OpenJFX is the open-source project that develops JavaFX. This project builds Snap packages of OpenJFX directly from its source repository on GitHub. These packages, together with OpenJDK 21 or later, provide everything you need to develop a JavaFX application on Linux, including all of the latest JAR files, native libraries, JMOD archives, API documentation, and source code of JavaFX.
Below are some quick setup instructions for developers on Debian-based systems who are familiar with the Linux command line. For Fedora-based systems, see the Usage section later.
Set the following two environment variables: one for the location of the JavaFX JAR files and native libraries, and the other for the location of the JavaFX JMOD archives.
$ export JAVAFX_LIB=/snap/openjfx/current/sdk/lib
$ export JAVAFX_MOD=/snap/openjfx/current/sdk/jmodsUse these variables in arguments to the java, javac, javadoc, jlink, and jpackage tools of the JDK when you build your JavaFX application. For more information, see the Usage section later.
The branches of this repository publish the JavaFX general-availability (GA) release and early-access (EA) builds for six hardware platforms. They are listed below by their Debian architecture, machine hardware name, and Java architecture:
| Debian | Machine | Java | JavaFX GA | JavaFX EA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| amd64 | x86_64 | amd64 | ✓ | ✓ |
| arm64 | aarch64 | aarch64 | ✓ | ✓ |
| armhf | armv7l | arm | ✓ | ✓ |
| i386 | i686 | i386 | ✓ | ✓ |
| ppc64el | ppc64le | ppc64le | ✓ | ✓ |
| s390x | s390x | s390x | ✓ | ✓ |
The branches of this repository are named after the Snap channels where the builds are published: edge, beta, candidate, and stable. The HEAD branch is edge, and merges follow the Snap package releases from edge into beta, beta into candidate, and candidate into stable.
This project is one of four that I created to gain control of my development environment:
-
OpenJDK - Current JDK release and early-access builds
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OpenJFX - Current JavaFX release and early-access builds
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Strictly Maven - Apache Maven™ in a strictly-confined snap
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Strictly NetBeans - Apache NetBeans® in a strictly-confined snap
The table below contains the most recent schedule for OpenJFX. The channel columns show the JavaFX releases found on the channels during each phase of the schedule.
| Date | Phase | Stable | Candidate | Beta | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-03-19 | General Availability | 22 | ← | ← | 23 |
| 2024-07-11 | Rampdown Phase One | 22 | ← | 23 | 24 |
| 2024-08-01 | Rampdown Phase Two | 22 | ← | 23 | 24 |
| 2024-08-29 | Release Candidate Freeze | 22 | 23 | ← | 24 |
| 2024-09-17 | General Availability | 23 | ← | ← | 24 |
The leftwards arrow (←) indicates that the channel is closed. When a specific risk-level channel is closed, the Snap Store will select the package from the more conservative risk level in the column to its left. If the channel is re-opened, packages will once again be selected from the original channel.
Install the OpenJFX Snap package with the command:
$ sudo snap install openjfxThe Snap package is strictly confined and adds no interfaces to its permissions.
Install the OpenJFX Snap package from a channel other than the stable channel with one of the following commands:
$ sudo snap install openjfx --candidate
$ sudo snap install openjfx --beta
$ sudo snap install openjfx --edgeYou will also need the Java Development Kit (JDK). You can install the OpenJDK Snap package to get the current JDK release or an early-access build:
$ sudo snap install openjdkWhen you install the OpenJDK and OpenJFX Snap packages, they connect automatically, allowing you to develop and deploy both Java and JavaFX applications. For example, installing the latest OpenJDK and OpenJFX Snap packages results in the following connection:
$ snap connections openjfx
Interface Plug Slot Notes
content[jfx-22-1804] openjdk:jfx-22-1804 openjfx:jfx-22-1804 -This connection provides the OpenJDK Snap package with read access to the OpenJFX Software Development Kit (SDK) and shared libraries so that you can compile, package, link, and run JavaFX applications.
The steps in building the packages are open and transparent so that you can gain trust in the process that creates them instead of having to put all of your trust in their publisher.
| Snap Channel | Build File | Source Code | Snap Package |
|---|---|---|---|
| candidate | snapcraft.yaml | openjdk/jfx21u | openjfx-candidate |
| beta | snapcraft.yaml | openjdk/jfx22u | openjfx-beta |
| edge | snapcraft.yaml | openjdk/jfx | openjfx-edge |
For each of the three channels, the table above links to:
- the Snapcraft build file that creates the Snap package,
- the release tags used to obtain the OpenJFX source code, and
- information about the package and its latest builds on Launchpad.
General-availability releases published to the candidate channel are eventually promoted to the stable channel.
The Launchpad build farm runs each build in a transient container created from trusted images to ensure a clean and isolated build environment. Snap packages built on Launchpad include a manifest that lets you verify the build and identify its dependencies.
Each OpenJFX package provides a software bill of materials (SBOM) and a link to its build log. This information is contained in a file called manifest.yaml in the directory /snap/openjfx/current/snap. The image-info section of the manifest provides a link to the package's page on Launchpad with its build status, including the complete log file from the container that ran the build. You can use this information to verify that the OpenJFX Snap package installed on your system was built from source on Launchpad using only the software in Ubuntu 18.04 LTS and the official Gradle releases.
