diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/ArchiveUtils.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/ArchiveUtils.java
index 24337b4..a05c314 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/ArchiveUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/ArchiveUtils.java
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.io.OutputStream;
+import java.nio.charset.Charset;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.nio.file.FileVisitResult;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
@@ -433,6 +434,48 @@ public static <E extends ArchiveEntry> void createArchive(ArchiveType archiveTyp
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Creates a tar file embedded in a shell script from the contents in {@code directoryToArchive}.
+     *
+     * @param directoryToArchive the directory to archive the contents of
+     * @param archiveFile the file to write the archive to
+     * @throws IOException if an IO error occurs
+     * @throws ArchiveException if an archive error occurs
+     */
+    public static void createEmbeddedTarScript(String shellScript, Path directoryToArchive, Path archiveFile)
+            throws IOException, ArchiveException {
+        try (OutputStream fileOutputStream = new BufferedOutputStream(Files.newOutputStream(archiveFile));
+                TarArchiveOutputStream archiveOutputStream = new ArchiveStreamFactory()
+                        .createArchiveOutputStream(ArchiveType.TAR.getCommonsCompressName(), fileOutputStream)) {
+
+            fileOutputStream.write(shellScript.getBytes(Charset.forName("UTF-8")));
+
+            archiveOutputStream.setLongFileMode(LONGFILE_GNU);
+
+
+            Files.walkFileTree(directoryToArchive, new SimpleFileVisitor<Path>() {
+                @Override public FileVisitResult visitFile(Path file, BasicFileAttributes attrs) throws IOException {
+                    createAndPutArchiveEntry(ArchiveType.TAR, archiveOutputStream, directoryToArchive, file);
+                    archiveOutputStream.closeArchiveEntry();
+                    return FileVisitResult.CONTINUE;
+                }
+
+                @Override public FileVisitResult preVisitDirectory(Path dir, BasicFileAttributes attrs) throws IOException {
+                    if (Files.isSameFile(dir, directoryToArchive)) {
+                        return FileVisitResult.CONTINUE;
+                    }
+
+                    TarArchiveEntry entry = archiveOutputStream.createArchiveEntry(dir.toFile(), getRelativePathString(dir, directoryToArchive));
+                    archiveOutputStream.putArchiveEntry(entry);
+                    archiveOutputStream.closeArchiveEntry();
+                    return FileVisitResult.CONTINUE;
+                }
+            });
+
+            archiveOutputStream.finish();
+        }
+    }
+
     @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
     private static void createAndPutArchiveEntry(ArchiveType archiveType, ArchiveOutputStream<? extends ArchiveEntry> archiveOutputStream,
             Path directoryToArchive, Path filePathToArchive) throws IOException {
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/FileUtils.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/FileUtils.java
index 67e318b..0ebffcc 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/FileUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/FileUtils.java
@@ -107,6 +107,25 @@ public static void createZipArchive(Path directory, Path destination) throws IOE
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Create a tar file embedded in a shell script of the provided directory, maintaining file attributes.
+     * The destination file must not already exist.
+     *
+     * @param directory directory to zip
+     * @param destination destination file (must not exist)
+     * @throws IOException
+     */
+    public static void createEmbeddedTarScript(String script, Path directory, Path destination) throws IOException {
+        if (Files.exists(destination)) {
+            throw new IOException(destination.toString());
+        }
+        try {
+            ArchiveUtils.createEmbeddedTarScript(script, directory, destination);
+        } catch (ArchiveException ex) {
+            throw new IOException(ex);
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Extract an archive into the given destination directory, maintaining file
      * attributes where possible. The destination directory must already exist.
