How do I bundle a JRE into an EXE for a Java Application? Launch4j says "runtime is missing or corrupted."

Question

I am new to programming in Java but am generally familiar with how everything works. I would like to be able to put both a jar file and a jre into a windows executable(exe) so that when I distribute it, the client needn't have a JRE installed. What program should I use?

I have launch4j and it seems to do exactly what I want but when I try to run the app, I get "This application was configured to use a bundled Java Runtime Environment but the runtime is missing or corrupted."

I want my app to just be a runnable exe, not an installer. At the very least, can anyone show me how to correctly bundle a JRE with launch4j?

Answer 1

The only way I could bundle a JRE was to use Launch4J and Inno Setup Compiler.

First, create a jre6 folder (for example) in the same directory as your output file (.exe).

Then copy the JRE from your system into your jre6 folder.

Then you open Launch4J and set the Bundled JRE path - just type in jre6. Then click the Build button (obviously, after you've entered all the other parameters - but the only value you need to enter on the JRE tab itself is the Bundled JRE path value.)

I would have expected that to work, but if you then move the .exe to a new location (so it is no longer co-located with your jre6 folder) you get the This application was configured to use a bundled Java Runtime Environment but the runtime is missing or corrupted error when you try to run the application...

I've been playing around with this all day and there was no way I could get Launch4J to include the JRE in the .exe file. Really poor in my opinion, as their documentation does not seem to allude to this issue at all.

So what I did to solve was to use Inno Setup Compiler (ISC). This app is used to wrap your .exe as a Windows Installer file. So I added a setting to the ISC script that copies the JRE into the installer package. The line I added to the script (in the [Files] section) was:

Source: "M:\Netbeans\MyApp\jre6\*"; DestDir: "{app}\jre6\"; Flags: recursesubdirs createallsubdirs

...a bit of workaround, but it did the trick.

Repeat all the above steps, and you should be sorted.

Answer 2

the easy method to package jre to exe that lanch4j packaged is use wrap.

warp-packer --arch windows-x64 --input_dir mycrt --exec run.bat --output single.exe

and then stop cmd windows when launch exe.

editbin /subsystem:windows

warp: https://github.com/dgiagio/warp

editbin: installed by VS

Demo:

Answer 3

Bundled JRE Solution for Inno Setup

In order to implement a bundled JRE solution with an application jar, I created an Inno Setup script that:

1) copies the JRE into the install exe

2) executes the equivalent of terminal command: java -jar myjar.jar using the bundled JRE

Firstly I copy the JRE:

#define MyJREPath "C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.0_191"

[Files]
Source: "{#MyJREPath}\*"; DestDir: "{app}\runtime\jre\";  \
        Flags: ignoreversion recursesubdirs createallsubdirs;  

I follow the directory structure convention shown here: https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/technotes/guides/deploy/self-contained-packaging.html

To run the equivalent of java -jar myjar.jar:

[Run]
Filename: "{app}\runtime\jre\bin\javaw.exe"; Parameters: " -jar myjar.jar"; \
          WorkingDir: "{app}\app\"; \
          Description: "{cm:LaunchProgram,{#StringChange(MyAppName, '&', '&&')}}"; \
          Flags: postinstall skipifsilent   

(n.b. java.exe runs with a terminal and javaw.exe runs without a terminal)

Desktop shortcut needs to have the right filename, parameters and working directory:

[Icons]
Name: "{commondesktop}\{#MyAppName}"; \
      IconFilename: "{app}\app\{#MyAppIcoName}"; \
      Filename: "{app}\runtime\jre\bin\javaw.exe"; \
      Parameters: " -jar myjar.jar"; \
      WorkingDir: "{app}\app\"; \
      Tasks: desktopicon

[Tasks]
Name: "desktopicon"; \
    Description: "{cm:CreateDesktopIcon}"; \
    GroupDescription: "{cm:AdditionalIcons}"; \
    Flags: unchecked

For the icing on the cake, in order make my script handle both bundled JRE and none bundled options I use the Preprocessor IF statement (duplicated in each script section) to test whether the script has an empty MyJREPath or not. If MyJREPath is not empty and so a bundled JRE solution is required I use the coding above; alternatively if a bundled solution is not required then I use more "normal" coding shown the Inno Setup examples or generated by their wizard. Here's the IF statement:

#if MyJREPath != ""
    ; bundled JRE required

#else
    ; bundled JRE not required
#endif

Here's most of my script put together:

        ; Script generated by the Inno Setup Script Wizard.
        ; SEE THE DOCUMENTATION FOR DETAILS ON CREATING INNO SETUP SCRIPT FILES!


