The recommended way to execute any Gradle build is with the Gradle Wrapper.
The Wrapper script invokes a declared version of Gradle, downloading it beforehand if necessary.
The Wrapper is available as a gradlew or gradlew.bat file.
The Wrapper provides the following benefits:
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Standardizes a project on a given Gradle version.
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Provisions the same Gradle version for different users.
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Provisions the Gradle version for different execution environments (IDEs, CI servers…).
Using the Gradle Wrapper
It is always recommended to execute a build with the Wrapper to ensure a reliable, controlled, and standardized execution of the build.
Depending on the operating system, you run gradlew or gradlew.bat instead of the gradle command.
Typical Gradle invocation:
$ gradle build
To run the Wrapper on a Linux or OSX machine:
$ ./gradlew build
To run the Wrapper on Windows PowerShell:
$ .\gradlew.bat build
The command is run in the same directory that the Wrapper is located in. If you want to run the command in a different directory, you must provide the relative path to the Wrapper:
$ ../gradlew build
The following console output demonstrates the use of the Wrapper on a Windows machine, in the command prompt (cmd), for a Java-based project:
$ gradlew.bat build Downloading https://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-5.0-all.zip ..................................................................................... Unzipping C:\Documents and Settings\Claudia\.gradle\wrapper\dists\gradle-5.0-all\ac27o8rbd0ic8ih41or9l32mv\gradle-5.0-all.zip to C:\Documents and Settings\Claudia\.gradle\wrapper\dists\gradle-5.0-al\ac27o8rbd0ic8ih41or9l32mv Set executable permissions for: C:\Documents and Settings\Claudia\.gradle\wrapper\dists\gradle-5.0-all\ac27o8rbd0ic8ih41or9l32mv\gradle-5.0\bin\gradle BUILD SUCCESSFUL in 12s 1 actionable task: 1 executed
Understanding the Wrapper files
The following files are part of the Gradle Wrapper:
.
├── gradle
│ └── wrapper
│ ├── gradle-wrapper.jar (1)
│ └── gradle-wrapper.properties (2)
├── gradlew (3)
└── gradlew.bat (4)| 1 | gradle-wrapper.jar: This is a small JAR file that contains the Gradle Wrapper code. It is responsible for downloading and installing the correct version of Gradle for a project if it’s not already installed. |
| 2 | gradle-wrapper.properties: This file contains configuration properties for the Gradle Wrapper, such as the distribution URL (where to download Gradle from) and the distribution type (ZIP or TARBALL). |
| 3 | gradlew: This is a shell script (Unix-based systems) that acts as a wrapper around gradle-wrapper.jar. It is used to execute Gradle tasks on Unix-based systems without needing to manually install Gradle. |
| 4 | gradlew.bat: This is a batch script (Windows) that serves the same purpose as gradlew but is used on Windows systems. |
| You should never alter these files. |
If you want to view or update the Gradle version of your project, use the command line. Do not edit the wrapper files manually:
$ ./gradlew --version
$ ./gradlew wrapper --gradle-version 7.2$ gradlew.bat --version
$ gradlew.bat wrapper --gradle-version 7.2Consult the Gradle Wrapper reference to learn more.
Next Step: Learn about the Gradle CLI >>