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/NBPackage.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/NBPackage.java
index c538fe6..de54441 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/NBPackage.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/NBPackage.java
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 import org.apache.netbeans.nbpackage.innosetup.InnoSetupPackager;
 import org.apache.netbeans.nbpackage.macos.PkgPackager;
 import org.apache.netbeans.nbpackage.rpm.RpmPackager;
+import org.apache.netbeans.nbpackage.tar.TarScriptPackager;
 import org.apache.netbeans.nbpackage.zip.ZipPackager;
 
 /**
@@ -130,6 +131,7 @@ public final class NBPackage {
             new AppImagePackager(),
             new DebPackager(),
             new RpmPackager(),
+            new TarScriptPackager(),
             new InnoSetupPackager(),
             new PkgPackager(),
             new ZipPackager()
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/tar/TarScriptPackageTask.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/tar/TarScriptPackageTask.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5e66d45
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/tar/TarScriptPackageTask.java
@@ -0,0 +1,180 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.netbeans.nbpackage.tar;
+
+import org.apache.netbeans.nbpackage.AbstractPackagerTask;
+import org.apache.netbeans.nbpackage.Architecture;
+import org.apache.netbeans.nbpackage.ExecutionContext;
+import org.apache.netbeans.nbpackage.FileUtils;
+import org.apache.netbeans.nbpackage.NBPackage;
+import org.apache.netbeans.nbpackage.StringUtils;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.nio.file.attribute.PosixFilePermissions;
+import java.util.Locale;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Optional;
+import static org.apache.netbeans.nbpackage.Architecture.AARCH64;
+import static org.apache.netbeans.nbpackage.Architecture.X86_64;
+
+class TarScriptPackageTask extends AbstractPackagerTask {
+
+    private static final String ARCH_AARCH64 = "aarch64";
+    private static final String ARCH_X86_64 = "x86_64";
+    private static final String ARCH_NOARCH = "noarch";
+
+    private String packageArch;
+
+    TarScriptPackageTask(ExecutionContext context) {
+        super(context);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected void customizeImage(Path image) throws Exception {
+        String appDir = findLauncher(
+                image.resolve("APPDIR").resolve("bin"))
+                .getFileName().toString();
+
+        Path launcherDir = calculateAppPath(image).resolve("launcher");
+        Files.createDirectories(launcherDir);
+
+        Path icon = context().getValue(TarScriptPackager.ICON_PATH).orElse(null);
+        Path svg = context().getValue(TarScriptPackager.SVG_ICON_PATH).orElse(null);
+        if (svg != null && icon == null) {
+            context().warningHandler().accept(TarScriptPackager.MESSAGES.getString("message.svgnoicon"));
+            svg = null;
+        }
+
+        if (icon != null) {
+            Files.copy(icon, launcherDir.resolve(appDir + ".png"));
+        } else {
+            Files.copy(getClass().getResourceAsStream(
+                    "/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/apache-netbeans-48x48.png"),
+                    launcherDir.resolve(appDir + ".png"));
+        }
+        if (svg != null) {
+            Files.copy(svg, launcherDir.resolve(appDir + ".svg"));
+        } else if (icon == null) {
+            Files.copy(getClass().getResourceAsStream(
+                    "/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/apache-netbeans.svg"),
+                    launcherDir.resolve(appDir + ".svg"));
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected Path buildPackage(Path image) throws Exception {
+        String appDir = findLauncher(
+                image.resolve("APPDIR").resolve("bin"))
+                .getFileName().toString();
+
+        String appName = context().getValue(NBPackage.PACKAGE_NAME).orElse(appDir);
+        String appNameSafe = sanitize(appName);
+
+        Path dst = context().destination().resolve(image.getFileName().toString() + ".sh");
+
+        String desktop = setupDesktopFile("exe", "icon");
+
+        String launcher = TarScriptPackager.LAUNCHER_TEMPLATE.load(context());
+
+        String template = TarScriptPackager.TAR_SCRIPT_TEMPLATE.load(context());
+        Map<String, String> tokens = Map.of("package.tar.app_name_safe", appNameSafe,
+                                            "package.tar.app_name", appName, "package.tar.app_dir", appDir,
+                                            "package.tar.desktop", desktop, "package.tar.launcher", launcher);
+        String script = StringUtils.replaceTokens(template,
+                key -> {
+                    var ret = tokens.get(key);
+                    if (ret != null) {
+                        return ret;
+                    } else {
+                        return context().tokenReplacementFor(key);
+                    }
+                });
+
+        FileUtils.createEmbeddedTarScript(script, image, dst);
+
+        try {
