spring-boot/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-docs/src/main/asciidoc/appendix-executable-jar-format.adoc

[appendix]
[[executable-jar]]
== The executable jar format
The `spring-boot-loader` modules allows Spring Boot to support executable jar and
war files. If you're using the Maven or Gradle plugin, executable jars are
automatically generated and you generally won't need to know the details of how
they work.

If you need to create executable jars from a different build system, or if you are just
curious about the underlying technology, this section provides some background.



[[executable-jar-nested-jars]]
=== Nested JARs
Java does not provide any standard way to load nested jar files (i.e. jar files that
are themselves contained within a jar). This can be problematic if you are looking
to distribute a self-contained application that you can just run from the command line
without unpacking.

To solve this problem, many developers use "`shaded`" jars. A shaded jar simply packages
all classes, from all jars, into a single 'uber jar'. The problem with shaded jars is
that it becomes hard to see which libraries you are actually using in your application.
It can also be problematic if the same filename is used (but with different content)
in multiple jars. Spring Boot takes a different approach and allows you to actually nest
jars directly.



[[executable-jar-jar-file-structure]]
==== The executable jar file structure
Spring Boot Loader compatible jar files should be structured in the following way:

[indent=0]
----
	example.jar
	 |
	 +-META-INF
	 |  +-MANIFEST.MF
	 +-org
	 |  +-springframework
	 |     +-boot
	 |        +-loader
	 |           +-<spring boot loader classes>
	 +-BOOT-INF
	    +-classes
	    |  +-mycompany
	    |     +-project
	    |        +-YourClasses.class
	    +-lib
	       +-dependency1.jar
	       +-dependency2.jar
----

Application classes should be placed in a nested `BOOT-INF/classes` directory.
Dependencies should be placed in a nested `BOOT-INF/lib` directory.



[[executable-jar-war-file-structure]]
==== The executable war file structure
Spring Boot Loader compatible war files should be structured in the following way:

[indent=0]
----
	example.war
	 |
	 +-META-INF
	 |  +-MANIFEST.MF
	 +-org
	 |  +-springframework
	 |     +-boot
	 |        +-loader
	 |           +-<spring boot loader classes>
	 +-WEB-INF
	    +-classes
	    |  +-com
	    |     +-mycompany
	    |        +-project
	    |           +-YourClasses.class
	    +-lib
	    |  +-dependency1.jar
	    |  +-dependency2.jar
	    +-lib-provided
	       +-servlet-api.jar
	       +-dependency3.jar
----

Dependencies should be placed in a nested `WEB-INF/lib` directory. Any dependencies
that are required when running embedded but are not required when deploying to
a traditional web container should be placed in `WEB-INF/lib-provided`.



[[executable-jar-jarfile]]
=== Spring Boot's "`JarFile`" class
The core class used to support loading nested jars is
`org.springframework.boot.loader.jar.JarFile`. It allows you to load jar
content from a standard jar file, or from nested child jar data. When first loaded, the
location of each `JarEntry` is mapped to a physical file offset of the outer jar:

[indent=0]
----
	myapp.jar
	+-------------------+-------------------------+
	| /BOOT-INF/classes | /BOOT-INF/lib/mylib.jar |
	|+-----------------+||+-----------+----------+|
	||     A.class      |||  B.class  |  C.class ||
	|+-----------------+||+-----------+----------+|
	+-------------------+-------------------------+
	 ^                    ^           ^
	 0063                 3452        3980
----

The example above shows how `A.class` can be found in `/BOOT-INF/classes` in `myapp.jar`
position `0063`. `B.class` from the nested jar can actually be found in `myapp.jar`
position `3452` and `C.class` is at position `3980`.

Armed with this information, we can load specific nested entries by simply seeking to
the appropriate part of the outer jar. We don't need to unpack the archive and we
don't need to read all entry data into memory.



[[executable-jar-jarfile-compatibility]]
==== Compatibility with the standard Java "`JarFile`"
Spring Boot Loader strives to remain compatible with existing code and libraries.
`org.springframework.boot.loader.jar.JarFile` extends from `java.util.jar.JarFile` and
should work as a drop-in replacement. The `getURL()` method will return a `URL` that
opens a `java.net.JarURLConnection` compatible connection and can be used with Java's
`URLClassLoader`.



[[executable-jar-launching]]
=== Launching executable jars
The `org.springframework.boot.loader.Launcher` class is a special bootstrap class that
is used as an executable jars main entry point. It is the actual `Main-Class` in your jar
file and it's used to setup an appropriate `URLClassLoader` and ultimately call your
`main()` method.

There are 3 launcher subclasses (`JarLauncher`, `WarLauncher` and `PropertiesLauncher`).
Their purpose is to load resources (`.class` files etc.) from nested jar files or war
files in directories (as opposed to explicitly on the classpath). In the case of
`JarLauncher` and `WarLauncher` the nested paths are fixed. `JarLauncher` looks in
`BOOT-INF/lib/` and `WarLauncher` looks in `WEB-INF/lib/` and `WEB-INF/lib-provided/` so
you just add extra jars in those locations if you want more. The `PropertiesLauncher`
looks in `BOOT-INF/lib/` in your application archive by default, but you can add
additional locations by setting an environment variable `LOADER_PATH` or `loader.path`
in `loader.properties` (comma-separated list of directories, archives, or directories
within archives).