        ; some more #defines here

        #define MyAppExeName "javaw.exe"
        #define MyJREPath "C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.0_191" 
        ;#define MyJREPath ""




        [Setup]
        ; NOTE: The value of AppId uniquely identifies this application.
        ; Do not use the same AppId value in installers for other applications.
        ; (To generate a new GUID, click Tools | Generate GUID inside the IDE.)
        AppId=XXXXXXXXXX
        AppName={#MyAppName}
        AppVersion={#MyAppVersion}
        ;AppVerName={#MyAppName} {#MyAppVersion}
        AppPublisher={#MyAppPublisher}
        DefaultGroupName={#MyAppPublisher}
        AppPublisherURL={#MyAppURL}
        AppSupportURL={#MyAppURL}
        AppUpdatesURL={#MyAppURL}   
        DefaultDirName={pf}\{#MyDefaultDirName}
        DisableProgramGroupPage=yes
        LicenseFile={#MyInnoSetupDir}\system\{#MyLicenseFile}
        OutputDir={#MyInnoSetupDir}

        #if MyJREPath != "" 
          ; run app with bundled JRE
          OutputBaseFilename={#MyAppName}-{#MyAppVersion}-bundledJRE-setup
        #else
          ; run app without bundled JRE
          OutputBaseFilename={#MyAppName}-{#MyAppVersion}-setup          
        #endif 

        SetupIconFile={#MyInnoSetupDir}\{#MyAppIcoName}
        Compression=lzma
        SolidCompression=yes  
        AppComments={#MyAppName}
        AppCopyright={#MyAppCopyright}  
        UninstallDisplayIcon={#MyInnoSetupDir}\{#MyAppIcoName}
        UninstallDisplayName={#MyAppName}
        WizardImageStretch=No
        WizardSmallImageFile={#MyInnoSetupDir}\{#MyAppBmpName}



        [Languages]
        Name: "english"; MessagesFile: "compiler:Default.isl"
        ;Name: "german"; MessagesFile: "compiler:Languages\German.isl"

        [Tasks]
        Name: "desktopicon"; \
                Description: "{cm:CreateDesktopIcon}"; \
                GroupDescription: "{cm:AdditionalIcons}"; \
                Flags: unchecked
        Name: "quicklaunchicon"; \
                Description: "{cm:CreateQuickLaunchIcon}"; \
                GroupDescription: "{cm:AdditionalIcons}"; \
                Flags: unchecked; OnlyBelowVersion: 0,6.1

        [Files]
        ; bundle JRE if required
        #if MyJREPath != "" 
            Source: "{#MyJREPath}\*"; DestDir: "{app}\runtime\jre\";  \
                Flags: ignoreversion recursesubdirs createallsubdirs;       
        #endif      

        ; copy jar and all files  
        Source: "{#MyInnoSetupDir}\*"; DestDir: "{app}\app\"; \        
                Flags: ignoreversion recursesubdirs createallsubdirs


