Bundling JavaFX Library with Maven in executable JAR (for Java 11+)

Question

I'm using Java 8 with JavaFX. When I package my executable JAR with maven, the executable JAR works fine using Java 8. However, if I run the JAR with e.g. Java 13, I get the following error:

Error: Could not find or load main class ApplicationLauncherClient
Caused by: java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: javafx/application/Application

This is presumably caused by JavaFX not being bundled with the JRE/JDK anymore since Java 11.

My pom.xml build configuration looks as follows:

<build>
    <plugins>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
            <artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
            <executions>
                <execution>
                    <phase>package</phase>
                    <goals>
                        <goal>single</goal>
                    </goals>
                    <configuration>
                        <archive>
                            <manifest>
                                <mainClass>ApplicationLauncherClient</mainClass>
                            </manifest>
                        </archive>
                        <descriptorRefs>
                            <descriptorRef>jar-with-dependencies</descriptorRef>
                        </descriptorRefs>
                    </configuration>
                </execution>
            </executions>
        </plugin>
    </plugins>
</build>

My goal is to instruct maven to build a JAR which can run on any Java version greater than or equal to 8 by including JavaFX in the executable JAR.

I did not succeed with following the instructions in this answer (by e.g. adding the JavaFX plugin to my pom.xml). Including OpenJFX as dependency also did not work, I still receive the same error.

The zenjava javafx maven plugin you linked from your question is outdated, you should use the org.openjfx plugin, as shown in the [run HelloWorld via Maven] post and you don't need to create an assembly using the assembly plugin. — jewelsea
– jewelsea, Commented Nov 21, 2019 at 12:49
Your goal to have a single jar to "My goal is to instruct maven to build a JAR which can run on any Java version greater than or equal to 8 by including JavaFX in the executable JAR." may prove difficult, JavaFX is usually part of the JRE for Java 8 distributions which support it, it is only designed to be a separate library in later releases (e.g 11+). — jewelsea
– jewelsea, Commented Nov 21, 2019 at 12:52
You may wish create a runtime image (which include the JRE) rather than try to create an executable JAR that can work with pre-installed JREs. — jewelsea
– jewelsea, Commented Nov 21, 2019 at 12:56
Oops, missed a link to HelloWorld via Maven in an earlier comment. — jewelsea
– jewelsea, Commented Nov 21, 2019 at 12:59

Michael · Accepted Answer · 2020-03-07 23:28:35Z

I use the javafx-maven-plugin and the maven-shade-plugin like so:

    <build>
        <plugins>
        <plugin>
          <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
          <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
          <version>3.8.0</version>
          <configuration>
            <release>11</release>
            <target>8</target>
          </configuration>
        </plugin>
        <plugin>
          <groupId>org.openjfx</groupId>
          <artifactId>javafx-maven-plugin</artifactId>
          <version>0.0.3</version>
          <configuration>
            <mainClass>Your_main_class</mainClass>
          </configuration>
      </plugin>
                <plugin>
                    <artifactId>maven-shade-plugin</artifactId>
                    <version>3.2.1</version>
                    <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <phase>package</phase>
                    <goals>
                    <goal>shade</goal>
                    </goals>
                    <configuration>
                    <transformers>
                    <transformer implementation="org.apache.maven.plugins.shade.resource.ManifestResourceTransformer">
                      <mainClass>Your_main_class_starter</mainClass>
                    </transformer>
                    </transformers>
                    </configuration>
                    </execution>
                    </executions>
                </plugin>              
    </plugins>
</build>

Your_main_class is something like this:

public class App extends Application {

private static Scene scene;

@Override
public void start(Stage stage) throws IOException {
    Parent mainForm = FXMLLoader.load(getClass().getResource("mainForm.fxml"));
    scene = new Scene(mainForm , 425, 275);
    stage.setScene(scene);
    stage.show();
}

public static void main(String[] args) {
    launch();
}
}

And Your_main_class_starter looks like this:

public class LaunchApp {
public static void main(String[] args) {
    App.main(args);
}

So Your_main_class_starter does nothing else but calling your main class.

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