Call “java -jar MyFile.jar” with additional classpath option

by

You use either -jar or -cp, you can’t combine the two. If you want to put additional JARs on the classpath then you should either put them in the main JAR’s manifest and then use java -jar or you put the full classpath (including the main JAR and its dependencies) in -cp and name the main class explicitly on the command line

java -cp 'MyProgram.jar:libs/*' main.Main

(I’m using the dir/* syntax that tells the java command to add all .jar files from a particular directory to the classpath. Note that the * must be protected from expansion by the shell, which is why I’ve used single quotes.)

You mention that you’re using Ant so for the alternative manifest approach, you can use ant’s <manifestclasspath> task after copying the dependencies but before building the JAR.

<manifestclasspath property="myprogram.manifest.classpath" jarfile="MyProgram.jar">
  <classpath>
    <fileset dir="libs" includes="*.jar" />
  </classpath>
</manifestclasspath>

<jar destfile="MyProgram.jar" basedir="classes">
  <manifest>
    <attribute name="Main-Class" value="main.Main" />
    <attribute name="Class-Path" value="${myprogram.manifest.classpath}" />
  </manifest>
</jar>

With this in place, java -jar MyProgram.jar will work correctly, and will include all the libs JAR files on the classpath as well.

More Related Contents:

  1. Java, Classpath, Classloading => Multiple Versions of the same jar/project
  2. Eclipse: How to build an executable jar with external jar?
  3. Eclipse “Error: Could not find or load main class”
  4. Java: how to import a jar file from command line
  5. Differences between “java -cp” and “java -jar”?
  6. NoClassDefFoundError while trying to run my jar with java.exe -jar…what’s wrong?
  7. Execute jar file with multiple classpath libraries from command prompt
  8. Java command line with external .jar
  9. include external jar when running java -jar
  10. Classpath resource within jar
  11. Including jar files in class path
  12. I am getting “java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: com.google.gson.Gson” error even though it is defined in my classpath
  13. Dynamically loading plugin jars using ServiceLoader
  14. Set folder for classpath [duplicate]
  15. How to use a wildcard in the classpath to add multiple jars? [duplicate]
  16. Getting NoClassDefFoundError when using common.lang.StringUtils in android java code?
  17. Android Library Gradle release JAR
  18. Running java in package from command line
  19. How do I put all required JAR files in a library folder inside the final JAR file with Maven?
  20. Find a class somewhere inside dozens of JAR files?
  21. How to copy file inside jar to outside the jar?
  22. Build project into a JAR automatically in Eclipse
  23. Java JPA Class for MATLAB
  24. Is it possible/how to embed and access HTML Files in a JAR?
  25. How do I make a JAR from a .java file?
  26. Creating non-reverse-engineerable Java programs
  27. How to package resources in Jar properly
  28. How to decompile a whole Jar file? [closed]
  29. Eclipse Java; export jar, include referenced libraries, without fatjar
  30. Double Clicking JAR file does not open Command Prompt

Leave a Comment