        [Icons]
        #if MyJREPath != ""
          ; set up icons with bundled JRE
          Name: "{commonprograms}\{#MyAppName}"; \
                  IconFilename: "{app}\app\{#MyAppIcoName}"; \
                  Filename: "{app}\runtime\jre\bin\{#MyAppExeName}"; \
                  Parameters: " -jar {#MyJarName}"; \
                  WorkingDir: "{app}\app\"
          Name: "{commondesktop}\{#MyAppName}"; \
                  IconFilename: "{app}\app\{#MyAppIcoName}"; \
                  Filename: "{app}\runtime\jre\bin\{#MyAppExeName}"; \
                  Parameters: " -jar {#MyJarName}"; \
                  WorkingDir: "{app}\app\"; \
                  Tasks: desktopicon            
          Name: "{userappdata}\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\{#MyAppName}"; \
                  IconFilename: "{app}\app\{#MyAppIcoName}"; \
                  Filename: "{app}\runtime\jre\bin\{#MyAppExeName}"; \
                  Parameters: " -jar {#MyJarName}"; \
                  WorkingDir: "{app}\app\"; \
                  Tasks: quicklaunchicon
        #else
          ; set up icons without bundled JRE
          Name: "{commonprograms}\{#MyAppName}"; \
                  IconFilename: "{app}\app\{#MyAppIcoName}"; \
                  Filename: "{app}\app\{#MyJarName}"; \
                  WorkingDir: "{app}\app\"
          Name: "{commondesktop}\{#MyAppName}"; \
                  IconFilename: "{app}\app\{#MyAppIcoName}"; \
                  Filename: "{app}\app\{#MyJarName}"; \
                  WorkingDir: "{app}\app\"; \
                  Tasks: desktopicon            
          Name: "{userappdata}\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\{#MyAppName}"; \
                  IconFilename: "{app}\app\{#MyAppIcoName}"; \
                  Filename: "{app}\app\{#MyJarName}"; \
                  WorkingDir: "{app}\app\"; \
                  Tasks: quicklaunchicon 
        #endif

        [Run]
        #if MyJREPath != ""
          ; run app with bundled JRE
          Filename: "{app}\runtime\jre\bin\{#MyAppExeName}"; Parameters: " -jar {#MyJarName}"; \
                  WorkingDir: "{app}\app\"; \
                  Description: "{cm:LaunchProgram,{#StringChange(MyAppName, '&', '&&')}}"; \
                  Flags: postinstall skipifsilent          
        #else
          ; run app without bundled JRE
          Filename: "{app}\app\{#MyJarName}"; \
                  WorkingDir: "{app}\app\"; \
                  Description: "{cm:LaunchProgram,{#StringChange(MyAppName, '&', '&&')}}"; \
                  Flags: shellexec postinstall skipifsilent          
        #endif 

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

The Java Packager included with JDKs from JDK 7 Update 6, is the official way to embed JRE along with your code in a native executable file. Some maven plugin seems to package the task of packaging and generating native executable for major plateforms.

From JDK11 java packager would need to be downloaded according to java-packager-with-jdk11 witch demonstrates packaging using gradle

Another approach may be to build a GraalVM Native image with the contstraint to find alternatives to libraries using reflexion which is not supported.

Answer 5

I've never used the Launch4J product, good luck in getting it configured correctly.

Looks like you might be able to go to the Discussion Forum on Sourceforge for other hints here

Other Suggestions:

Most of the products I've seen from IBM (Websphere) and Oracle just extract a JRE under the installation directory and configure the startup batch command to use the installed JRE. Essentially the JRE and your jar file would be installed in one shot.

The installation exe usually checks to see if it's already installed and skips that step if it finds it already there. This is useful for upgrades of just the jar file.

Having the local installation also solves the issue of the customer installing their own JRE which may be incompatible or contain bugs. This way your dealing with a known JRE version.

The excelsior route is OK if you don't have a graphical component to your application (It's been a while, that restriction may have changed). There are other restrictions as well, but you probably just better off just distributing a JRE with your code in a single executable installer.

Answer 6

Its easy to bundle jre into launch4j..

just copy the jre into the same output folder

In the bundle jre environment text box, just give the jre folder itself

In the environment variable text box (present in the same page below), give until bin

Then create exe.. It works as expected without jre in machine.

Thanks

Answer 7

It seems you need native code compiler. These compilers produce native code which doesn't require JRE.

Check this article - http://web.archive.org/web/20190128082712/https://www.excelsior-usa.com/articles/java-to-exe.html#aot.

Answer 8

What you're asking for isn't going to be easy to do (if it's doable at all.) If I were you I would look into creating an executable JAR file:

java eclipse create executable jar

Another option would be to use Java Web Start. This was assuming you're using a modern browser the JNLP will automatically prompt the user to install the correct version of Java.

http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/deployment/webstart/index.html

Answer 9

There are several reason why launch4j wont run smoothly. some of the reason is:

1) user do not run the application as Administrator

2) User do not setup icon image properly. must strictly .ico