exe4j releases

exe4j Release 10.0.1

Fri, 12 Sep 2025 07:00:55 GMT

New features:

When searching for Adoptium, Azul and Microsoft JDKs, also check HKEY_CURRENT_USER in the Windows registry

Bug fixes:

Regression in 10.0: The Ant task was broken

exe4j Release 10.0

Thu, 29 May 2025 07:00:55 GMT

New features:

Added a "Bundle launcher runtime" option on the "Java invocation" screen. If you deselect this option, no files will be extracted at runtime, but you then have to distribute the runtime library exe4jlib.jar and add it to the classpath or module path.
Support new Windows 10 DPI awareness settings in the executable manifest. This fixes problems when moving windows between monitors with different DPI settings.
The startup error dialog now has a better icon and shows in the native look and feel
If the environment variable EXE4J_LICENSE_KEY is set, its value is used as the license key. This is useful for CI pipelines.

Bug fixes:

There was maximum length limit for the classpath that has been removed in this release
Fixed issue with very long lines in .vmoptions file
Adoptium JRE installations were not detected

exe4j Release 9.0

Tue, 17 Jan 2023 08:00:55 GMT

New features:

Support for creating ARM64 executables on the "Executable info → Architecture" step
Optionally global single instance mode on the new "Executable info → Single instance mode" step
The per-user single instance mode now optionally covers all active sessions
Support for finding Microsoft, Zulu and Temurin JRE installations
Show number of configured version-specific VM parameter entries in the "Java invocation" step

Bug fixes:

Startup notifications that occurred before a listener was registered were not delivered in order
If dark mode was used in macOS 13 (Ventura), the exe4j wizard would hang on startup

exe4j Release 8.0.1

Fri, 18 Feb 2022 08:00:55 GMT

New features:

Support dark mode for the exe4j wizard

Bug fixes:

Regression in exe4j 8.0: bin/ant.jar was missing
Changed the way command line parameters are split to behave like java.exe
Fixed broken Java version check in some situations

exe4j Release 8.0

Thu, 11 Mar 2021 08:00:55 GMT

New features:

Added support for non-OpenJDK Java launchers
Added a --fail-on-warning command line option for the compiler as well as corresponding properties for Gradle and Ant tasks
64-bit install4j launchers now prefer the server JVM on Windows. This fixes problems with recent AdoptOpenJDK Java 11 releases that contain a client VM.
Using ~ for the home directory is now supported for the redirection files
The minimum runtime Java version is now 1.8, the exe4j compiler and wizard need a Java 11 JRE

Bug fixes:

Could not use absolute locations for the JRE search sequence when the build was not performed on Windows
An empty JRE search sequence was reverted to the default after opening the project again

exe4j Release 7.0

Thu, 09 Jan 2020 08:00:55 GMT

New features:

Support for version ranges in version-specific VM options for launchers
Less verbose and more human-readable project file format that does not write default settings

Bug fixes:

For OSGI applications, the method to hide the splash screen could not work due to classloader issues
Using archives in class and resource paths with a wildcard in the file name did not work if the path was absolute

exe4j Release 6.0.2

Mon, 28 Jan 2019 08:00:55 GMT

New features:

Support for OpenJ9 VMs
-J-splash:none can be passed as an argument to disable the splash screen

Bug fixes:

If the environment variable _JAVA_OPTIONS was set, the version check for Java 9+ did not work on Windows
The Java version check did not work for some newer OpenJDKs
Launcher for the exe4j wizard UI did not work on macOS

exe4j Release 6.0.1

Fri, 24 Aug 2018 07:00:55 GMT

New features:

Removed empty class path warning
Uncaught exceptions in exe4j wizard are now written to %TEMP%\exe4j_error.log
Support for running the exe4j wizard and its command line tools with Java 10 and Java 11

Bug fixes:

Regression in exe4j 6.0: File and directory chooser buttons in class path configuration did not work anymore

exe4j Release 6.0

Fri, 07 Jul 2017 07:00:55 GMT

New features:

Support for Java 9
Executables can define a Java 9 module path in addition to the class path
Support for the new multi-resolution features in Java 9, including multi-resolution splash screen support
In the "Manifest options" step of the wizard, the new default "Java 9+" makes executables DPI aware if Java 9+ is used as a minimum version
Added a "/restart" parameter for service executables

Bug fixes:

If a JRE could not be loaded, more than one error message was shown in sequence
Extra arguments were not passed correctly when starting a service executable with the /run parameter
services installed with /install are now always non-interactive

exe4j Release 5.1

Fri, 19 Feb 2016 08:00:55 GMT

New features:

Java version-specific VM parameters for launchers
Service launchers: Print options when invoked with the argument /?
Command line compiler: Support --license flag together with other options. Added "license" attribute to the ant task.

