[java] Run a JAR file from the command line and specify classpath

I've compiled a JAR file and specified the Main-Class in the manifest (I used the Eclipse Export function). My dependencies are all in a directory labeled lib. I can't seem to get a straight answer on how to execute my JAR file while specifying it should use the lib/* as the classpath.

I've tried:

]$ java -jar -cp .:lib/* MyJar.jar
]$ java -cp .:lib/* -jar MyJar.jar
]$ java -cp .:lib/* com.somepackage.subpackage.Main

etc...

Each gives an error saying:

Error: Could not find or load main class ....

or gives the NoClassDefFoundError indicating the libraries are not being found.

I even tried remaking the JAR file and included the lib directory and contents, but still no dice...

How can I execute a JAR file from the command line and specify the classpath to use?

Alternatively, use the manifest to specify the class-path and main-class if you like, so then you don't need to use -cp or specify the main class. In your case it would contain lines like this:

Main-Class: com.test.App
Class-Path: lib/one.jar lib/two.jar

Unfortunately you need to spell out each jar in the manifest (not a biggie as you only do once, and you can use a script to build the file or use a build tool like ANT or Maven or Gradle). And the reference has to be a relative or absolute directory to where you run the java -jar MyJar.jar.

Then execute it with

java -jar MyJar.jar

You can do these in unix shell:

java -cp MyJar.jar:lib/* com.somepackage.subpackage.Main

You can do these in windows powershell:

java -cp "MyJar.jar;lib\*" com.somepackage.subpackage.Main

You can do a Runtime.getRuntime.exec(command) to relaunch the jar including classpath with args.

Run a jar file and specify a class path like this:

java -cp <jar_name.jar:libs/*> com.test.App

jar_name.jar is the full name of the JAR you want to execute

libs/* is a path to your dependency JARs

com.test.App is the fully qualified name of the class from the JAR that has the main(String[]) method

The jar and dependent jar should have execute permissions.