+            Files.setPosixFilePermissions(dst, PosixFilePermissions.fromString("rwxr-xr-x"));
+        } catch (UnsupportedOperationException ex) {
+            context().warningHandler().accept("UnsupportedOperationException : PosixFilePermissions");
+        }
+        return dst;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected String calculateImageName(Path input) throws Exception {
+        return super.calculateImageName(input) + "." + packageArch();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected Path calculateRuntimePath(Path image, Path application) throws Exception {
+        return application.resolve("jdk");
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected Path calculateAppPath(Path image) throws IOException {
+        return image.resolve("APPDIR");
+    }
+
+
+    private String packageArch() {
+        if (packageArch == null) {
+            packageArch = context().getValue(NBPackage.PACKAGE_ARCH)
+                    .orElseGet(() -> {
+                        Optional<Path> runtime = context().getValue(NBPackage.PACKAGE_RUNTIME);
+                        if (runtime.isPresent()) {
+                            return Architecture.detectFromPath(
+                                    runtime.get()).map(a -> {
+                                return switch (a) {
+                                    case AARCH64 ->
+                                        ARCH_AARCH64;
+                                    case X86_64 ->
+                                        ARCH_X86_64;
+                                };
+                            }).orElseGet(() -> {
+                                context().warningHandler().accept(
+                                        TarScriptPackager.MESSAGES.getString("message.unknownarch"));
+                                return ARCH_NOARCH;
+                            });
+                        } else {
+                            return ARCH_NOARCH;
+                        }
+                    });
+        }
+        return packageArch;
+    }
+
+    private String sanitize(String text) {
+        return text.toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT)
+                .replaceAll("[^a-z0-9\\+\\-\\.]", "-");
+    }
+
+    private Path findLauncher(Path binDir) throws IOException {
+        try ( var files = Files.list(binDir)) {
+            return files.filter(f -> !f.getFileName().toString().endsWith(".exe"))
+                    .findFirst().orElseThrow(IOException::new);
+        }
+    }
+
+    private String setupDesktopFile(String exec, String pkgName) throws IOException {
+        String template = TarScriptPackager.DESKTOP_TEMPLATE.load(context());
+        return context().replaceTokens(template);
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/tar/TarScriptPackager.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/tar/TarScriptPackager.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1329905
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/tar/TarScriptPackager.java
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.netbeans.nbpackage.tar;
+
+import org.apache.netbeans.nbpackage.ExecutionContext;
+import org.apache.netbeans.nbpackage.Option;
+import org.apache.netbeans.nbpackage.Packager;
+import org.apache.netbeans.nbpackage.Template;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.ResourceBundle;
+import java.util.stream.Stream;
+
+/**
+ * Packager for Linux embedded tar in script installer.
+ */
+public class TarScriptPackager implements Packager {
+
+    static final ResourceBundle MESSAGES
+            = ResourceBundle.getBundle(TarScriptPackager.class.getPackageName() + ".Messages");
+
+    /**
+     * Path to png icon (48x48) as required by AppDir / XDG specification.
+     * Defaults to Apache NetBeans icon.
+     */
+    static final Option<Path> ICON_PATH
+            = Option.ofPath("package.tar.icon",
+                    MESSAGES.getString("option.icon.help"));
+
+    /**
+     * Path to svg icon. Defaults to Apache NetBeans icon.
+     */
+    static final Option<Path> SVG_ICON_PATH
+            = Option.ofPath("package.tar.svg-icon",
+                    MESSAGES.getString("option.svg.help"));
+
+    /**
+     * Name for the .desktop file (without suffix). Defaults to sanitized
+     * version of package name.
+     */
+    static final Option<String> DESKTOP_FILENAME
+            = Option.ofString("package.tar.desktop-filename",
+                    MESSAGES.getString("option.desktopfilename.help"));
+
+    /**
+     * StartupWMClass to set in .desktop file.
+     */
+    static final Option<String> DESKTOP_WMCLASS
+            = Option.ofString("package.tar.wmclass",
+                    MESSAGES.getString("option.wmclass.default"),
+                    MESSAGES.getString("option.wmclass.help"));
+
+    /**
+     * Category (or categories) to set in .desktop file.
+     */
+    static final Option<String> DESKTOP_CATEGORY
+            = Option.ofString("package.tar.category",
+                    MESSAGES.getString("option.category.default"),
+                    MESSAGES.getString("option.category.help"));
+
+    /**
+     * Optional path to custom .desktop template.
