Compiling Using Maven
To compile izpack using Maven, use the izpack-maven-plugin. There is good documentation at the izpack-maven-plugin page, but this page will describe how to use the most recent izpack plugin (5.0.0-beta9 at the time of this writing).
I'll assume you have some custom izpack panels, but if you don't, you can omit some of the steps that we go over here:
Using Custom Panels
If you have custom panels, you'll want to put them in their own Maven module. This module should be a standard Maven project, but you should include izpack as a provided dependency:
<dependencies>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.codehaus.izpack</groupId>
<artifactId>izpack-compiler</artifactId>
<version>${izpack.version}</version>
<scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>
</dependencies>
We use scope = provided because we only need Maven to use the izpack dependency at compile time. In this project, you can create your custom IzPack panels. Be sure that the Java package names that contain your custom IzPack panels begin with "com", "net", or "org", or else they will not be able to be loaded by your IzPack installer.
Creating the IzPack Installer Module
Now, create a separate Maven module that will produce your izpack installer.
The basic strategy we'll use is this:
- We'll configure our Maven pom to create a "staging" area that will contain our izpack descriptor and all of our installer resources, including the jars that we want to package in our installer.
- We will use the Maven
maven-antrun-plugin
to copy our izpack descriptor file and resources into this "staging" area. - We'll use the
maven-dependency-plugin
to copy the jar with our custom panels, and any other jar dependencies that we want in our installer. We'll configure two different "executions" of themaven-dependency-plugin
; we'll have this plugin copy our application jars into one location, and the custom panel jars into a separate location.
- We will use the Maven
- We'll then configure the
izpack-maven-plugin
to point it to our staging area and our installer descriptor.
Create Some Helpful Properties
<properties>
<izpack.version>5.0.0-beta9</izpack.version>
<izpack.staging>${project.build.directory}/staging</izpack.staging>
</properties>
(Note that ${project.build.directory}
typically references the compilation ./target/ directory of your module.)
Add Your Dependencies
We'll want to add at least two dependencies–one will be the dependency that contains your custom panel, the other(s) will be the dependency that contains your actual Java application. My dependencies look like this:
<dependencies>
<dependency>
<groupId>com.mycompany</groupId>
<artifactId>myapplication</artifactId>
<version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>com.mycompany</groupId>
<artifactId>mycustompanels</artifactId>
<version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
</dependency>
</dependencies>
Configure the maven-antrun-plugin
We'll use the maven-antrun-plugin
to copy our installer descriptor and installer resources (images, text files, etc.) into our "staging" area.
Put your installer descriptor and resources underneath src/izpack
in your module. In your pom's <build>
section, configure maven-antrun-plugin
to copy this entire directory to our staging area:
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
<executions>
<execution>
<id>create-staging-area</id>
<phase>process-resources</phase>
<goals>
<goal>run</goal>
</goals>
<configuration>
<tasks>
<copy todir="${izpack.staging}">
<fileset dir="${basedir}/src/izpack"/>
</copy>
</tasks>
</configuration>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
Configure the maven-dependency-plugin
We'll configure the maven-depenency-plugin
to copy both our application jars and the jar with our custom panel. Here's how it looks (see the inline XML comments for more details):
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
<executions>
<execution>
<!-- copy *application* jars to izpack staging lib -->
<id>copy-product-dependencies</id>
<phase>prepare-package</phase>
<goals>
<goal>copy-dependencies</goal>
</goals>
<configuration>
<outputDirectory>${izpack.staging}/lib</outputDirectory>
<excludeTransitive>false</excludeTransitive>
<stripVersion>true</stripVersion>
<overWriteReleases>true</overWriteReleases>
<overWriteSnapshots>true</overWriteSnapshots>
<overWriteIfNewer>true</overWriteIfNewer>
<excludeScope>system</excludeScope> <!-- this excludes tools.jar, e.g. -->
<excludeArtifactIds>mycustompanels</excludeArtifactIds> <!-- IMPORTANT: don't copy custom panels where our application jars live -->
<excludeGroupIds>org.codehaus.izpack</excludeGroupIds> <!-- IMPORTANT: we don't want to copy the izpack dependency where our application jars live -->
</configuration>
</execution>
<execution>
<!-- copy izpack custom (custom panels, etc.) jars to izpack staging custom -->
<id>copy-izpack-dependencies</id>
<phase>prepare-package</phase>
<goals>
<goal>copy-dependencies</goal>
</goals>
<configuration>
<outputDirectory>${izpack.staging}/custom</outputDirectory>
<excludeTransitive>false</excludeTransitive>
<stripVersion>true</stripVersion>
<overWriteReleases>true</overWriteReleases>
<overWriteSnapshots>true</overWriteSnapshots>
<overWriteIfNewer>true</overWriteIfNewer>
<includeArtifactIds>mycustompanels</includeArtifactIds> <!-- IMPORTANT: this causes *only* our custom panels to be copied -->
</configuration>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
Some key points:
- The first
execution
section configures copying our application jars to thelib/
directory under our staging directory (i.e.,target/staging/lib
). Note that we have to explicitly exclude the izpack dependency as well as our custom panels dependency. We don't need these showing up in our installed application! - The second
execution
section configures copying our custom panels jar to thecustom/
directory under our staging directory (i.e.,target/staging/custom
). Note that we explicitly include our custom panels dependency so that no other jars are copied tocustom/
. It wouldn't hurt anything if this happened, but why do unnecessary work?
