Ubuntu – How run a .jar file with a double-click

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I have a problem running .jar files by double-clicking them. When I go to the Properties dialogue I can't find Java–only Archive Manager in the list of programs. But java -jar somefile.jar opens the program.

Best Answer

Maybe you don’t have the runtime environment installed!

To install it try the following instructions.

sudo apt-get install openjdk-7-jre

Or you could install Oracle JRE using the PPA method with the following commands.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ferramroberto/java
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin sun-java6-fonts

Then to use it to open .jar files try the following.

Right click the .jar file > Properties.
Click on the “Open With” tab along the top.
Change the default choice to be the java runtime environment that you have installed.
Click Close and you should be ready to double click.

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – Problem running jar from gui in 15.04

For some reason the desktop file for OpenJDK is not installed, even though this file is listed.

$ apt-file list openjdk-8-jre | grep desktop        
openjdk-8-jre: /usr/share/applications/openjdk-8-java.desktop
openjdk-8-jre: /usr/share/applications/openjdk-8-policytool.desktop

$ ls -l /usr/share/applications/openjdk-8-java.desktop
ls: cannot access /usr/share/applications/openjdk-8-java.desktop: No such file or directory

$ dpkg --get-selections | grep openjdk-8
openjdk-8-jre:amd64             install

But you can also use Oracle Java(TM):

Install Oracle Java(TM) with this commands and you have an entry in open with:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/java
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install oracle-java8-installer

To select your default Java, use the following command.

sudo update-alternatives --config java

But this has no influence on the menu item "Open with"

Ubuntu – No ‘Open with’ option to open/run jar file with openjdk

For some reason there is no desktop file for OpenJDK 7.

$ apt-file list openjdk-7-jre | grep desktop        
openjdk-7-jre: /usr/share/applications/openjdk-7-policytool.desktop

$ dpkg --get-selections | grep openjdk-7
openjdk-7-jre:amd64             install

Install Java with this commands, in order to get the required entry:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/java
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install oracle-java7-installer

and then

sudo apt-get install oracle-java7-set-default

Or you could create a desktop file for OpenJDK7

Create a new file in ~/.local/share/applications/

nano ~/.local/share/applications/openjdk7.desktop

and add the lines below:

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Open JDK 7 Runtime
Comment=Open JDK 7 Runtime
Exec=/usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/java -jar %f
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Icon=java
MimeType=application/x-java-archive;application/java-archive;application/x-jar;
NoDisplay=true

Replace the line

Exec=/usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/java -jar %f

with the location of your java installation. You can check the installed JREs with:

update-alternatives --display java

Sample output

java - auto mode
  link currently points to /usr/lib/jvm/java-9-oracle/bin/java
/usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/java - priority 1071
  slave java.1.gz: /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-amd64/jre/man/man1/java.1.gz
/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/java - priority 1081
  slave java.1.gz: /usr/lib/jvm/java-8-openjdk-amd64/jre/man/man1/java.1.gz
/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle/jre/bin/java - priority 1083
  slave java.1.gz: /usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle/man/man1/java.1.gz
/usr/lib/jvm/java-9-oracle/bin/java - priority 1084
Current 'best' version is '/usr/lib/jvm/java-9-oracle/bin/java'.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – Problem running jar from gui in 15.04

Ubuntu – No ‘Open with’ option to open/run jar file with openjdk

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