Bug fixes:

exe4jc -L [license key]" returned successfully without an error message even if the config file could not be saved
For wildcard classpath entries of type "archive", the shortest available match is now used
The current directory was appended to the end of the class path

exe4j Release 5.0.1

Mon, 09 Feb 2015 08:00:55 GMT

Bug fixes:

Fixed crash on startup for very large classpaths
ant.jar file was missing in the distribution since 5.0
License keys for install4j 6.x were not accepted in the wizard

exe4j Release 5.0

Mon, 03 Nov 2014 08:00:55 GMT

New features:

Generated launchers no longer poll the file system for the internal single instance and splash screen communications
Splash screen API now works for the Java splash screen as well
Added "/run" and "/run-redirect" parameter for services to start a service in command line mode from a terminal
Support DPI scaling for with a setting on the "Executable info → Windows manifest options step" of the launcher wizard
Native file choosers and alerts in the exe4j wizard
Generated launchers now require at least Java 6, the exe4j IDE now requires at least Java 7

exe4j Release 4.6

Sat, 07 Jun 2014 07:00:55 GMT

New features:

exe4j now uses wide characters internally, fixing several problems with characters in directory names from outside the default code page
Expand launcher variables and environment variables in working directory
exe4j wizard can now run with Java 8

exe4j Release 4.5.2

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 08:00:55 GMT

New features:

The exe4j wizard now uses the native look and feel

exe4j Release 4.5.1

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 08:00:55 GMT

Bug fixes:

Fixed problem with Windows 8 certification
Do not force Java 6 locale behavior for Java 7
exe4j license dialog showed invalid evaluation option

exe4j Release 4.5

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 07:00:55 GMT

New features:

Generated executables now pass Windows 8 certification

Bug fixes:

JAR in EXE service did not delete all temp files
Unbalanced quotes for arguments were not handled correctly
Fixed a race condition with the exe4j splash screen

exe4j Release 4.4.6

Sat, 30 Jun 2012 07:00:55 GMT

Bug fixes:

Several command line options were broken (regression in 4.4.5)
Javadoc formatting of the API documentation was broken (regression in 4.4.5)

exe4j Release 4.4.5

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 07:00:55 GMT

New features:

Java 7 can now be used to run the exe4j wizard and the exe4j command line compiler

Bug fixes:

Temporary directory creation is now more robust
Remove temporary files if no JRE can be found

exe4j Release 4.4.4

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 08:00:55 GMT

Bug fixes:

Fixed locale regressions in 4.4.3

exe4j Release 4.4.3

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 08:00:55 GMT

New features:

Add a compatibility manifest for Windows 7 to generated executables

Bug fixes:

Service shutdown did not work correctly when user code redirected System.in
Single instance mode for launchers was broken if there were spaces in the name of the executable
Some operations in SWT applications could be slow due an application manifest entry

exe4j Release 4.4.2

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 08:00:55 GMT

New features:

Make executable name available for JVM discovery, for example, in VisualVM

Bug fixes:

Language selection was ignored, the language for error messages was always English
In the fixed VM parameters, a "\n" was replaced with a newline character

exe4j Release 4.4.1

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 07:00:55 GMT

New features:

Allow a * placeholder in classpath archive entries to support frequently changing version numbers of JAR files like in maven projects

Bug fixes:

Service arguments embedded in the registered binary path did not work correctly
Fixed a deadlock for service launchers

exe4j Release 4.4

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 07:00:55 GMT

New features:

Added a /create-i4j-log command line parameter for generated Windows executable to easily create and show a native debug log file

Bug fixes:

Fixed problems with service shutdown

exe4j Release 4.3.2

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 07:00:55 GMT

New features:

Support for OpenJDK on Windows

Bug fixes:

Fixed internal error 7 when a lot of processes were started at the same time
Environment variables were not replaced in directory entries of the JRE search sequence
Set java.library.path explicitly to fix problems on some Windows Server 2003 machines

exe4j Release 4.3.1

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 08:00:55 GMT

Bug fixes:

Native libraries screen: Entering the variable %EXE4J_TEMPDIR% was not possible
Fixed hanging processes in single instance mode when parent process exits immediately and many processes were started

exe4j Release 4.3

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 07:00:55 GMT

New features:

Added option in "Executable info → Redirection step" of the wizard to append output to existing redirection files
Command line argument -x / --require-license for exe4j command line compiler and attribute 'requirelicense' of exe4j ant task to avoid producing evaluation executables
Service launchers: Added the option non-interactive after /install to register services that should not be allowed to interact with the desktop.

