I am running a web application using Tomcat, JDK8 and Netbeans IDE (using ANT for build and IVY for dependency management).
I currently place JARs that need to be available to the JRE (servlet-api.jar, jsp-api.jar, el-api.jar, tomcat-dbcp.jar) in JAVA_HOME/jre/lib/ext.
I'm upgrading to a new JDK version (JDK17), which no longer has the JRE extensions folder. I'm wondering where I should place these JARs.
According to this post (and others I've seen), it is better practice to use a dependency manager and add these jars to your classpath anyway.
I currently use IVY to manage my dependencies and have customized my ANT build to add run-time dependencies to the WEB-INF/lib folder of the built WAR file.
However, I do not need the JARs I listed above to be available to my application at runtime, I need them to be available to the JRE. That is, I do not want the JARs (servlet-api.jar, etc.) to be in WEB-INF/lib of my built WAR file.
How can I do this?
Sharpening my final questions:
How can I make certain JARs/dependencies available to the JRE in Netbeans in my development environment?
How can I make certain JARs/dependencies available to the JRE in the built WAR file used on my production environment?
Am I correct in saying that these JARs need to be available to the JRE? All of the posts I've seen discuss compile-time vs run-time dependencies but it seems the case I'm describing is a different category of dependency. Is this correct?
I currently place JARs that need to be available to the JRE (servlet-api.jar, jsp-api.jar, el-api.jar, tomcat-dbcp.jar) in JAVA_HOME/jre/lib/ext.
That's not the best way to do things. See Is putting external jars in the JAVA_HOME/lib/ext directory a bad thing?
Note that the jre/lib/ext mechanism has been removed from newer versions of Java, so this will not work anymore if you use a newer version of Java. (This has been removed in JDK 9).
However, I do not need the JARs I listed above to be available to my application at runtime, I need them to be available to the JRE.
Why?
That is, I do not want the JARs (servlet-api.jar, etc.) to be in WEB-INF/lib of my built WAR file. How can I do this?
Why not? Putting the dependencies that your application needs in WEB-INF/lib is the normal thing to do in Java web applications. Why do you want to do things the non-standard way?
But: Some JAR files, such as servlet-api.jar, jsp-api.jar and el-api.jar are not supposed to be included in your application. Those JAR files define standard Java EE / Jakarta EE APIs and will be provided to your application at runtime by the application server (Tomcat, etc.) that you deploy your WAR file in.
You can add those JAR files as dependencies using Maven with provided scope, which means they will be used while compiling, but won't be packaged into your application.
Am I correct in saying that these JARs need to be available to the JRE?
No, those JARs do not need to be available to the JRE. JAR files that contain standard APIs will be provided by your Java EE / Jakarta EE container at runtime. Other JAR files should be included in your application in WEB-INF/lib.
Related
I have a system where modules are build and deployed into a system. All jars are located under lib folder in that system. My jar has a dependency to commons-io of version 2.0 and other module has dependency to commons-io, too but of version 1.1. So, both versions are deployed to lib folder. There is a method that exists in 2.0 but not in 1.1. When I ran my own jar, it goes and picks old version which is 1.1 ,and it causes NoSuchMethodError. I am using maven. Is there a way to force my module to use the version that I set in pom.xml? I cannot ask other module maintainer for a version change as this lib comes as 4th level transitive dependency.
If you have two different versions of the same JAR in the lib folder and load the whole lib folder onto the classpath, then you are playing roulette.
The JVM may pick one or the other version, and while in theory, you probably can figure out the rules, in practise, it is just unstable.
So, what can you do? Some alternatives:
Remove the version 1.1 from the lib folder and see whether the other module runs with 2.0 as well (often, version upgrades are more or less compatible)
Use two different lib folders, or construct the classpath manually for the two JARs. Only possible if they do not run in the same JVM.
Use the maven shade plugin to shade the required library into your own JAR.
Most of commons-io is obsolete by now because adequate classes/methods are already part of the JDK (from Java 8 upwards). So you might just be able to remove commons-io from your project and do the file handling with Java itself.
How should I add JAR libraries to a WAR project in Eclipse without facing java.lang.ClassNotFoundException or java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError?
The CLASSPATH environment variable does not seem to work. In some cases we add JAR files to the Build Path property of Eclipse project to make the code compile. We sometimes need to put JAR files inside /WEB-INF/lib folder of the Java EE web application to make the code to run on classes inside that JAR.
