Compile
Java
to a
native executable
using
GraalVM on
Arch Linux with Gradle

go to mb.sb

Here are the steps to compile a Java "Hello, World!" program to a native executable using GraalVM on Arch Linux with Gradle:

1. Download the GraalVM package from AUR, I'm using Aura for this:

   aura -A jdk24-graalvm-ce-bin

2. Create a regular Java project with Gradle and select the default options each time (single application project and Kotlin as the build script DSL):

   gradle init --type java-application

3. Modify your build.gradle.kts:
   • Add the GraalVM plugin:

     plugins {
         application
         id("org.graalvm.buildtools.native") version "0.10.6"
     }

   • Tell Gradle to use the GraalVM (see here for what happens if you leave this out):

     graalvmNative {
       binaries {
         all {
           javaLauncher.set(javaToolchains.launcherFor {
             languageVersion.set(JavaLanguageVersion.of(24))
             vendor.set(JvmVendorSpec.GRAAL_VM)
           })
         }
       }
     }
     

4. In gradle.properties, deactivate the configuration cache:

   org.gradle.configuration-cache=false

   Doing so avoids an error starting with:
   Configuration cache state could not be cached: field `imageCompileOnly` of `org.graalvm.buildtools.gradle.internal.NativeConfigurations` bean found in field `capturedArgs` of `java.lang.invoke.SerializedLambda` bean found in field `transformer`
5. Finally, compile the project to a native executable:

   ./gradlew nativeCompile

   The resulting executable ELF file is in app/build/native/nativeCompile.

Using GraalVM CE 24.0.1+9.1, the executable is 13.19 MiB in size. Some compilation times I've observed:

• About 15 seconds on a Framework 16 with AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS and 30.65 GiB of RAM.
• About 2 minutes on a Lenovo X220 with Intel Core i5-2520M and 15.5 GiB of RAM.