Being able to run jar from link in Linux

Question

To make my program a bit more user friendly and easy to update, when it installs it creates a link to the .jar file is on the desktop.

The problem is- The file is not marked as executable, so the user would have to find a hidden directory and mark the jar file as executable. Blech.

I tried using:

Runtime.getRuntime().exec(new String[]{"sudo","chmod","+x",home+"/"+dir+"/DevChat.jar"});

, which, foresee-ably, requested the user's password which went without reply.

So is there any way I could A) Give runtime the user's password after prompting the user for it, B) Make the link run the command "java -jar blahblahblah.jar", or C) Write an install script that marks the file as executable?

Putting a link to an application on the desktop is a Windows paradigm—it's not really done on *nix flavors. — Andrew Marshall, Mar 04 '12 at 00:43

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 04 '12 at 00:43

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You don't need to be root to change the permissions of a filesystem object you own.

answered Mar 04 '12 at 00:43

Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams

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By George... you're right! Tons of thanks! A tutorial on bash had me thinking root was necessary... Cheers! – J3RN Mar 04 '12 at 00:49

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:24

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As someone said ... you don't need to be root to change the permissions of the jar file.
However, in case this file is placed in a folder where administrator privileges are needed to access it or there is no workaround for that just use the -S option when running sudo.
For reference check here: Getting stdin from sudo command ;)
Cheers pal!

P.S.: Of course, you have to open a stream and then get that from the terminal which I assume is trivial in your case. If you do have a problem however just ask.

edited May 23 '17 at 10:24

Community

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answered Mar 04 '12 at 00:52

Kounavi

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That's pretty cool! I'm sure another occasion will come along when I need to use this – J3RN Mar 06 '12 at 12:41
Glad that I was of some help! :) – Kounavi Mar 06 '12 at 16:23

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 04 '12 at 01:01

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Since you created a link in the desktop, I'm going to assume you want some kind of GUI based intereaction with the user.

If so, just use gksudo instead of sudo.

   Runtime.getRuntime().exec(new String[]{"gksudo","chmod","+x",home+"/"+dir+"/DevChat.jar"});

If you need something a bit more complex, take a look at Zenity.

answered Mar 04 '12 at 01:01

Alexandre Martins

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Hey, that's brilliant! While it may not be used in this application, this will definitely come in handy! – J3RN Mar 06 '12 at 12:37

Being able to run jar from link in Linux

3 Answers3