Read the documentation, explore the JavaDoc, or see it in action

Create a framework: design the environment and lifecycle (—bootstrap) to make your own auto-update framework and hack it to the core, or use the built-in default bootstrap.

Screenshots

Headless

Using the default bootstrap, downloads 4 files then launches hello-world.jar. You can see that subsequent runs won't download again.

JavaFX

Using a custom bootstrap implemented to report progress in JavaFX, downloads 4 files then launches hello-world.jar.

Overview

Update4j is the first auto-update and launcher library designed for Java 9+. Easily host your application files anywhere (even Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, or Maven Central) and you can synchronize them with all your distributed applications. You can use any protocol you wish to retrieve those files and may be protected under authenticated API.

In update4j you have ultimate control of every process, from startup - update - launch - shutdown, since it's a library (you call the 3rd party code) not a framework (3rd party calls your code outside your control). In addition, every single piece of code is completely updatable; even update4j itself, once a new version is released!

Installation & Usage

You can download or install using Maven:

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.update4j</groupId>
    <artifactId>update4j</artifactId>
    <version>1.4.5</version>
</dependency>

You can use it as a regular dependency, or you may run it as a runnable JAR file.

To run it in the modulepath, use either of:

$ java -p update4j-1.4.5.jar -m org.update4j
$ java -p . -m org.update4j

To run it in the classpath, use either of:

$ java -jar update4j-1.4.5.jar
$ java -cp * org.update4j.Bootstrap

For more information refer to Starting the Application in the wiki.

What's New in 1.4.5

• Added DynamicClassLoader and the new Classloading Model.
• New design reporting download progress in DefaultUpdateHandler.
• Added SingleInstanceManager::tryExecute to handle second instance instead of automatic shutdown.
• Added FileMapper::getChecksum and FileMapper::getSignature
• user.home and user.dir will only be automatically replaced when matched to the beginning of a path.
• Improved file accessibility check when copying new files to its final location.

Contributors

• @mordechaim — lead contributor.
• @ChristianCiach — tested and inspired many features and bugfixes.
• @edvin — original author of edvin/FXLauncher which highly influenced the design of update4j.

License

This project is licensed under the Apache Software License 2.0