Execute jar file with multiple classpath libraries from command prompt

Question

I have a Maven project which generates a jar file and copies all dependencies to target/lib folder. I want to execute this project on client's machine (windows). So, I copied myproject.jar to C:\xyz folder and all dependencies to C:\xyz\lib folder. How do I execute this project from client's command prompt? I tried to use java -cp lib\*.jar -jar myproject.jar from C:\xyz folder but it throws following error.

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: lib\commons-codec-1/3/jar
Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: lib\commons-codec-1.3.jar
    at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(Unknown Source)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(Unknown Source)
    at sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(Unknown Source)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(Unknown Source)
Could not find the main class: lib\commons-codec-1.3.jar.  Program will exit.

I think if I specify all dependencies in classpath (like java -cp lib\dep1.jar;dep2.jar), it will get rid of the problem but I don't want to do this as I have 40 libraries already and it might grow in future releases. Is there a better way to do this?

Solution 1

Let maven generate a batch file to start your application. This is the simplest way to this.

You can use the appassembler-maven-plugin for such purposes.

Solution 2

You cannot use both -jar and -cp on the command line - see the java documentation that says that if you use -jar:

the JAR file is the source of all user classes, and other user class path settings are ignored.

You could do something like this:

java -cp lib\*.jar;. myproject.MainClass

Notice the ;. in the -cp argument, to work around a Java command-line bug. Also, please note that this is the Windows version of the command. The path separator on Unix is :.

Solution 3

Using java 1.7, on UNIX -

java -cp myjar.jar:lib/*:. mypackage.MyClass

On Windows you need to use ';' instead of ':' -

java -cp myjar.jar;lib/*;. mypackage.MyClass

Solution 4

Regardless of the OS the below command should work:

java -cp "MyJar.jar;lib/*" com.mainClass

Always use quotes and please take attention that lib/*.jar will not work.

Solution 5

You can use maven-assembly-plugin, Here is the example from the official site: https://maven.apache.org/plugins/maven-assembly-plugin/usage.html

    <plugin>
        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
        <artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
        <version>2.5.1</version>
        <configuration>
            <descriptorRefs>
                <descriptorRef>jar-with-dependencies</descriptorRef>
            </descriptorRefs>
            <archive>
                <manifest>
                    <mainClass>your main class</mainClass>
                </manifest>
            </archive>
        </configuration>
        <executions>
            <execution>
                <id>make-assembly</id> <!-- this is used for inheritance merges -->
                <phase>package</phase> <!-- bind to the packaging phase -->
                <goals>
                    <goal>single</goal>
                </goals>
            </execution>
        </executions>
    </plugin>

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