How do you create a standalone application with dependencies intact using Maven?

Question

I have a desktop Java application built using Maven 2 (but I could upgrade to Maven 3 if that helps) with a number of open source dependencies. I\'m now trying to package it

Answer 1

You should check out the Maven Appassembler plugin. You can get a lot more robust package using it than rolling your own assembly.

It generates helpful startup scripts for Unix and Windows that allow you to set predefined JAVA VM options, commandline parameters and classpath.

It also has a concept of configuration directory where you can copy default configurations that user can later change. You can also set the configuration directory to be available on the classpath.

Dependencies can be saved in a Maven style "repo" or you can use a flat style "lib" directory.

You still need the assembly plugin for creating a zip or tar archive.

Here's an example appassembler configuration:

    org.codehaus.mojo
    appassembler-maven-plugin
    1.2.2
    
        
            
                com.mytools.ReportTool
                ReportTool
            
        
        ${project.build.directory}/ReportTool
        lib
        flat
    
    
        
            assembly
            package
            
                assemble
            
        
    

To get a zip archive I use the this assembly:

    bin
    
        zip
    
    
        
            ${project.build.directory}/ReportTool
            /
            
                /**