Extracting .jar file with command line

Question

I am trying to extract the files from a .jar file. How do I do that using command line?

I am running Windows 7

score 216 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 07 '18 at 20:21

216

To extract the files from a jar file, use x, as in:
C:\Java> jar xf myFile.jar
To extract only certain files from a jar file, supply their filenames:
C:\Java> jar xf myFile.jar foo bar

The folder where jar is probably isn't C:\Java for you, on my Windows partition it's:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk[some_version_here]\bin

Unless the location of jar is in your path environment variable, you'll have to specify the full path/run the program from inside the folder.

EDIT: Here's another article, specifically focussed on extracting JARs: http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/deployment/jar/unpack.html

edited Mar 07 '18 at 20:21

acdcjunior

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answered Dec 10 '11 at 01:13

AusCBloke

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Ok, When I do that jar xf... command, I get the error: 'jar' is not recognized as an internal or external command,operable program or batch file. How do I fix this? – Bobby C Dec 10 '11 at 05:09
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@BobbyC: Specify the full path of `jar.exe` or run it from inside the folder. – AusCBloke Dec 10 '11 at 07:39
4

java.io.IOException: META-INF : could not create directory at sun.tools.jar.Main.extractFile(Main.java:928) at sun.tools.jar.Main.extract(Main.java:852) at sun.tools.jar.Main.run(Main.java:242) at sun.tools.jar.Main.main(Main.java:1149) how to remove this error? – AnilPatel Apr 24 '13 at 09:49
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@AnilPatel I fixed this by running the command prompt as administrator (right click "run as administrator") – jessieloo Sep 10 '15 at 03:23
here's a stupid question - if I do this right (fixed the error messages I received first time), where are these files going to be extracted to? I've checked the jdk folder and the folder of the jar file to extract but I don't see any new files – jessieloo Sep 10 '15 at 03:33
@jessieloo in my case they were in the folder from which I run the command – Line Jan 03 '18 at 12:06

score 51 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 10 '11 at 01:15

51

Note that a jar file is a Zip file, and any Zip tool (such as 7-Zip) can look inside the jar.

answered Dec 10 '11 at 01:15

Hot Licks

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score 47 · Answer 3 · answered May 27 '14 at 10:50

47

In Ubuntu:

unzip file.jar -d dir_name_where_extracting

answered May 27 '14 at 10:50

burtsevyg

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4

Useful for systems that don't have a `jar` command! Works without any issues on CentOS 5.7 – djthoms Jul 24 '17 at 20:26
This work on Mac too. unzip file.jar – Mr. B7 Apr 17 '23 at 15:44

score 12 · Answer 4 · edited Oct 14 '13 at 16:47

12

You can use the following command: jar xf rt.jar

Where X stands for extraction and the f would be any options that indicate that the JAR file from which files are to be extracted is specified on the command line, rather than through stdin.

edited Oct 14 '13 at 16:47

bland

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answered Oct 14 '13 at 16:23

Nikhil Arora

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abe312 · Answer 5 · 2017-02-04T13:55:51.263

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jar xf myFile.jar
change myFile to name of your file
this will save the contents in the current folder of .jar file
that should do :)

edited Feb 04 '17 at 13:55

answered Mar 21 '15 at 13:25

abe312

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score 3 · Answer 6 · answered Dec 10 '11 at 03:19

Java has a class specifically for zip files and one even more specifically for Jar Files.

java.util.jar.JarOutputStream
java.util.jar.JarInputStream

using those you could, on a command from the console, using a scanner set to system.in

Scanner console = new Scanner(System.in);
String input = console.nextLine();

then get all the components and write them as a file.

JarEntry JE = null;
while((JE = getNextJarEntry()) != null)
{
    //do stuff with JE
}

You can also use java.util.zip.ZipInputStream instead, as seeing a JAR file is in the same format as a ZIP file, ZipInputStream will be able to handle the Jar file, in fact JarInputStream actually extends ZipInputStream.

an alternative is also instead of getNextJarEntry, to use getNextEntry

score 2 · Answer 7 · answered Sep 06 '22 at 20:21

2

I had the same issue and the jar command did not work. I made a copy of the jar file and changed the extension to .zip. Then right click on the .zip file and select 'Extract All'. This extracted all the files.

answered Sep 06 '22 at 20:21

Raj Ramaswamy

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Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers [in the help center](/help/how-to-answer). – Community Sep 11 '22 at 04:18

score 1 · Answer 8 · edited Feb 14 '15 at 10:10

1

Given a file named Me.Jar:

Go to cmd
Hit Enter
Use the Java jar command -- I am using jdk1.8.0_31 so I would type

C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk1.8.0_31\bin\jar xf me.jar

That should extract the file to the folder bin. Look for the file .class in my case my Me.jar contains a Valentine.class

Type java Valentine and press Enter and your message file will be opened.

edited Feb 14 '15 at 10:10

eebbesen

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answered Feb 14 '15 at 09:21

user4566153

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score -3 · Answer 9 · edited Aug 18 '14 at 12:12

-3

To extract the jar into specified folder use this command via command prompt

C:\Java> jar xf myFile.jar -C "C:\tempfolder"

edited Aug 18 '14 at 12:12

Sergey Glotov

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answered Aug 18 '14 at 11:46

VijayaKumar Thangavel

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This doesn't work. `-C` can only be used when creating jar files. – unwichtich Jan 03 '15 at 18:06
@unwichtich In that case, is there a way to specify destination folder? – Line Jan 03 '18 at 12:10
2

On Linux systems you could use `unzip file.jar -d dir_name_where_extracting`, on Windows you have to copy/move your JAR to the destination folder and then extract it there... – unwichtich Jan 03 '18 at 14:09

Extracting .jar file with command line

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