Java Application Installers

Question

I'm not looking for java-web-start, I'm looking for a thick-client application installation toolkit. I've got a stand-alone application that consists of several files (jar files, data files, etc) and would need to do some pretty standard installation tasks, like asking the user for target directories, have them locate some parts of their system - choose some of the per-machine or per-user configuration options and possibly try to detect some of the machine settings for them.

I'm looking for something which is like the MSI or other wizard driven installation applications. What's a good installer for Java? It would be ideal if it were cross-platform capable (Linux, Mac OSX and Windows).

similar to: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7720/packaging-java-apps-for-the-windowslinux-desktop — Greg Mattes, Oct 08 '08 at 20:05
You can now do this through Netbeans : https://netbeans.org/kb/docs/java/native_pkg.html — Mafro34, May 10 '14 at 15:22

score 14 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 08 '08 at 20:34

14

Not an MSI-Installer but crossplatform: izPack

It's xml-file based with it's own GUI or ant task (whtaever you prefer)

answered Oct 08 '08 at 20:34

Sebastian J.

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I find IZPack to be difficult to use, however it is free. Making custom installations is not straight forward. If you need to write your own customized code, be prepared to spend a lot of time fiddling. – Nemi Jan 26 '10 at 19:04
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izPack needs to have installed JRE. It becomes your installer less useful. – Deoxyseia Jan 05 '18 at 06:13

score 9 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 08 '08 at 19:57

9

Launch4j -- open source -- http://launch4j.sourceforge.net/

InstallJammer -- http://www.installjammer.com/

answered Oct 08 '08 at 19:57

anjanb

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score 4 · Answer 3 · edited Feb 02 '14 at 20:15

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If you are looking for an Open Source solution, take a look here: http://java-source.net/open-source/installer-generators

I have used InstallAnywhere and I think that it is a good solution too.

edited Feb 02 '14 at 20:15

BenMorel

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answered Oct 08 '08 at 18:15

marcospereira

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InstallAnywhere licenses are way overpriced (at least nowadays). In my (limited) experience it was also somewhat awkward to use. – Jonik Apr 20 '09 at 11:38
Agree with Jonik that is overpriced. After the Acresso acquisition it seems they just hiked the prices without providing any real improvements. You may want to consider BitRock InstallBuilder – Daniel Lopez Apr 25 '09 at 12:07

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 18 '09 at 11:44

Although it is not Java-based, about half of our customers use BitRock InstallBuilder to package Java applications. It is cross-platform and supports all the OS that you require (Linux, Windows, Mac). The installer is native, so there are certain advantages to it, such as not requiring a self-extraction step or the need to bundle a JRE, so the installers tend to be smaller in size

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 09 '08 at 07:38

AntInstaller enables you to create cross-platform installers where the installation itself is performed using an ANT script. The GUI is configured with an XML config file.

We used it to create quite complex installers. For complex GUIs however, the configuration can get very difficult. The next time I would probably try izPack because it seems to support ANT as well but has nicer GUIs.

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Oct 20 '08 at 08:56

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I suggest izPack with packJacket

answered Oct 20 '08 at 08:56

michelemarcon

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I'll be giving packJacket a try right now! Using IzPack for the first time this week, and finding the experience very painful... – Brian Knoblauch Dec 22 '10 at 15:50
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OK, I can't get packJacket to work. It either randomly does a "cancel" while building, or freezes completely. Can't recommend it. – Brian Knoblauch Jan 20 '11 at 12:58

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Oct 09 '08 at 02:08

1

The Nullsoft Scriptable Install System NSIS (originally used for winamp) creates really nice installers for windows, and it's very powerful. It has a compiler that runs under linux, but the resulting installer is windows-only, unfortunately.

It's pretty heavy-weight, but worth keeping in mind if you might have to do any vaguely complex or non-standard things during installation.

I have used it since it integrates nicely with my (linux) build system, and I'd want to use packages for installing on linux anyway.

answered Oct 09 '08 at 02:08

Draemon

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Heavy-weight? Which planet are you from? NSIS is probably one of the most light-weight installer tools out there. – JesperE Nov 16 '09 at 20:25
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The NSIS installer says on the first page: "This wizard will guide you through the installation of [NSIS], the next generation of the Windows installer and uninstaller system that doesn't suck and **isn't huge**." – Binkan Salaryman Apr 09 '15 at 11:44

Java Application Installers

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