar

    If you don't have java installed, you can fix that by installing the default-jre¹ package. You can see if you already have java installed by running in a terminal:

    java -version

    [1]: This will install the default openjdk Java runtime. You can use openjdk-8-jre, or openjdk-7-jre, or openjdk-6-jre instead, if you prefer - whichever is available on your version of Ubuntu.

    • 286

  2. Linux is perfectly capable of running a foreign binary, like a JAR file. This is how Wine works, for example. To run JAR files as executable do the following in a console

    sudo apt-get install binfmt-support

    Cd to your JAR file and change it to executable (you can also do this through file properties in Nautilus)

    chmod a+rx myjar.jar

    Run your jar file just as if it was any other binary executable or shell script

    ./myjar.jar

    Note: Be sure you have binfmt_misc linux kernel module loaded. If you use your custom compiled kernel without this module, binfmt-support won't work.

    • 40

  3. If it is an executable jar, then

    java -jar Minecraft.jar

    Not all jar-Archives contain an executable class, declared to be started in the Manifest file, but if there is, this will work.

    Btw.: You don't start most programs from the shell with the dot. The dot is a shortcut for source, and it only works in the bash and some other shells, to include a script in the scope of the current session.

    A compiled binary xybin is simply started with its name if it is in the path: 

    xybin

    or, with its absolute path:

    /home/foo/proj/test/xybin

    or with its relative path:

    proj/test/xybin

    or if you happen to be in the directory of the file, with this relative path: 

    ./xybin

    The file has to be marked executable for you (see: chmod). All of the above is true for shellscripts too, but they often have an extension .sh, and you can start a shellscript by invoking the interpreter, and then it needn't be marked executable: 

     bash xy.sh

    If you don't want to start a new bash, you can use source, and you do so, to consume function definitions, aliases and variable settings.

    • 19

  4. You might as well want to make a nice entry for the application in Unity. execute the following commands:

    gedit ~/.local/share/applications/minecraft.desktop

    In the window that pops up, copy and paste the following:

    [Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Minecraft
Comment=Click here to play Minecraft
Exec=java -jar /path/to/minecraft.jar
Icon=/path/to/minecraft/icon.png
Terminal=false
Categories=Game;

    You might need to log out and back in to see the effects. :) Also you need to search the internet for a nice lookin Minecraft icon since they don't provide one with the download..

    • 9
    1. Open a command prompt with CTRL+ALT+T
    2. Go to your ".jar" file directory. If your Ubuntu version / flavour supports it, you should be able to right click on your ".jar" file's directory and click "Open in Terminal"

    3. Type the following command:

      java -jar jarfilename.jar

    This way your ".jar" file will execute.

    • 5

  6. Install jarwrapper. After that (and by adding the executable bit) you can start the jar file just by entering the jarfile name.

    sudo apt-get install jarwrapper

    This works by using binfmt to add support for a new binary format to the kernel.

    • 5 
  7.  java -jar /home/username/.minecraft/launcher.jar
    • 3

  8. New answer to an old question

    Executing a jar file using the regular syntax ./app.jar (instead of java -jar), is easy to achieve, as explained here: how to create executable jars.

    Basically, JAR is a variant of ZIP, which allows random bytes to be pre/appended to the JAR without corrupting it. This means it is possible to prepend a launcher script at the beginning of the jar to make it "executable".

    Here is a simple example of turning a "normal" jar into an executable one:

    # Append a basic launcher script to the jar
cat \
  <(echo '#!/bin/sh')\
  <(echo 'exec java -jar $0 "$@"')\
  <(echo 'exit 0')\
  original.jar > executable.jar

# Make the new jar executable
chmod +x executable.jar

    With this, you can now run ./executable.jar instead of java -jar original.jar. This works on all unix like systems including Linux, MacOS, Cygwin, and Windows Linux subsystem.

    • 0

  9. if u want to install your jar with specific java version Specify the java directory also

    /scratch/app/product/Software/jdk1.8.0_112/bin/java -jar /path-to-jar/Minecraft.jar
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