Agent Embedder Maven Plugin

This plugin embeds java agents into an executable JAR file, executing them automatically during application start on JRE 9+.

An executable JAR has a Main-Class attribute in its manifest and is executed by java ‑jar my.jar.

Normally, you would need additional ‑javaagent:/path/to/agent.jar JVM arguments to start one or more java agents, but since Java 9 there is the Launcher-Agent-Class mechanism, which can launch a java agent from inside the executable JAR, if the agent classes are part of the JAR. I.e., even though this plugin works just fine on Java 8, you do need to launch the modified executable JAR on JRE 9+ to enjoy the benefits of this JVM feature.

See the usage section below and the plugin info page for more details about how the plugin works and how to configure it.

Unique plugin features not offered by the Java 9+ Launcher-Agent-Class mechanism:

• Out of the box, the JVM only supports a single agent for auto-start, not multiple ones. Multiple agents can only be specified on the JVM command line. But this plugin installs its own launcher agent, which in turn is capable of starting multiple java agents.

• The JVM does not support agent option strings for embedded agents like the JVM command line does. This plugin, however, does support agent arguments via its launcher agent.

Usage

Embed a single java agent

Assuming that your Maven module creates an executable JAR and you want to embed java agent org.acme:my-agent:1.3 for automatic execution on Java 9+, simply configure this plugin as follows:

<build>
  <plugins>
    <plugin>
      <groupId>dev.aspectj</groupId>
      <artifactId>agent-embedder-maven-plugin</artifactId>
      <version>1.0</version>
      <executions>
        <execution>
          <id>embed-agent</id>
          <goals>
            <goal>embed</goal>
          </goals>
          <configuration>
            <javaAgents>
              <agent>
                <groupId>org.acme</groupId>
                <artifactId>my-agent</artifactId>
              </agent>
            </javaAgents>
          </configuration>
        </execution>
      </executions>
    </plugin>
  </plugins>
</build>

<dependencies>
  <dependency>
    <groupId>org.acme</groupId>
    <artifactId>my-agent</artifactId>
    <version>1.3</version>
  </dependency>
</dependencies>

This will replace the Maven module's main artifact - the plain executable JAR - by an enhanced executable JAR in which the java agent has been embedded and added to the manifest to be launched automatically whenever the JAR is started by java ‑jar my-executable.jar.

Embed multiple java agents

This works just like the example above, but you simply add multiple java agent dependencies and reference them from the plugin configuration as multiple javaAgents/agent descriptors. When starting the executable JAR, the agents will be launched in the order specified in the plugin configuration.

See the agent-embedder:embed goal description for more details.

Advanced usage

You might have special use cases, such as:

Use case	Configuration parameter
The java agent exists as a nested JAR inside the build artifact, as is often the case in Spring Boot executable JARs. You want to make sure that after embedding the agent classes into the main JAR, the nested JAR is removed from the main (uber) JAR.	removeEmbeddedAgents
The java agent's Maven coordinates include a classifier.	javaAgents/agent/classifier
The java agent is configurable by means of an options string on the JVM command line via ‑javaagent:/path/to/agent.jar=option1=one,option2=two. You wish to emulate that for the embedded agent.	javaAgents/agent/agentArgs
The agent JAR is not a regular dependency to be found in any Maven repository but rather a library somewhere in your project folder, and you want to specify the path to the agent JAR in the plugin configuration.	javaAgents/agent/agentPath
The agent JAR is not a regular dependency to be found in any Maven repository but rather a nested JAR with a known location inside the main JAR, and you want to specify the path to the agent JAR in the plugin configuration.	javaAgents/agent/agentPath
The agent JAR is missing a manifest with an Agent-Class entry, even though it does contain a class with a premain entry point usable for a java agent, and you want to specify the agent class name.	javaAgents/agent/agentClass
The agent JAR's Agent-Class manifest entry points to an agent class A, but you want to use an alternative agent class B.	javaAgents/agent/agentClass

See the agent-embedder:embed goal description for more details.

See the Spring Boot integration test, which embeds two java agents (AspectJ weaver and a home-brew agent making final classes non-final) into an executable Spring Boot JAR and then runs the modified JAR to verify that indeed both agents are launched automatically and do their respective jobs.