Chapter 45. The Java Library Distribution Plugin

The Java library distribution plugin is incubating (see Section C.1.2, “Incubating”).

The Java library distribution plugin adds support for building a distribution ZIP for a Java library. The distribution contains the JAR file for the library and its dependencies.

45.1. Usage

To use the Java library distribution plugin, include in your build script:

Example 45.1. Using the java library distribution plugin

build.gradle

apply plugin: 'java-library-distribution'

To define the name for the distribution you have to set the baseName property as shown below:

Example 45.2. Configure the distribution name

build.gradle

distributions {
    main{
        baseName = 'my-name'
    }
}

The plugin build a distribution for your library. The distribution will package up the runtime dependencies of the library All files stored in src/main/dist will be added to the root of the archive distribution. You can run gradle distZip to create a ZIP containing the distribution.

45.2. Tasks

The Java library distribution plugin adds the following tasks to the project.

Table 45.1. Java library distribution plugin - tasks

Task name	Depends on	Type	Description
`distZip`	`jar`	`Zip`	Creates a full distribution ZIP archive including runtime libraries.

45.3. Including other resources in the distribution

All of the files from the src/dist directory are copied. To include any static files in the distribution, simply arrange them in the src/dist directory, or add it to the content of the distribution.

Example 45.3. Include files in the distribution

build.gradle

distributions {
    main {
        baseName = 'my-name'
        contents {
            from { 'src/dist' }
        }
    }
}