Anyone knows what exactly does jpackage do?

Question

When doing some deployment, I saw java is sometimes coming with jpackage. what exactly does jpackage do, anyone knows?

Answer 1

JPackage takes commonly used bits of Java technology and organizes them into the RPM package manager.

To do this, they basically write a lot of RPM spec files, and maintain them as the various software components (JUnit, javac, etc) change over time. They also improve on the alignment of the Java software stack with other initiatives, like the Linux Standard Base.

When things go smoothly, the end result is that every library is in the "right" place, and that software components that require libraries don't ship with multiple copies (one JUnit for Netbeans, one JUnit for Eclipse, one JUnit for stand-alone), instead all software packages use the "system" JUnit libraries. Doing so makes the package manager aware of the dependency complexity, and reduces the size of all the needed installable elements as a whole.

Answer 2

jpackage is w new being developed to build application packages for modular Java aps.

Here's an article how to build an app image using OpenJDK 11 and using OpenJDK 14 with jpackage only for building the installer / package: https://walczak.it/blog/distributing-javafx-desktop-applications-without-requiring-jvm-using-jlink-and-jpackage