maven-dependency-plugin
is very configurable. You may need to customize some of this configuration for your own purposes.Configure the izpack-maven-plugin
We need to tell the izpack-maven-plugin
what to use as the base directory (this is our staging area), and also tell it the install file to use:
<plugin>
<groupId>org.codehaus.izpack</groupId>
<artifactId>izpack-maven-plugin</artifactId>
<version>${izpack.version}</version>
<executions>
<execution>
<phase>package</phase>
<goals><goal>izpack</goal></goals>
<configuration>
<!-- base for relative paths in izpack descriptor -->
<baseDir>${izpack.staging}</baseDir>
<installFile>${basedir}/src/izpack/install.xml</installFile>
</configuration>
</execution>
</executions>
<dependencies>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.codehaus.izpack</groupId>
<artifactId>izpack-panel</artifactId>
<version>${izpack.version}</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>com.mycompany</groupId>
<artifactId>mycustompanels</artifactId>
<version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
</dependency>
</dependencies>
</plugin>
Some key points:
- Even though you've already declared your custom panels dependency as a project dependency, you'll also need to declare it as a dependency to the izpack plugin itself, or else you will see classloading errors. (This is because Maven gives every plugin execution its own classloader, which cannot see the classpath of the project itself.)
Create Your Installer Descriptor
Your installer descriptor should reference resources and jars relative to the staging area. For example, here is a resources section in our installer descriptor (i.e., install.xml):
<resources>
<res src="img/install-sidebar.png" id="Installer.image"/>
<res src="hello.html" id="HTMLHelloPanel.info"/>
<res src="license.html" id="HTMLLicencePanel.licence"/>
</resources>
Note that these resources are originally under src/izpack
. They are copied from this directory to the staging area, where the izpack compiler will look for them.
Also, don't forget to tell the izpack compiler about your custom panels jar. In your install.xml
file:
<jar src="custom/mycustompanels.jar"/>
Note
You should see now why we use the <stripVersion>true</stripVersion>
option of the maven-dependency-plugin
, so that it copies the custom jar dependency without the version in its name. This way, we can reference our custom panels jar from our installer descriptor without having to know its version of it.
Here's an example of referencing a custom panel. Again, in our installer descriptor:
<panels>
<panel classname="com.mycompany.izpack.panel.MyHelloPanel"/>
</panels>
Note that we use the fully qualified name of the panel class.
Summary
When finished, the entire build section of our pom should look something like this:
<build>
<plugins>
<!-- copy izpack resources into izpack staging area, expected by izpack.xml -->
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
<executions>
<execution>
<id>create-staging-area</id>
<phase>process-resources</phase>
<goals>
<goal>run</goal>
</goals>
<configuration>
<tasks>
<copy todir="${izpack.staging}">
<fileset dir="${basedir}/src/izpack"/>
</copy>
</tasks>
</configuration>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
<executions>
<execution>
<!-- copy product jars to izpack staging lib -->
<id>copy-product-dependencies</id>
<phase>prepare-package</phase>
<goals>
<goal>copy-dependencies</goal>
</goals>
<configuration>
<outputDirectory>${izpack.staging}/lib</outputDirectory>
<excludeTransitive>false</excludeTransitive>
<stripVersion>true</stripVersion>
<overWriteReleases>true</overWriteReleases>
<overWriteSnapshots>true</overWriteSnapshots>
<overWriteIfNewer>true</overWriteIfNewer>
<excludeScope>system</excludeScope> <!-- this excludes tools.jar, e.g. -->
<excludeArtifactIds>mycustompanels</excludeArtifactIds>
<excludeGroupIds>org.codehaus.izpack</excludeGroupIds>
</configuration>
</execution>
<execution>
<!-- copy izpack custom (custom panels, etc.) jars to izpack staging custom -->
<id>copy-izpack-dependencies</id>
<phase>prepare-package</phase>
<goals>
<goal>copy-dependencies</goal>
</goals>
<configuration>
<outputDirectory>${izpack.staging}/custom</outputDirectory>
<excludeTransitive>false</excludeTransitive>
<stripVersion>true</stripVersion>
<overWriteReleases>true</overWriteReleases>
<overWriteSnapshots>true</overWriteSnapshots>
<overWriteIfNewer>true</overWriteIfNewer>
<includeArtifactIds>mycustompanels</includeArtifactIds>
</configuration>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<groupId>org.codehaus.izpack</groupId>
<artifactId>izpack-maven-plugin</artifactId>
<executions>
<execution>
<phase>package</phase>
<goals><goal>izpack</goal></goals>
<configuration>
<!-- base for relative paths in izpack descriptor -->
<baseDir>${izpack.staging}</baseDir>
<installFile>${basedir}/src/izpack/install.xml</installFile>
</configuration>
</execution>
</executions>
<dependencies>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.codehaus.izpack</groupId>
<artifactId>izpack-panel</artifactId>
<version>${izpack.version}</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>com.mycompany</groupId>
<artifactId>mycustompanels</artifactId>
<version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
</dependency>
</dependencies>
</plugin>
</plugins>
</build>
Troubleshooting
TODO