Bug fixes:

A listener registered with com.exe4j.Controller#registerStartupListener was not called reliably for a rapid succession of invocations
Added a workaround for an undefined TMP environment variable

exe4j Release 4.2

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 08:00:55 GMT

New features:

Support for including other .vmoptions files with the new -include-options [path to .vmoptions file] VM parameter. This works in the fixed VM parameters as well as the .vmoptions files.
GUI launchers: Added an optionally recognized -console parameter that connects stderr, stdout and stdin to the console from which the launcher was invoked
Redirection files: Absolute paths and environment variables are now supported

Bug fixes:

Using a splash screen image in PNG format with an alpha channel lead to a compilation error
Running the command line compiler with a relative path name for the config file did not correctly resolve resources

exe4j Release 4.1.1

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 08:00:55 GMT

Bug fixes:

Workaround for erroneous virus definition in CA Anti-Virus 2009

exe4j Release 4.1

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 07:00:55 GMT

New features:

Support for Java 6 splash screens
Launchers can now request heap sizes (-Xmx values) of the same maximum size as the default java launchers if the built-in splash screen is not used. Previously the maximum size was reduced due to fragmentation of the address space.
Improved several error messages in the launcher

Bug fixes:

Temporary files created by Windows launchers are now deleted immediately after exit rather than on the next launch

exe4j Release 4.0.3

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 08:00:55 GMT

New features:

Support environment variables in the names of redirection files

exe4j Release 4.0.2

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 08:00:55 GMT

Bug fixes:

Executing a service launcher with the /start argument on Windows did not return with an error code if it failed to start the service
arguments with quotes in the argument like arg="1 2" were not supported

exe4j Release 4.0.1

Mon, 30 Oct 2006 08:00:55 GMT

Bug fixes:

Fixed error messages
Fixed a SecurityManager issue with shutting down services
Fixed a library dependency problem with Java 6 on older Windows versions

exe4j Release 4.0

Fri, 29 Sep 2006 07:00:55 GMT

New features:

Use long path names on Windows if the current code page supports all characters in the path name
Display splash screen before JAR files are unpacked for instant feedback
Service executables do not require anymore that the main method returns after the initialization
Configurable execution level for Windows Vista
Option for generating 64-bit executables that work with 64-bit JREs

exe4j Release 3.1.4

Sun, 24 Sep 2006 07:00:55 GMT

Bug fixes:

Increased timeout when checking for JRE versions
Fix for very long classpaths
Changed stack settings to allow huge numbers of concurrent threads

exe4j Release 3.1.3

Mon, 24 Apr 2006 07:00:55 GMT

New features:

Support for bundled BEA JRockit JVMs (no registry detection)
Java 1.6 beta is now recognized as a beta release

Bug fixes:

Larger timeout when checking for JRE versions fixes problems with JREs on slow network drives
Fixed a crash with the "JAR in EXE" mode
More robust deletion of temporary files

exe4j Release 3.1.2

Wed, 11 Jan 2006 08:00:55 GMT

Bug fixes:

service installation left a temporary file
Native library step did not work correctly in exe4j wizard

exe4j Release 3.1.1

Tue, 22 Nov 2005 08:00:55 GMT

Bug fixes:

could not start from CD with JRE in relative location on Windows 98/ME
rare ClassNotFoundException when launcher is executed quickly multiple times
single-instance mode without a notification handler causes the third and subsequent processes to stay alive

exe4j Release 3.1

Thu, 21 Jul 2005 07:00:55 GMT

New features:

option to use only full JDKs and no JREs
*.vmoptions file is read and each line is added as a separate VM parameter (previously *.exe.vmoptions)
Java 1.5 early access releases are now recognized as beta releases
services on Windows can now interact with the desktop
splash screen now works correctly with SWT apps
reload splash screen image when modification time changes

Bug fixes:

no save dialog was shown on open or reopen
working directory was always the first entry in classpath

exe4j Release 3.0.2

Fri, 21 Jan 2005 08:00:55 GMT

New features:

setting the environment variable EXE4J_LOG=yes will create a log file for the JRE search sequence
command line switch for exe4jc to enter a license key without the GUI

Bug fixes:

multi-byte character fixes

exe4j Release 3.0.1

Mon, 22 Nov 2004 08:00:55 GMT

New features:

full support for Unicode

Bug fixes:

fixed startup notification issues when opening multiple files concurrently

exe4j Release 3.0

Mon, 18 Oct 2004 07:00:55 GMT

New features:

new API for notification of multiple startups in single instance mode
creation of redirection files on demand
possibility to redirect stderr and stdout to the same file
new process architecture: the started process of an exe4j executable remains the same during the entire execution
improved startup error notification
possibility to use environment variables in classpath entries
full support for UNC path names
possibility to set the description for services
it is now an error if the path for redirection log files does not exist
several usability improvements in the exe4j wizard

Bug fixes:

in some cases, entering multiple native library paths did not work correctly
stdout and stderr file names were always converted to lower case

exe4j Release 2.3

Thu, 12 Aug 2004 07:00:55 GMT

New features:

option whether to use beta JREs on Windows or not
in the JRE step, you can now specify patch levels like 1.4.1_01

Bug fixes:

the main class selector in the Java invocations step did not work when the distribution source directory was relative
the .vmoptions file did not work for service executables if the executable had a long filename
the command line compiler was not included in the Mac OS X distribution
the ant task did not work on Mac OS X