'"java.exe" exited with code 2 Xamarin.Android project

so I have my Xamarin.Android project which contains several libraries. When I try to build I receive an error which says "java.exe" exited with code 2.

After some hours of google research I found out that I could enable Multidex. According to the blog entry of Jon Doublas I did the steps mentioned. http://www.jon-douglas.com/2016/09/05/xamarin-android-multidex/

According to the blog entry Android API Level > 21 handles Multidex itself. Well my experience is that it does not. I am building on API Level 25 and get the same error again and again with the same information. The steps in the article do not help. It seems like Xamarin.Android does not support Multidex.

It seems like you have to handle Multidex by yourself but I haven't found any solution which is working. Dos anybody found a solution which works?

I am using Xamarin 4.6 and Visual studio 2017.

Solution 1:^[1]

Found the answer after about 20 hours of searching in my project.. So here are the steps to resolve the problem "java.exe" exited with code 2

1) Change the MainDexClasses.bat as described in the link:

http://www.jon-douglas.com/2016/09/05/xamarin-android-multidex/

2) Make sure you have enabled Multidex Option in your Android Application! Have a look at the .csprj file if Multidex is set to true (in my case it wasn't even if I enabled Multidex)

3) Add the following part in your AndroidManifest file

<application android:name="android.support.multidex.MultiDexApplication"></application>

This will tell your Android project to actually use the Multidex-Option given.

After a clean and build I was able to run my application as it is.

Solution 2:^[2]

After finding this question and @Daniel_97s answer I was able to solve this error only by adding multidex to the project without changing MainDexClasses.bat:

Check the option in Project Options:

Add MultiDexApplication to Android Manifest:

<application android:name="android.support.multidex.MultiDexApplication"></application>

Note I was getting this error code 2 on Visual Studio for Mac and on Windows the same app was building successfully. (why?)

Solution 3:^[3]

The solution in my case was to disable the "Sign the .APK file using the following keystore details". Because the keystore location and/or password was incorrect, java.exe exited with code 2.

Solution 4:^[4]

I only go to option > Build > Android Build and check Enable Multi-Dex it will resolve

Solution 5:^[5]

My .csproj file had an entry for the KeyStore that was no longer valid, even thought right-clicking the project and inspecting the properties indicated that I had pointed it to the new location.

Within .csproj look for all instances of <AndroidSigningKeyStore> and update accordingly.

Solution 6:^[6]

I've struggled with this issue for quite a long time. I found source of the error in signing - as I cloned project repo from company TFS, Android csproj file had entries for KeyStore settings and location. I didn't have the keystore and the location on my drive was invalid. Visual Studio is then unable to sign the app while deploying and instead of some sort of FileNotFoundException it gave me just java exited with code 2. So...

tl;dr: Go to android project properties, select package signing a uncheck "Sign the apk file..." (which changes csproj <AndroidKeyStore>true</AndroidKeyStore> to false) and voila, you can now run your solution.

Solution 7:^[7]

Reassign the path of the keystore worked for me

==EDIT 01==

Double click on Android Project > Android Package Signing

On the Keystore path, don't know why but apparently the path was wrong, I re-select the .keystore file again from the same path, and the error "exited with code 2" went away and I was able to Archive for release

Solution 8:^[8]

Disable sign the .APK file using the following keystore details as @Klemikaze

Solution 9:^[9]

I had this error when switching from VS Mac to VS Windows.

Here the topic Switching From VS Mac To VS Windows got “java.exe” exited with code 2

The issue was comming from the Android.csproj and the Keystore Path.
It was set to my Mac Path even if I changed it on

VSWindows AndroidProject => Properties => Signin

So I removed this lines on Android.csproj (edited with third text editor):

<AndroidKeyStore>True</AndroidKeyStore>
<AndroidSigningKeyStore>YourMacPath/Alias.keystore</AndroidSigningKeyStore>
<AndroidSigningStorePass>Password</AndroidSigningStorePass>
<AndroidSigningKeyAlias>Alias</AndroidSigningKeyAlias>
<AndroidSigningKeyPass>AliasPassword</AndroidSigningKeyPass>

On debug & release Part.