[[executable-jar-launcher-manifest]]
==== Launcher manifest
You need to specify an appropriate `Launcher` as the `Main-Class` attribute of
`META-INF/MANIFEST.MF`. The actual class that you want to launch (i.e. the class that
you wrote that contains a `main` method) should be specified  in the `Start-Class`
attribute.

For example, here is a typical `MANIFEST.MF` for an executable jar file:

[indent=0]
----
	Main-Class: org.springframework.boot.loader.JarLauncher
	Start-Class: com.mycompany.project.MyApplication
----

For a war file, it would be:

[indent=0]
----
	Main-Class: org.springframework.boot.loader.WarLauncher
	Start-Class: com.mycompany.project.MyApplication
----

NOTE: You do not need to specify `Class-Path` entries in your manifest file, the classpath
will be deduced from the nested jars.



[[executable-jar-exploded-archives]]
==== Exploded archives
Certain PaaS implementations may choose to unpack archives before they run. For example,
Cloud Foundry operates in this way. You can run an unpacked archive by simply starting
the appropriate launcher:

[indent=0]
----
	$ unzip -q myapp.jar
	$ java org.springframework.boot.loader.JarLauncher
----



[[executable-jar-property-launcher-features]]
=== PropertiesLauncher Features

`PropertiesLauncher` has a few special features that can be enabled with external
properties (System properties, environment variables, manifest entries or
`loader.properties`).

|===
|Key |Purpose

|`loader.path`
|Comma-separated Classpath, e.g. `lib,${HOME}/app/lib`. Earlier entries take precedence,
 just like a regular `-classpath` on the `javac` command line.

|`loader.home`
|Used to resolve relative paths in `loader.path`. E.g. `loader.path=lib` then
 `${loader.home}/lib` is a classpath location (along with all jar files in that
 directory). Also used to locate a `loader.properties` file. Example `file:///opt/app`
 (defaults to `${user.dir}`).

|`loader.args`
|Default arguments for the main method (space separated)

|`loader.main`
|Name of main class to launch, e.g. `com.app.Application`.

|`loader.config.name`
|Name of properties file, e.g. `launcher` (defaults to `loader`).

|`loader.config.location`
|Path to properties file, e.g. `classpath:loader.properties` (defaults to
 `loader.properties`).

|`loader.system`
|Boolean flag to indicate that all properties should be added to System properties
 (defaults to `false`)

|===

When specified as environment variables or manifest entries, the following names should
be used:

|===
|Key | Manifest entry | Environment variable

|`loader.path`
|`Loader-Path`
|`LOADER_PATH`

|`loader.home`
|`Loader-Home`
|`LOADER_HOME`

|`loader.args`
|`Loader-Args`
|`LOADER_ARGS`

|`loader.main`
|`Start-Class`
|`LOADER_MAIN`

|`loader.config.location`
|`Loader-Config-Location`
|`LOADER_CONFIG_LOCATION`

|`loader.system`
|`Loader-System`
|`LOADER_SYSTEM`

|===

TIP: Build plugins automatically move the `Main-Class` attribute to `Start-Class` when
the fat jar is built. If you are using that, specify the name of the class to launch using
the `Main-Class` attribute and leave out `Start-Class`.

* `loader.properties` are searched for in `loader.home` then in the root of the
  classpath, then in `classpath:/BOOT-INF/classes`. The first location that exists is
  used.
* `loader.home` is only the directory location of an additional properties file
  (overriding the default) as long as `loader.config.location` is not specified.
* `loader.path` can contain directories (scanned recursively for jar and zip files),
  archive paths, a directory within an archive that is scanned for jar files (for
  example, `dependencies.jar!/lib`), or wildcard patterns (for the default JVM behavior).
  Archive paths can be relative to `loader.home`, or anywhere in the file system with a
  `jar:file:` prefix.
* `loader.path` (if empty) defaults to `BOOT-INF/lib` (meaning a local directory or a
  nested one if running from an archive). Because of this `PropertiesLauncher` behaves the
  same as `JarLauncher` when no additional configuration is provided.
* `loader.path` can not be used to configure the location of `loader.properties` (the
  classpath used to search for the latter is the JVM classpath when `PropertiesLauncher`
  is launched).
* Placeholder replacement is done from System and environment variables plus the
  properties file itself on all values before use.
* The search order for properties (where it makes sense to look in more than one place)
  is env vars, system properties, `loader.properties`, exploded archive manifest, archive
  manifest.



[[executable-jar-restrictions]]
=== Executable jar restrictions
There are a number of restrictions that you need to consider when working with a Spring
Boot Loader packaged application.



[[executable-jar-zip-entry-compression]]
==== Zip entry compression
The `ZipEntry` for a nested jar must be saved using the `ZipEntry.STORED` method. This
is required so that we can seek directly to individual content within the nested jar.
The content of the nested jar file itself can still be compressed, as can any other
entries in the outer jar.



[[executable-jar-system-classloader]]
==== System ClassLoader
Launched applications should use `Thread.getContextClassLoader()` when loading classes
(most libraries and frameworks will do this by default). Trying to load nested jar
classes via `ClassLoader.getSystemClassLoader()` will fail. Please be aware that
`java.util.Logging` always uses the system classloader, for this reason you should
consider a different logging implementation.



[[executable-jar-alternatives]]
=== Alternative single jar solutions
If the above restrictions mean that you cannot use Spring Boot Loader the following
alternatives could be considered:

* http://maven.apache.org/plugins/maven-shade-plugin/[Maven Shade Plugin]
* http://www.jdotsoft.com/JarClassLoader.php[JarClassLoader]
* http://one-jar.sourceforge.net[OneJar]