+     */
+    static final Option<Path> DESKTOP_TEMPLATE_PATH
+            = Option.ofPath("package.tar.desktop-template",
+                    MESSAGES.getString("option.desktop_template.help"));
+
+    /**
+     * Desktop file template.
+     */
+    static final Template DESKTOP_TEMPLATE
+            = Template.of(DESKTOP_TEMPLATE_PATH, "tar.desktop.template",
+                    () -> TarScriptPackager.class.getResourceAsStream("tar.desktop.template"));
+
+    /**
+     * Optional path to custom launcher template.
+     */
+    static final Option<Path> LAUNCHER_TEMPLATE_PATH
+            = Option.ofPath("package.tar.launcher-template",
+                    MESSAGES.getString("option.launcher_template.help"));
+
+    /**
+     * Launcher script template.
+     */
+    static final Template LAUNCHER_TEMPLATE
+            = Template.of(LAUNCHER_TEMPLATE_PATH, "tar.launcher.template",
+                    () -> TarScriptPackager.class.getResourceAsStream("tar.launcher.template"));
+
+    /**
+     * Path to alternative tar script template.
+     */
+    static final Option<Path> TAR_SCRIPT_TEMPLATE_PATH
+            = Option.ofPath("package.tar.template", "",
+                    MESSAGES.getString("option.template.help"));
+
+    /**
+     * Shell file template.
+     */
+    static final Template TAR_SCRIPT_TEMPLATE
+            = Template.of(TAR_SCRIPT_TEMPLATE_PATH, "tar.script.template",
+                    () -> TarScriptPackager.class.getResourceAsStream("tar.script.template"));
+
+    private static final List<Option<?>> TAR_SCRIPT_OPTIONS
+            = List.of(ICON_PATH, SVG_ICON_PATH, DESKTOP_FILENAME, DESKTOP_WMCLASS,
+                    DESKTOP_CATEGORY, DESKTOP_TEMPLATE_PATH, LAUNCHER_TEMPLATE_PATH);
+
+    private static final List<Template> TAR_SCRIPT_TEMPLATES
+            = List.of(TAR_SCRIPT_TEMPLATE, DESKTOP_TEMPLATE, LAUNCHER_TEMPLATE);
+
+    @Override
+    public Task createTask(ExecutionContext context) {
+        return new TarScriptPackageTask(context);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String name() {
+        return "linux-tar-script";
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Stream<Option<?>> options() {
+        return TAR_SCRIPT_OPTIONS.stream();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Stream<Template> templates() {
+        return TAR_SCRIPT_TEMPLATES.stream();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/resources/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/tar/Messages.properties b/src/main/resources/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/tar/Messages.properties
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c9dc790
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/resources/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/tar/Messages.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+# Option file help comments
+option.icon.help=Path to 48x48 png icon as required by xdg specification. Defaults to Apache NetBeans logo.
+option.svg.help=Path to SVG icon. Will only be used if package.tar.icon also set. Defaults to Apache NetBeans logo.
+option.wmclass.help=StartupWMClass to set in .desktop file. Should match the WMClass of the main application window.
+option.category.help=Application category (or categories) to use in the .desktop file.
+option.desktopfilename.help=Optional name for .desktop file (without suffix). Defaults to sanitized package name.
+option.desktop_template.help=Optional path to custom .desktop file template.
+option.launcher_template.help=Optional path to custom launcher script template.
+option.template.help=Optional path to an alternative tar script (*.sh) file template.
+
+# Option defaults
+option.wmclass.default=${package.name}
+option.category.default=Development;Java;IDE;
+
+# Messages
+message.svgnoicon=The package.tar.icon-svg option is set, but package.tar.icon is not. Using default icons.
+message.unknownarch=Could not detect architecture from runtime, defaulting to any.