I do not exactly understand why CLASSPATH does not work and in which cases we should add JARs to Build Path and when exactly those JARs should be placed in /WEB-INF/lib.
The CLASSPATH environment variable is only used by the java.exe command and even then only when the command is invoked without any of the -cp, -classpath, -jar arguments. The CLASSPATH environment variable is ignored by IDEs like Eclipse, Netbeans and IDEA. See also java.lang.ClassNotFoundException in spite of using CLASSPATH environment variable.
The Build Path is only for libraries which are required to get the project's code to compile. Manually placing JAR in /WEB-INF/lib, or setting the Deployment Assembly, or letting an external build system like Maven place the <dependency> as JAR in /WEB-INF/lib of produced WAR during the build, is only for libraries which are required to get the code to deploy and run on the target environment too. Do note that you're not supposed to create subfolders in /WEB-INF/lib. The JARs have to be placed in the root.
Some libraries are already provided by the target JEE server or servletcontainer, such as JSP, Servlet, EL, etc. So you do not need put JARs of those libraries in /WEB-INF/lib. Moreover, it would only cause classloading trouble. It's sufficient to (indirectly) specify them in Build Path only. In Eclipse, you normally do that by setting the Targeted Runtime accordingly. It will automatically end up in Build Path. You do not need to manually add them to Build Path. See also How do I import the javax.servlet / jakarta.servlet API in my Eclipse project?
Other libraries, usually 3rd party ones like Apache Commons, JDBC drivers and JEE libraries which are not provided by the target servletcontainer (e.g. Tomcat doesn't support many JEE libraries out the box such as JSF, JSTL, CDI, JPA, EJB, etc), need to end up in /WEB-INF/lib. You can just copy and paste the physical JAR files in there. You do not necessarily need to specify it in Build Path. Only perhaps when you already have it as User Library, but you should then use Deployment assembly setting for this instead. See also ClassNotFoundException when using User Libraries in Eclipse build path.
In case you're using Maven, then you need to make absolutely sure that you mark libraries as <scope>provided</scope> if those are already provided by the target runtime, such as JEE, Servlet, EL, etc in case you deploy to WildFly, TomEE, etc. This way they won't end up in /WEB-INF/lib of produced WAR (and potentially cause conflicts with server-bundled libraries), but they will end up in Eclipse's Build Path (and get the project's code to compile). See also How to properly install and configure JSF libraries via Maven?
Those JARs in the build path are referenced for the build (compile) process only. If you export your Web Application they are not included in the final WAR (give it a try).
If you need the JARs at runtime you must place them in WEB-INF/lib or the server classpath. Placing your JARs in the server classpath does only make sense if several WARs share a common code base and have the need to access shared objects (e.g. a Singleton).
If you are using Maven:
Open the project properties, and under Deployment Assembly click Add...
Then select Java Build Path Entries and select Maven Dependencies
Resolved by setting permissions.
Had related issue using PySpark and Oracle jdbc. The error does not state that the file cannot be accessed, just that the class cannot be loaded.
So if anyone still struggles, check the permissions. Some might find it obvious tho'.
I want to give the answer for the folowing link question ClassNotFoundException oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleDriver only in servlet, using Eclipse
Ans: In Myeclipse go to Server-->left click on Myeclipse Tomcat7-->Configure Server Connector-->(Expand)Myeclipse Tomcat7--> Paths-->Prepend to classpath-->Add jar (add oracle14 jar)-->ok
How should I add JAR libraries to a WAR project in Eclipse without facing java.lang.ClassNotFoundException or java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError?
The CLASSPATH environment variable does not seem to work. In some cases we add JAR files to the Build Path property of Eclipse project to make the code compile. We sometimes need to put JAR files inside /WEB-INF/lib folder of the Java EE web application to make the code to run on classes inside that JAR.
I do not exactly understand why CLASSPATH does not work and in which cases we should add JARs to Build Path and when exactly those JARs should be placed in /WEB-INF/lib.
The CLASSPATH environment variable is only used by the java.exe command and even then only when the command is invoked without any of the -cp, -classpath, -jar arguments. The CLASSPATH environment variable is ignored by IDEs like Eclipse, Netbeans and IDEA. See also java.lang.ClassNotFoundException in spite of using CLASSPATH environment variable.
The Build Path is only for libraries which are required to get the project's code to compile. Manually placing JAR in /WEB-INF/lib, or setting the Deployment Assembly, or letting an external build system like Maven place the <dependency> as JAR in /WEB-INF/lib of produced WAR during the build, is only for libraries which are required to get the code to deploy and run on the target environment too. Do note that you're not supposed to create subfolders in /WEB-INF/lib. The JARs have to be placed in the root.
