diff --git a/bcbio/provenance/programs.py b/bcbio/provenance/programs.py
index 38b35d92f..40733800d 100644
--- a/bcbio/provenance/programs.py
+++ b/bcbio/provenance/programs.py
@@ -33,10 +33,11 @@
              {"cmd": "qualimap", "args": "-h", "stdout_flag": "QualiMap"},
              {"cmd": "vcflib", "has_cl_version": False},
              {"cmd": "featurecounts", "args": "-v", "stdout_flag": "featureCounts"}]
-_manifest_progs = ["BubbleTree", "cufflinks-binary", "cnvkit", "gatk-framework", "grabix", "htseq",
-                   "lumpy-sv", "manta", "metasv", "phylowgs", "platypus-variant", "rna-star",
-                   "rtg-tools","sambamba-binary", "samblaster", "scalpel", "vardict",
-                   "vardict-java", "vep", "vt", "wham"]
+_manifest_progs = ["bcbio-variation", "bioconductor-bubbletree", "cufflinks", "cnvkit", "gatk-framework",
+                   "grabix", "htseq", "lumpy-sv", "manta", "metasv", "oncofuse",
+                   "picard", "phylowgs", "platypus-variant",
+                   "rna-star", "rtg-tools", "sambamba", "samblaster", "scalpel", "snpeff", "vardict",
+                   "vardict-java", "varscan", "variant-effect-predictor", "vt", "wham"]
 
 def _broad_versioner(type):
     def get_version(config):
@@ -47,8 +48,6 @@ def get_version(config):
             return ""
         if type == "gatk":
             return runner.get_gatk_version()
-        elif type == "picard":
-            return runner.get_picard_version("ViewSam")
         elif type == "mutect":
             try:
                 runner = broad.runner_from_config(config, "mutect")
@@ -91,21 +90,9 @@ def get_version(config):
         return _get_cl_version(kwargs, config)
     return get_version
 
-_alt_progs = [{"name": "bcbio_variation",
-               "version_fn": jar_versioner("bcbio_variation", "bcbio.variation")},
-              {"name": "gatk", "version_fn": _broad_versioner("gatk")},
+_alt_progs = [{"name": "gatk", "version_fn": _broad_versioner("gatk")},
               {"name": "mutect",
-               "version_fn": _broad_versioner("mutect")},
-              {"name": "picard", "version_fn": _broad_versioner("picard")},
-              {"name": "snpeff",
-               "version_fn": java_versioner("snpeff", "snpEff", stdout_flag="snpEff version SnpEff")},
-              {"name": "varscan",
-               "version_fn": jar_versioner("varscan", "VarScan")},
-              {"name": "oncofuse",
-               "version_fn": jar_versioner("Oncofuse", "Oncofuse")},
-              {"name": "alientrimmer",
-               "version_fn": jar_versioner("AlienTrimmer", "AlienTrimmer")}
-]
+               "version_fn": _broad_versioner("mutect")}]
 
 def _parse_from_stdoutflag(stdout, x):
     for line in stdout:
diff --git a/bcbio/variation/ensemble.py b/bcbio/variation/ensemble.py
index fdaf71526..5d1ce1972 100644
--- a/bcbio/variation/ensemble.py
+++ b/bcbio/variation/ensemble.py
@@ -126,13 +126,11 @@ def _bcbio_variation_ensemble(vrn_files, out_file, ref_file, config_file, base_d
     """
     vrn_files = [_handle_somatic_ensemble(v, data) for v in vrn_files]
     tmp_dir = utils.safe_makedir(os.path.join(base_dir, "tmp"))
-    bv_jar = config_utils.get_jar("bcbio.variation",
-                                  config_utils.get_program("bcbio_variation", data["config"], "dir"))
     resources = config_utils.get_resources("bcbio_variation", data["config"])
     jvm_opts = resources.get("jvm_opts", ["-Xms750m", "-Xmx2g"])
     java_args = ["-Djava.io.tmpdir=%s" % tmp_dir]
-    cmd = ["java"] + jvm_opts + java_args + ["-jar", bv_jar, "variant-ensemble", config_file,
-                                             ref_file, out_file] + vrn_files
+    cmd = ["bcbio-variation"] + jvm_opts + java_args + \
+          ["variant-ensemble", config_file, ref_file, out_file] + vrn_files
     with utils.chdir(base_dir):
         do.run(cmd, "Ensemble calling: %s" % os.path.basename(base_dir))
 
diff --git a/bcbio/variation/validate.py b/bcbio/variation/validate.py
index 2a17441e7..3dfa8dcb1 100644
--- a/bcbio/variation/validate.py
+++ b/bcbio/variation/validate.py
@@ -284,13 +284,10 @@ def bcbio_variation_comparison(config_file, base_dir, data):
     """Run a variant comparison using the bcbio.variation toolkit, given an input configuration.
     """
     tmp_dir = utils.safe_makedir(os.path.join(base_dir, "tmp"))
-    bv_jar = config_utils.get_jar("bcbio.variation",
-                                  config_utils.get_program("bcbio_variation",
-                                                           data["config"], "dir"))
     resources = config_utils.get_resources("bcbio_variation", data["config"])
     jvm_opts = resources.get("jvm_opts", ["-Xms750m", "-Xmx2g"])
-    cmd = ["java"] + jvm_opts + broad.get_default_jvm_opts(tmp_dir) + \
-          ["-jar", bv_jar, "variant-compare", config_file]
+    cmd = ["bcbio-variation"] + jvm_opts + broad.get_default_jvm_opts(tmp_dir) + \
+          ["variant-compare", config_file]
     do.run(cmd, "Comparing variant calls using bcbio.variation", data)
 