+message.validatingtools=Validating required tools - {0}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/resources/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/tar/tar.desktop.template b/src/main/resources/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/tar/tar.desktop.template
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..19edd35
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/resources/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/tar/tar.desktop.template
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+[Desktop Entry]
+Name=${package.name}
+Exec=${launcher_path}
+Icon=${icon_path}
+Categories=${package.tar.category}
+Version=1.0
+Type=Application
+Terminal=false
+StartupWMClass=${package.name} ${package.version}
diff --git a/src/main/resources/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/tar/tar.launcher.template b/src/main/resources/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/tar/tar.launcher.template
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4c6e7c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/resources/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/tar/tar.launcher.template
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+if [ -d "_install_path_/jdk" ] ; then
+  if [ -z "$JAVA_HOME" ] ; then
+    export JAVA_HOME="_install_path_/jdk/"
+  fi
+  exec "_exec_path_" --jdkhome "_install_path_/jdk" "$@"
+else
+  exec "_exec_path_" "$@"
+fi
diff --git a/src/main/resources/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/tar/tar.script.template b/src/main/resources/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/tar/tar.script.template
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0930ea3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/resources/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/tar/tar.script.template
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+if ! [ $(id -u) = 0 ]; then
+   default_install_prefix=$HOME/.local
+   desktop_file_install_dir=$HOME/.local/share/applications
+else
+   default_install_prefix=/usr/local
+   desktop_file_install_dir=/usr/local/share/applications
+fi
+
+read -p "Enter ${package.tar.app_name} Install Prefix [${default_install_prefix}]/${package.tar.app_dir}: " install_prefix
+install_prefix=${install_prefix:-$default_install_prefix}
+install_path=${install_prefix}/${package.tar.app_dir}
+
+exec_path=${install_path}/bin/${package.tar.app_dir}
+launcher_path=${install_path}/launcher/${package.tar.app_dir}
+icon_path=${install_path}/launcher/${package.tar.app_dir}.svg
+desktop_path=${install_path}/launcher/${package.tar.app_dir}.desktop
+
+if [ ! -d ${install_path} ]; then
+    mkdir -p ${install_path}
+fi
+
+echo "Installing ${package.tar.app_name} in ${install_path}"
+tarfile=$(awk '/^__TARFILE_FOLLOWS__/ { print NR + 1; exit 0; }' $0)
+
+tail -n +${tarfile} $0 | tar x --strip-components=1 -C $install_path
+
+cat > ${launcher_path}  << "EOF"
+${package.tar.launcher}
+EOF
+
+chmod a+x ${launcher_path}
+
+sed -i 's/"JAVA_HOME"/"\$JAVA_HOME"/g' ${launcher_path}
+sed -i "s/_exec_path_/${exec_path//\//\\/}/g" ${launcher_path}
+sed -i "s/_install_path_/${install_path//\//\\/}/g" ${launcher_path}
+
+cat > ${desktop_path}  << EOF
+${package.tar.desktop}
+EOF
+
+desktop-file-install --dir=${desktop_file_install_dir} ${desktop_path}
+
+exit 0
+# NOTE: Don't place any newline characters after the last line below.
+__TARFILE_FOLLOWS__
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/TestUtils.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/TestUtils.java
index 21fc4e1..40dc73f 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/TestUtils.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/TestUtils.java
@@ -18,9 +18,12 @@
  */
 package org.apache.netbeans.nbpackage;
 
+import java.io.BufferedReader;
+import java.io.FileReader;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
 /**
  * Utility methods for tests.
@@ -93,6 +96,23 @@ public static Path buildImage(Packager packager, Path input,
         return exec.execute();
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Build an package using the provided packager and configuration.
+     *
+     * @param packager packager to use
+     * @param input input application
+     * @param config configuration
+     * @param destination output directory
+     * @return path to created package
+     * @throws Exception
+     */
+    public static Path buildPackage(Packager packager, Path input,
+            Configuration config, Path destination) throws Exception {
+        ExecutionContext exec = new ExecutionContext(
+                packager, input, config, destination, false);
+        return exec.execute();
+    }
+
     /**
      * Utility to resolve paths.
      *
@@ -108,4 +128,30 @@ public static Path resolve(Path path, String... fragments) {
         return result;
     }
 
+
+    /**
+     * Utility to read file until regex pattern matches.