Some libraries are already provided by the target JEE server or servletcontainer, such as JSP, Servlet, EL, etc. So you do not need put JARs of those libraries in /WEB-INF/lib. Moreover, it would only cause classloading trouble. It's sufficient to (indirectly) specify them in Build Path only. In Eclipse, you normally do that by setting the Targeted Runtime accordingly. It will automatically end up in Build Path. You do not need to manually add them to Build Path. See also How do I import the javax.servlet / jakarta.servlet API in my Eclipse project?
Other libraries, usually 3rd party ones like Apache Commons, JDBC drivers and JEE libraries which are not provided by the target servletcontainer (e.g. Tomcat doesn't support many JEE libraries out the box such as JSF, JSTL, CDI, JPA, EJB, etc), need to end up in /WEB-INF/lib. You can just copy and paste the physical JAR files in there. You do not necessarily need to specify it in Build Path. Only perhaps when you already have it as User Library, but you should then use Deployment assembly setting for this instead. See also ClassNotFoundException when using User Libraries in Eclipse build path.
In case you're using Maven, then you need to make absolutely sure that you mark libraries as <scope>provided</scope> if those are already provided by the target runtime, such as JEE, Servlet, EL, etc in case you deploy to WildFly, TomEE, etc. This way they won't end up in /WEB-INF/lib of produced WAR (and potentially cause conflicts with server-bundled libraries), but they will end up in Eclipse's Build Path (and get the project's code to compile). See also How to properly install and configure JSF libraries via Maven?
Those JARs in the build path are referenced for the build (compile) process only. If you export your Web Application they are not included in the final WAR (give it a try).
If you need the JARs at runtime you must place them in WEB-INF/lib or the server classpath. Placing your JARs in the server classpath does only make sense if several WARs share a common code base and have the need to access shared objects (e.g. a Singleton).
If you are using Maven:
Open the project properties, and under Deployment Assembly click Add...
Then select Java Build Path Entries and select Maven Dependencies
Resolved by setting permissions.
Had related issue using PySpark and Oracle jdbc. The error does not state that the file cannot be accessed, just that the class cannot be loaded.
So if anyone still struggles, check the permissions. Some might find it obvious tho'.
I want to give the answer for the folowing link question ClassNotFoundException oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleDriver only in servlet, using Eclipse
Ans: In Myeclipse go to Server-->left click on Myeclipse Tomcat7-->Configure Server Connector-->(Expand)Myeclipse Tomcat7--> Paths-->Prepend to classpath-->Add jar (add oracle14 jar)-->ok
what is the difference between simple project/lib and project/web/WEB-INF/lib?
which jar should be in project/lib folder and which jars should be in web/WEB-INF/lib?
there is no standard project/lib thing, it might be a specific project designed that way to hold library there and while compiling and deploying it might be configured to read jars from there,
where as if you put it in WEB-INF/lib web contains puts all the jars from this directory in runtime classpath so they would be available when application is running
better to use maven without needing to holding library in source control and with lots of other advantages maven brings
I have a two application webapp1 and webapp2. Both application use the same library zx.jar.
Now i have put the jar in two location /webapp1/ROOT/WEB-INF/lib and /webapp2/ROOT/WEB-INF/lib
But I don't want to load jar twice. I want to use the jar /tomcat/lib ?
How can I implement this in Linux environment?
Put your library at below location
•Tomcat 6 $CATALINA_HOME/lib
•Tomcat 5 $CATALINA_HOME/common/lib
More info Apache ClassLoader Howto.
Just put your jar in the in the tomcat lib folder ($CATALINA_HOME/lib).
And if you are using maven as build tool, just put <scope>provided</scope> in the dependency of the corresponding jar!
And if you are using Ant to build, just make sure that, you don't copy the jar to the deployed application's lib folder, while building and deploying your application.
With Tomcat 6, "common" JARs to be shared between multiple servlets should be placed in $CATALINA_BASE/lib or $CATALINA_HOME/lib. It is documented in the Apache 6 - Classloader HOW TO document.
However you need to be careful when you do this because:
"common" JARS and other files / directories in the lib directories take precedence over stuff in each webapp,
any static variables in "common" classes are actually visible to all webapps, and
leakage of types from one webapp to another can cause strange problems; e.g. type casts failing unexpectedly.