java - Run jar with dependencies from the command line

Question

Java can run jar files from the command line like this:

java -jar foobar.jar

However, if foobar.jar depends on baz.jar, the above will throw an exception as soon as any of the classes in baz.jar is invoked, as the JVM has no way to know where to look for these.

However, the man page (OpenJDK 8 on Linux) states that:

When you use the -jar option, the specified JAR file is the source of all user classes, and other class path settings are ignored.

If repackaging is not an option, is there a way to run a jar file with dependencies from the command line?

Answer 1

When you use java -jar, dependencies are not specified on the command line. You have 2 ways to add jars to the class path:

1. Call java with the main class and add jar files, including your foobar.jar, on the command line:

   java -cp foobar.jar:baz.jar com.mycompany.MainClass
   

2. Include dependencies in foobar.jar's manifest file (and then run java -jar)

   Class-Path: baz.jar