How to get the path of a running JAR file?

Answer 1

This method, called from code in the archive, returns the folder where the .jar file is. It should work in either Windows or Unix.

  private String getJarFolder() {
    String name = this.getClass().getName().replace('.', '/');
    String s = this.getClass().getResource("/" + name + ".class").toString();
    s = s.replace('/', File.separatorChar);
    s = s.substring(0, s.indexOf(".jar")+4);
    s = s.substring(s.lastIndexOf(':')-1);
    return s.substring(0, s.lastIndexOf(File.separatorChar)+1);
  } 

Derived from code at: Determine if running from JAR

Answer 2

String path = getClass().getResource("").getPath();

The path always refers to the resource within the jar file.

Answer 3

I have another way to get the String location of a class.

URL path = Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader().getResource("");
Path p = Paths.get(path.toURI());
String location = p.toString();

The output String will have the form of

C:\Users\Administrator\new Workspace\...

The spaces and other characters are handled, and in the form without file:/. So will be easier to use.

Answer 4

I had the the same problem and I solved it that way:

File currentJavaJarFile = new File(Main.class.getProtectionDomain().getCodeSource().getLocation().getPath());   
String currentJavaJarFilePath = currentJavaJarFile.getAbsolutePath();
String currentRootDirectoryPath = currentJavaJarFilePath.replace(currentJavaJarFile.getName(), "");

I hope I was of help to you.

Answer 5

Best solution for me:

String path = Test.class.getProtectionDomain().getCodeSource().getLocation().getPath();
String decodedPath = URLDecoder.decode(path, "UTF-8");

This should solve the problem with spaces and special characters.

Answer 6

the selected answer above is not working if you run your jar by click on it from Gnome desktop environment (not from any script or terminal).

Instead, I have fond that the following solution is working everywhere:

    try {
        return URLDecoder.decode(ClassLoader.getSystemClassLoader().getResource(".").getPath(), "UTF-8");
    } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
        return "";
    }