 def _create_validate_config_file(vrn_file, rm_file, rm_interval_file,
diff --git a/bcbio/variation/vfilter.py b/bcbio/variation/vfilter.py
index a2628d174..6ca2b69e9 100644
--- a/bcbio/variation/vfilter.py
+++ b/bcbio/variation/vfilter.py
@@ -108,13 +108,11 @@ def _freebayes_custom(in_file, ref_file, data):
     out_file = "%s-filter%s" % os.path.splitext(in_file)
     if not utils.file_exists(out_file):
         tmp_dir = utils.safe_makedir(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(in_file), "tmp"))
-        bv_jar = config_utils.get_jar("bcbio.variation",
-                                      config_utils.get_program("bcbio_variation", config, "dir"))
         resources = config_utils.get_resources("bcbio_variation", config)
         jvm_opts = resources.get("jvm_opts", ["-Xms750m", "-Xmx2g"])
         java_args = ["-Djava.io.tmpdir=%s" % tmp_dir]
-        cmd = ["java"] + jvm_opts + java_args + ["-jar", bv_jar, "variant-filter", "freebayes",
-                                                 in_file, ref_file]
+        cmd = ["bcbio-variation"] + jvm_opts + java_args + \
+              ["variant-filter", "freebayes", in_file, ref_file]
         do.run(cmd, "Custom FreeBayes filtering using bcbio.variation")
     return out_file
 
diff --git a/config/bcbio_system.yaml b/config/bcbio_system.yaml
index 153e16564..54adc9cc2 100644
--- a/config/bcbio_system.yaml
+++ b/config/bcbio_system.yaml
@@ -13,8 +13,6 @@
 #          value is the maximum cores that should be allocated for a program.
 # - jvm_opts: specify details
 # - cmd: Command to launch the program, if not located on PATH.
-# - dir: Directory containing program associated data. Especially useful for
-#        java jars
 resources:
   # default options, used if other items below are not present
   # avoids needing to configure/adjust for every program
@@ -49,32 +47,26 @@ resources:
     jvm_opts: ["-Xms750m", "-Xmx6g"]
   gatk:
     jvm_opts: ["-Xms500m", "-Xmx3500m"]
-    dir: /usr/local/share/java/gatk
   gatk-haplotype:
     jvm_opts: ["-Xms500m", "-Xmx3500m"]
   gatk-vqsr:
     jvm_opts: ["-Xms500m", "-Xmx3500m"]
   picard:
     jvm_opts: ["-Xms750m", "-Xmx3500m"]
-    dir: /usr/local/share/java/picard
   snpeff:
     jvm_opts: ["-Xms750m", "-Xmx6g"]
   bcbio_variation:
     jvm_opts: ["-Xms750m", "-Xmx2500m"]
-    dir: /usr/local/share/java/bcbio_variation
   mutect:
     jvm_opts: ["-Xms750m", "-Xmx2500m"]
-    dir: /usr/local/share/java/mutect
   miraligner:
     jvm_opts: ["-Xms750m", "-Xmx4500m"]
   varscan:
     jvm_opts: ["-Xms750m", "-Xmx2000m"]
-    dir: /usr/local/share/java/varscan
   vardict:
     jvm_opts: ["-Xms750m", "-Xmx3000m"]
   oncofuse:
     jvm_opts: ["-Xms750m", "-Xmx2000m"]
-    dir: /usr/local/share/java/oncofuse
   express:
     memory: 8g
   dexseq:
diff --git a/docs/contents/installation.rst b/docs/contents/installation.rst
index 4a27aec99..0e3e2c225 100644
--- a/docs/contents/installation.rst
+++ b/docs/contents/installation.rst
@@ -158,24 +158,26 @@ GATK and muTect
 
 Calling variants with GATK's HaplotypeCaller or UnifiedGenotyper requires manual
 installation of the latest GATK release. This is freely available for academic
-users, but requires a manual download from the `GATK download`_ site.  Appistry
-provides `a distribution of GATK for commercial users`_. If you don't want to use the restricted
-GATK version, freely available callers like FreeBayes provide a better
-alternative than using older GATK versions. See the `FreeBayes and GATK comparison`_
-for a full evaluation.
+users, but requires a `license for commerical use
+<https://www.broadinstitute.org/gatk/about/#licensing>`_. It is not freely
+redistributable so requires a manual download from the `GATK download`_ site. If
+you don't want to use the restricted GATK version, freely available callers like
+FreeBayes provide a better alternative than using older GATK versions. See the
+`FreeBayes and GATK comparison`_ for a full evaluation.
 
-To install GATK, download and unzip the latest version from the GATK or Appistry
-distributions. Then make this jar available to bcbio-nextgen with::
+To install GATK, download and unzip the latest version from the GATK
+distribution. Then make this jar available to bcbio-nextgen with::
 
     bcbio_nextgen.py upgrade --tools --toolplus gatk=/path/to/gatk/GenomeAnalysisTK.jar
 
 This will copy the jar and update your bcbio_system.yaml and manifest files to
 reflect the new version.
 
-For muTect, we provide the latest 1.1.5 jar, but commercial users need to obtain
-the Appistry muTect distribution. To make this jar available to bcbio-nextgen::
+MuTect also has similar licensing terms and requires a license for commerical
+use. After `downloading the MuTect jar
+<https://www.broadinstitute.org/gatk/download/>`_, make it available to bcbio::
 
-    bcbio_nextgen.py upgrade --tools --toolplus mutect=/path/to/appistry/muTect-1.1.5.jar
+    bcbio_nextgen.py upgrade --tools --toolplus mutect=/path/to/mutect/mutect-1.1.7.jar
 
 Note that muTect does not provide an easy way to query for the current version,
 so your input jar needs to include the version in the name.