Distribute your Swing application via Java Web Start!

You have developed a nice desktop application and have been breaking your head to create an executable to distribute for different platforms! Here comes Java Web Start for your rescue, distribute your Swing application via web, no installers, no custom code for desktop shortcuts, no tweaks for auto-upgrades! Let me explain the process step by step.

Step 1: Jar your classes and resources using your favorite build tool.
Say your jar file is myswingapp.jar, rename it to myswingapp__V1.0.jar, ie, add '__V' and an initial version say 1.0. I will explain why this is needed in the coming section.
Step 2: Organize your dependencies as below:
root _folder>myswingapp__V1.0.jar
root _folder>jarfile1.jar
root _folder>jarfile2.jar
root _folder>jarfile3.jar
Step 3: Create a jnlp file as below and save it as myswingapp.jnlp

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<jnlp codebase="http://mysite.com/downloads/" 
        href="myswingapp.jnlp">
    <information>
        <title>MySwingApp</title>
        <vendor>MyOrg</vendor>
        <description>A swing application</description>
        <icon href='logo48.png' kind='default'/>
        <icon kind="shortcut" href="icon.jpg" width="32" height="32"/>
        <offline-allowed/> 
        <shortcut online="false">
       <desktop/>
       <menu submenu="MySwingApp"/>
     </shortcut>
    </information>
    <security>
       <all-permissions/>
 </security>
 <update check="background"/>
    <resources>
     <j2se version="1.6.0+"/>
        <jar href="myswingapp.jar" main="true" version="1.0"/>
        <jar href="jarfile1.jar"/>
        <jar href="jarfile2.jar "/>
        <jar href="jarfile3.jar "/>
        <property name="jnlp.versionEnabled" value="true"/>
    </resources>
    <application-desc main-class="com.myorg.Main"/>
</jnlp>

Step 4: Copy all your jar files and the jnlp file to  mysite.com/downloads/
Step 5: Create your download page say download.html and add the below script:

<script src="http://www.java.com/js/deployJava.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript"> 
    var url = "http://mysite.com/downloads/myswingapp.jnlp";
    deployJava.createWebStartLaunchButton(url, '1.6.0');
</script>

Step 6: You are done! Now you can launch your application by accessing your download page, just click on the 'Launch' button, the installer will download your application and install it with a desktop shortcut as well as a menu item to launch the application. Great, isn't it?

Signing jars: If you want your application to run with full access, you must sign all your jar files.
Updates: An update check will be performed in the background and if an update is available, the application will download it and install it in the background! You just need to put your latest jar files, that's it!

Feel free to drop your comments. I will address your queries based on time availability!

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