exe4j Portable

If you're a Java developer looking for a simple software solution to create installer files for your applications, you can turn to exe4j Portable.

Made as the no-install counterpart of exe4j, this lightweight tool puts a wizard at your disposal to collect all the required info and compile your executables. Note that you must have Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 1.6 or newer to be able to successfully launch the utility.

The wizard has ten steps that have to be taken before producing the Java executable files. A couple of demo files are included in the package to give you an idea of how exe4j Portable works.

There are two types of operations: compiling JAR files into executable files to distribute the program using a single EXE (cannot include files or folders other than JARs) and excluding Java classes from the executables by including all JAR files and folders which have to be distributed.

In the following stages, you can edit app info (short name, distribution source and executable directories). Executables can be made as GUI or console programs or services. It's possible to assign an icon file, allow or forbid multiple instances, and change the working directory.

Advanced EXE settings focus on redirection (errors, logs), Windows service (startup mode, dependencies), version info, 32- or 64-bit mode, and the manifest (execution level, DPI awareness).

Next, you can configure Java invocation settings, set up JRE version requirements, use a splash screen with custom text, as well as edit the executable messages before compiling it. Once the compilation is done, you can start the application right away to inspect results as well as save the configuration to file if you want to apply it again to more projects.

The utility worked smoothly with the latest Windows and JRE version in our tests. It compiled projects quickly while remaining light on system resources usage.

Taking everything into account, exe4j Portable provides Java developers with an easy, convenient solution to building applications.