If you have a Java Jar file, you can run it as a service under Linux/Ubuntu.
sudo ln -s /var/www/japi-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar /etc/init.d/japi
Now you can use the default init.d verbs [start,stop,restart,status].
Additionally, init.d also gives the following.
Usage for your new init.d service
Usage: /etc/init.d/japi {start|stop|force-stop|restart|force-reload|status|run}
Start Java Service
sudo /etc/init.d/japi start
Stop Java Service
sudo /etc/init.d/japi stop
Restart Java Service
sudo /etc/init.d/japi restart
Status Information
sudo /etc/init.d/japi status