Then you can edit them on VS Windows.

Hope I helped someone. See ya

Solution 10:^[10]

In my case this was link to the "Sign the .APK file using the following keystore details" option as Hein Andre Grønnestad mentioned. The location was not correct.

I wanted to put a path that could work for everyone at work so I used $HOME/Library/... instead of /Users/Me/Library/...

The problem is $HOME doesn't mean anything special for java so the keystore file could not be found.

Solution: use relative path or absolute path without $HOME variable or ~

Solution 11:^[11]

For me, it was a problem with my Keystore. Follow this link to enable diagnostics. This will give you a more detailed error message in the output window. If it says that your keystore failed to verify, you will have to fix your keystore. This solved the problem for me.

Solution 12:^[12]

Please Update your Visual Studio to Latest version, if you are still using an old version.

If you think there is no solution then go and enable the Multidex

Solution 13:^[13]

In my case the one of keystore details was wrong, after saving-> cleaning -> building process it worked.

Solution 14:^[14]

Try reset the keystore <AndroidSigningKeyStore> or change to false the key

<AndroidKeyStore>true</AndroidKeyStore>

Only to check. But remembering that it needs to be set to true.

After Clean and Rebuild the solution.

Solution 15:^[15]

For me it turned out I had Eclipse Temurin JDK installed and that was being used. In VS Tools>Options>Xamarin I changed the path to Java Development Kit Location to from the Eclipse path to C:\Program Files\Microsoft\jdk-11.0.12.7-hotspot. Maybe more importantly, I discovered Eclipse Temurin JDK was being used by running: msbuild /bl /t:"Restore;SignAndroidPackage" in my solution dir and then opening the resulting msbuild.binlog and clicking on the few errors and a path with Eclipse stood out. Your problem may be different but finding it this way may be the key to solving it. EDIT: My settings don't stick after closing and reopening VS 2019. At this point I started using VS 2022 and don't have the issue.

Solution 16:^[16]

Note: Multi-dex is enabled.

After 5 hours of looking or an answer, this is the conclusion I've found -

Enable diagnostic MSBuild output within Visual Studio, so you can see more details about your error:

Click Tools > Options...

In the left-hand tree view, select Projects and Solutions > Build and Run

In the right-hand panel, set the MSBuild build output verbosity dropdown to Diagnostic, Click OK

Clean and rebuild your package. Diagnostic output is visible within the Output panel.

If your error shows "java.io.IOException: Invalid keystore format", you are probably using an outdated Java sdk file, so do next:

Open Visual Studio and update the Java Development Kit Location to point to the new JDK under Tools > Options > Xamarin > Android Settings > Java Development Kit Location:

Be sure to restart Visual Studio.

Solution 17:^[17]

My experience is...

I updated the following elements:

Xamarin.Android.Support.Design
Xamarin.Android.Support.v4
Xamarin.Android.Support.v7.AppCompat
Xamarin.Android.Support.v7.CardView
Xamarin.Android.Support.v7.MediaRouter

from 26.1.0.1 to 28.0.0.3

Then, after it started the issue with:

"java.exe" exited with code 2 Xamarin.Android project.

I just ticked the Enable Multi-Dex inside the Android project property. I am using VS 2017 in windows system.

Sources

This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Overflow and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Source: Stack Overflow

Solution	Source
Solution 1	Randika Vishman
Solution 2
Solution 3	Hein Andre Grønnestad
Solution 4	Vermoric Huynh
Solution 5	Le-roy Staines
Solution 6	Klemikaze
Solution 7
Solution 8	Java_Dude
Solution 9	G Clovs
Solution 10	HBock
Solution 11	pseudoabdul
Solution 12	Zumry Mohamed
Solution 13	100RaBH
Solution 14
Solution 15
Solution 16	aca
Solution 17	Jan Schultke

'"java.exe" exited with code 2 Xamarin.Android project

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So I removed this lines on Android.csproj (edited with third text editor):

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