Java Web Start Configuration (javaws.cfg) Reference

You can configure Web Start in two ways:

1. You can kick off the Web Start Jukebox (that is, the application manager) and click your way through a panel maze hunting down wizards with a limited bag of tricks.
2. You can fire off a text editor and open up the plain-text Web Start configuration stored in javaws.cfg and fix up all your settings to your liking all-at-once in one place without calling on a legion of hard-to-find wizards.

Web Start uses two javaws.cfg files.

The first confg file resides in Web Start's installation directory and holds the initial settings (mainly the location of Java runtimes available at installation time.)

The second config file resides in the user's "home" directory (whatever the system property user.home returns varies from Linux to Windows). This config file holds the user's configuration changes such as proxy settings, new or changed Java runtimes, logging, console and other settings.

This Web Start Configuration Reference is a living, growing body of knowledge, not just a publish-and-forget-it static dead-tree document, help to improve it.

Your comments, suggestions, or corrections are welcome. Send them to the lopica-talk mailinglist (Subscribe/Unsubscribe) or send a private email to gerald@vamphq.com (Gerald Bauer)

If you uncover new settings please post them at Sun's Java Web Start and JNLP forum which I check regularily or mail your finding to the lopica-talk mailinglist (Subscribe/Unsubscribe) or send a private email to gerald@vamphq.com (Gerald Bauer)

javaws

Key	Value	Description
whenInstall	0 | 1 | 2 | 3	Turns on/off desktop integration (that is, desktop shortcut icons, startup menu entries, etc.); Possible values: 0 - Always; 1 - Ask on first startup; 2 - Ask on second startup; 3 - Never
whatInstall	0 | 1 | 2 | 3	Fine tunes desktop integration (that is, choose desktop shortcut icons, startup menu entries, etc.); Possible values: 0 - Nothing; 1 - Desktop shortcut icons only; 2 - Startup menu entries only; 3 - Both

Example

javaws.whenInstall=0
javaws.whatInstall=3

javaws.favorites

Key	Value	Description
size	int	Favorite counter

Example

javaws.favorites.size=0

javaws.favorites.size=2
javaws.favorites0=http\://www.jenomics.de/vamp/clare.jnlp
javaws.favorites1=http\://www.javazoom.net/jlgui/jws/jlgui.jnlp

javaws.player

Key	Value	Description
remoteURL	URL	URL to HTML page pointing to Web Start apps for display in the remote apps catalog (Web Start extracts all links with .jnlp extensions from the HTML page)
bounds	rectangle	Holds the Web Start Jukebox screen coordinates
mode	0 | 1	Toogle between offline and online; 0 - Offline; 1 - Online
manager	0 | 1 | 2	Speficies what apps to display; Possible values: 0 - Remote Apps; 1 - Downloaded Apps; 2 - Favorite Apps

Example

javaws.player.remoteURL=file\:///d\:/venus/jnlp/home.html
javaws.player.bounds=186,25,522,483
javaws.player.mode=1
javaws.player.manager=1

javaws.cfg

Key	Value	Description
logToFile	true | false	Turn on/off logging
logFileName	file path	Name of log file
showConsole	true | false	Show/hide console window
showSplashScreen	true | false	Show/hide mini splash screen (popped-up before Java runtime starts up)
forceUpdate	true | false	Forces Web Start to check for an update before start up instead of turbo-charging the app from the cache first and checking for an update in the background once the app is up and running

Example

javaws.cfg.logToFile=true
javaws.cfg.logFileName=C\:\\WINDOWS\\.javaws\\javaws.log
javaws.cfg.showConsole=false
javaws.cfg.showSplashScreen=true
javaws.cfg.forceUpdate=true

javaws.cfg.proxy

Key	Value	Description
setting	NONE
httpproxyoverride	hostnames	non proxy host list; hosts with direct access not passing through proxy

Example

javaws.cfg.proxy.setting=NONE

javaws.cfg.proxy.httpproxyoverride=localhost

javaws.cfg.cache

Key	Value	Description
key	directory path	Directory path to Web Start cache root

Example

javaws.cfg.cache.dir=C\:java\\jws\\v101\\.javaws\\cache

javaws.cfg.jre.[index]

Key	Value	Description
platform	version	vendor-neutral Java runtime version
product	version	vendor-specific Java runtime version
location	URL	Java runtime download location (points to an installer servlet; not to the Java runtime itself)
path	command line	Command line to start Java runtime (requires full directory path)

Example

javaws.cfg.jre.0.platform=1.4
javaws.cfg.jre.0.product=1.4.0
javaws.cfg.jre.0.location=http\://java.sun.com/products/autodl/j2se
javaws.cfg.jre.0.path=C\:\\java\\jdk\\v14\\jre\\bin\\javaw.exe