Run Java console app as a daemon (background)

Question

I've developed a Java console application that when start, open a console window and remain in foreground, i want to start that application in background .

Now i launch the application by this command line :

java -jar myapp.jar

Is there a way to achieve this behaviour ? It's enough change the command line parameter or i need to do some change on my code ?

your question is not clear. Do you want to run as a Windows service? Or do you want a console windows? or both? — MK., Jun 24 '11 at 19:56
I'm on Windows and as a windows service could be a great solution . Is there a way to run a Java console application as a Windows ServicE ? — aleroot, Jun 24 '11 at 20:08
@aleroot, don't forget to accept an answer. 43% is really low. — Amir Raminfar, Jul 05 '11 at 18:42

score 13 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 24 '11 at 20:04

13

The answer is operating system dependent.

*nix: <your command> &
Windows: (opens a new console): start <your command>
Windows: (doesn't open a new console): start /b <your command>

answered Jun 24 '11 at 20:04

Steve Brisk

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score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 24 '11 at 20:00

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If you are doing this in anything unix based then you can append & to the end which will spawn a new thread and keept it running in the background.

java -jar myapp.jar &

answered Jun 24 '11 at 20:00

Amir Raminfar

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at least until you log out. then it'll take the app with it. Use `nohup` in front – Gary - Stand with Ukraine Jun 28 '18 at 15:51

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 24 '11 at 20:05

If you really just want it to run in the background, java -jar myapp.jar & will do the job. That way, it'll still die when the shell closes, but you can keep using your shell.

If you really want it run as a daemon, nohup java -jar myapp.jar & will do the job. That way, it'll continue to live when the shell closes.

If you want this to be reliable, you can prepare an init script or upstart job definition, or run it via Vixie cron(8) @reboot specifier to make it start at boot.

Just want to point that this would be for an Unix or a Linux machine and not for windows. — Kalyan, Feb 05 '16 at 19:17

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 24 '11 at 20:22

3

Given that you're using Windows, you might consider Java Service Wrapper. I have used it on a project in the past.

answered Jun 24 '11 at 20:22

Jim

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Additionally you can do "javaw" instead of "java" which will run your program without a console window. This is typically how a GUI based java program should be run. http://download.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/technotes/tools/windows/java.html – Jim Jun 24 '11 at 20:24

Run Java console app as a daemon (background)

4 Answers4

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