+     *
+     * @param path file path
+     * @param regex the regex pattern
+     * @return String read from file
+     * @throws java.io.IOException
+     */
+    public static String readFileToString(Path path, String regex)
+            throws IOException {
+        StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder();
+        Pattern match = Pattern.compile(regex);
+
+        try (BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(path.toFile()))) {
+            String line;
+            while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
+                result.append(line);
+                if (match.matcher(line).matches()) {
+                    break;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        return result.toString();
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/tar/TarScriptPackagerTest.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/tar/TarScriptPackagerTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7b22e12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/netbeans/nbpackage/tar/TarScriptPackagerTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.netbeans.nbpackage.tar;
+
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import org.apache.netbeans.nbpackage.Configuration;
+import org.apache.netbeans.nbpackage.FileUtils;
+import org.apache.netbeans.nbpackage.NBPackage;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.io.CleanupMode;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.io.TempDir;
+
+import static org.apache.netbeans.nbpackage.TestUtils.*;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.*;
+
+/**
+ * Tests for TarScriptPackager.
+ */
+public class TarScriptPackagerTest {
+
+    private @TempDir(cleanup = CleanupMode.ON_SUCCESS) Path tmpDir;
+
+    @Test
+    public void testImageWithoutRuntime() throws Exception {
+        Path input = tmpDir.resolve("App-1.0-b1.zip");
+        FileUtils.createZipArchive(
+                buildFakeApp(tmpDir, "App-1.0-b1", "app"),
+                input);
+        Configuration config = Configuration.builder()
+                .set(NBPackage.PACKAGE_NAME, "App")
+                .set(NBPackage.PACKAGE_VERSION, "1.0-b1")
+                .build();
+        Path image = buildImage(new TarScriptPackager(), input, config, tmpDir);
+        assertTrue(image.getFileName().toString().endsWith(".noarch"));
+
+        Path root = resolve(image, "APPDIR");
+        assertTrue(Files.exists(resolve(root, "bin", "app")));
+        assertTrue(Files.exists(resolve(root, "launcher", "app.png")));
+        assertTrue(Files.exists(resolve(root, "launcher", "app.svg")));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testImageWithX86_64Runtime() throws Exception {
+        Path input = tmpDir.resolve("App-1.0-b1.zip");
+        FileUtils.createZipArchive(
+                buildFakeApp(tmpDir, "App-1.0-b1", "app"),
+                input);
+        String runtimeName = "OpenJDK24U-jdk_x64_linux_hotspot_24.0.1_9";
+        Path runtime = tmpDir.resolve(runtimeName + ".zip");
+        FileUtils.createZipArchive(
+                buildFakeJDK(tmpDir, runtimeName, false),
+                runtime);
+        Configuration config = Configuration.builder()
+                .set(NBPackage.PACKAGE_NAME, "App")
+                .set(NBPackage.PACKAGE_VERSION, "1.0-b1")
+                .set(NBPackage.PACKAGE_RUNTIME, runtime.toString())
+                .build();
+        Path image = buildImage(new TarScriptPackager(), input, config, tmpDir);
+        assertTrue(image.getFileName().toString().endsWith(".x86_64"));
+
+        Path root = resolve(image, "APPDIR");
+        assertTrue(Files.exists(resolve(root, "bin", "app")));
+        assertTrue(Files.exists(resolve(root, "jdk", "bin", "java")));
+        assertTrue(Files.exists(resolve(root, "launcher", "app.png")));
+        assertTrue(Files.exists(resolve(root, "launcher", "app.svg")));
+    }
+
+
+    @Test
+    public void testPackageScript() throws Exception {
+        Path input = tmpDir.resolve("App-1.0-b1.zip");
+        FileUtils.createZipArchive(
+                buildFakeApp(tmpDir, "App-1.0-b1", "app"),
+                input);
+        Configuration config = Configuration.builder()
+                .set(NBPackage.PACKAGE_NAME, "App")
+                .set(NBPackage.PACKAGE_VERSION, "1.0-b1")
+                .build();
+        Path script = buildPackage(new TarScriptPackager(), input, config, tmpDir);
+        assertTrue(script.getFileName().toString().endsWith(".sh"));
+
+        String scriptText = readFileToString(script, "^__TARFILE_FOLLOWS__");
+
+        assertTrue(scriptText.contains("exec_path=${install_path}/bin/app"));
+        assertTrue(scriptText.contains("launcher_path=${install_path}/launcher/app"));
+        assertTrue(scriptText.contains("icon_path=${install_path}/launcher/app.svg"));
+        assertTrue(scriptText.contains("desktop_path=${install_path}/launcher/app.desktop"));
+        assertTrue(scriptText.contains("[Desktop Entry]"));
+    }
+}