For example, I'll demonstrate how I verify the OpenJFX Snap package installed on my system at the time of this writing. The snap info command shows that I installed OpenJFX version 22+30 with revision 1198, the revision for the amd64 architecture:
$ snap info openjfx
...
channels:
latest/stable: 22+30 2024-03-19 (1198) 113MB -
latest/candidate: ↑
latest/beta: ↑
latest/edge: 23+9 2024-03-14 (1192) 113MB -
installed: 22+30 (1198) 113MB -The following command prints the build information from the manifest file:
$ grep -A3 image-info /snap/openjfx/current/snap/manifest.yaml
image-info:
build-request-id: lp-86834142
build-request-timestamp: '2024-03-15T02:21:29Z'
build_url: https://launchpad.net/~jgneff/openjfx-snap/+snap/openjfx-candidate/+build/2421443The build_url in the manifest is a link to the page on Launchpad with the package's Build status and Store status. The store status shows that Launchpad uploaded revision 1198 to the Snap Store, which matches the revision installed on my system. The build status shows a link to the log file with the label buildlog.
The end of the log file contains a line with the SHA512 checksum of the package just built, shown below with the checksum split to fit on this page:
Snapping...
Snapped openjfx_22+30_amd64.snap
Starting Snapcraft 7.5.4
Logging execution to '/root/.local/state/snapcraft/log/snapcraft-20240315-022905.705991.log'
3baa99cf76d928f51965f40c53b2c5a83d4c57fcdb9625b852681f68c50a5978
24008ed725a74457d549f906c12fa726e225ec8db4e71433ff36967192880395
openjfx_22+30_amd64.snap
Revoking proxy token...
The command below prints the checksum of the package installed on my system:
$ sudo sha512sum /var/lib/snapd/snaps/openjfx_1198.snap
3baa99cf76d928f51965f40c53b2c5a83d4c57fcdb9625b852681f68c50a5978
24008ed725a74457d549f906c12fa726e225ec8db4e71433ff36967192880395
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/openjfx_1198.snapThe two checksum strings are identical. Using this procedure, I verified that the OpenJFX Snap package installed on my system and the OpenJFX Snap package built and uploaded to the Snap Store by Launchpad are in fact the exact same package. For more information, see Launchpad Bug #1979844, "Allow verifying that a snap recipe build corresponds to a store revision."
Once installed, the OpenJFX Snap package includes the following directories:
/snap/openjfx/current/sdk/api- Javadoc API documentation/snap/openjfx/current/sdk/jmods- JMOD archives forjlink/snap/openjfx/current/sdk/lib- Modular JAR files and native libraries/snap/openjfx/current/sdk/src- Java source code of JavaFX
On Fedora-based systems, these directories are found under the root directory /var/lib/snapd as a prefix to the locations shown above for Debian-based systems.
The JDK tools need to know two locations: the JavaFX library directory and the JMOD archives directory. The OpenJFX Snap package provides these locations with two environment variables, as described below.
The openjfx command prints the location of a file that defines the environment variables:
$ openjfx
/var/snap/openjfx/1198/openjfx.envThe file exports the JAVAFX_LIB and JAVAFX_MOD environment variables:
$ cat $(openjfx)
# Source this file for OpenJFX environment variables
export JAVAFX_LIB=/snap/openjfx/1198/sdk/lib
export JAVAFX_MOD=/snap/openjfx/1198/sdk/jmodsTo set the variables in your current shell, use the source or "dot" (.) command to read and execute the commands from the file:
$ source $(openjfx)You can then verify that JAVAFX_LIB and JAVAFX_MOD are defined with:
$ printenv | grep JAVAFX
JAVAFX_LIB=/snap/openjfx/1198/sdk/lib
JAVAFX_MOD=/snap/openjfx/1198/sdk/jmodsYou can also manually set the environment variables to fixed locations that don't depend on the Snap revision number, as shown below:
$ export JAVAFX_LIB=/snap/openjfx/current/sdk/lib
$ export JAVAFX_MOD=/snap/openjfx/current/sdk/jmodsOnce defined, you can use these variables in arguments to the java, javac, javadoc, jlink, and jpackage tools of the JDK.
You can build the Snap package on Linux by installing Snapcraft on your development workstation. The snap/snapcraft.yaml files on the candidate, beta, and edge branches define the build for each channel. Run the following commands to install Snapcraft, clone this repository, and start building the package:
$ sudo snap install snapcraft --classic
$ git clone https://github.com/jgneff/openjfx.git
$ cd openjfx
$ snapcraftTo run the build remotely on Launchpad, enter the command:
$ snapcraft remote-buildSee the Snapcraft Overview page for more information about building Snap packages.
This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v2.0 with the Classpath exception, the same license used by Oracle for the OpenJFX project. See the files LICENSE, ADDITIONAL_LICENSE_INFO, and ASSEMBLY_EXCEPTION for details.
Java and OpenJDK are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. See the file TRADEMARK for details.