Maven assembly plugin: building a distributable Java SE application

Question

I'm developing a simple, stand-alone, command line Java application. The project is managed by Maven. I'd like to build a deliverable, which can be copied and run on the client's machine.

I'm using the maven assembly plugin, the desired output is a single zip file containing:

• my_product.jar : only my classes, without dependencies
• lib/ : a lib folder containing all the dependencies in .jar format (e.g. lib/log4j.jar, lib/commons-lang.jar)
• a starter script file (copied from somewhere in the project)

How to describe this in an assembly-descriptor file? I'm having trouble creating my_product.jar into the assembly.

Answer 1

The predefined 'jar-with-dependencies' assembly is a joke. The problem had been solved by external assistance and heavy customization of the pom.xml and assembly descriptor.

It seems if you diverge from the standard Java EE/webapp path towards the standalone applications then you have to prepare for extensive maven customizations.

Answer 2

Did you take a look at the predefined assemby jar-with-dependencies? It should suit your needs.

See this answer for a detailed discussion of creating executable JAR distributions with maven.