How do I create a .desktop file for a .jar file?

Question

My problem is, that I do want to create a .desktop file for Technic Launcher, which is an alternative launcher for Minecraft. It comes in the form of a .jar file and I want to create a menu entry for it. How would I write such a .desktop file?

My attempt was the following:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Technic Launcher
Comment=Minecraft Launcher for Technic Pack, Tekkit, Hack/Mine and Yogbox
Exec=/home/benjamin/Applications/Minecraft/TechnicLauchner/technic-launcher-latest.jar
Icon=/home/benjamin/Applications/Minecraft/TechnicLauchner/icon.png
Terminal=false
Categories=Game;ActionGame;AdventureGame;RolePlaying;

This didn't work, hence my question. What did I do wrong? Is it even possible to point to a .jar file?

score 18 · Answer 1 · edited Jun 12 '20 at 14:37

18

You can make it manualy, or using Alacarte Install . Here's the way:

1: Install Alacarte

It will install some Gnome dependencies. Nothing to worry about.

2: Create a new entry

In the command entry, click browse and select your .jar file.

You may need to add /usr/bin/java -jar to the start of the Command, so that it looks like /usr/bin/java -jar /home/angel/minecraft.jar.

enter image description here

3: Make the file executable

Go where you have your .jar file. Right click, properties, permissions, check the 'Allow run as a program' option.

4: Look for it in the Dash

There you should have it. Just click and enjoy!

enter image description here

Extra: Here's the icon

edited Jun 12 '20 at 14:37

Community

1

answered Sep 24 '12 at 15:20

Ángel Araya

1,562

1

Personally, I prefer menulibre. It was added with the last App showdown and offers a better experience than alacarte, imo: https://myapps.developer.ubuntu.com/dev/apps/1173/ – Glutanimate Sep 24 '12 at 16:38
@Glutanimate I've never used MenuLibre before. And I tried to use it in the answer. But due to a bug in Quantal I can't install it, so I chose Alacarte. – Ángel Araya Sep 24 '12 at 16:55
I always thought it was very easy to create .desktop files, because KDE has this functionality built-in. – Oleh Prypin Sep 25 '12 at 13:14
Very Important: java needs to be in the PATH to execute. If you exported your PATH in .bashrc, move it to .profile so the desktop environment has the correct PATH when you run the application. – Aug 14 '19 at 23:59
Any idea why when I open my banking application through the .desktop icon it can't connect to the internet? When I run the exact same java -jar ... command in the terminal it works flawlessly. – Caio Mar Nov 19 '21 at 19:02

score 14 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 24 '12 at 14:52

.jar files are not executable, so you have to open them with something (java):

Exec=java -jar /home/benjamin/Applications/Minecraft/TechnicLauchner/technic-launcher-latest.jar

Anyway, I wouldn't recommend creating those files manually from scratch.

score 6 · Answer 3 · edited Jan 18 '14 at 22:22

You just messed up a part of the Desktop file. This is what it should look like (sorry for the thread resurrection):

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Technic Launcher
Comment=Minecraft Launcher for Technic Pack, Tekkit, Hack/Mine and Yogbox
Exec=java -jar /home/benjamin/Applications/Minecraft/TechnicLauchner/technic-launcher-latest.jar
Icon=/home/benjamin/Applications/Minecraft/TechnicLauchner/icon.png
Terminal=false
Categories=Game;ActionGame;AdventureGame;RolePlaying;

Then just type

sudo chmod +x "/home/(username)/Desktop/Technic Launcher.desktop"

score 2 · Answer 4 · edited Jul 24 '17 at 03:38

On a Xubuntu I just gave the the absolute path of the jar file and mad it executable using the chmod +x on jar file.

On the permissions tab just clicked over run file as an program.

Or you may want to associate the .jar extension with the java application.

With Xubuntu you can do this via Configuration manager Dialog and choosing the System -> MIME Editor by editing the entry at application/java-x-archive to the preferred Java Virtual Machine.