Set Up The Classpath

Add A Class-Path Entry To The Manifest

Maven Archiver can add the classpath of your project to the manifest. This is done with the <addClasspath> configuration element.

<project>
  ...
  <build>
    <plugins>
      <plugin>
        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
        <artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
        ...
        <configuration>
          <archive>
            <manifest>
              <addClasspath>true</addClasspath>
            </manifest>
          </archive>
        </configuration>
        ...
      </plugin>
    </plugins>
  </build>
  ...
  <dependencies>
    <dependency>
      <groupId>commons-lang</groupId>
      <artifactId>commons-lang</artifactId>
      <version>2.1</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
      <groupId>org.codehaus.plexus</groupId>
      <artifactId>plexus-utils</artifactId>
      <version>1.1</version>
    </dependency>
  </dependencies>
  ...
</project>

The manifest produced using the above configuration would look like this:

Manifest-Version: 1.0
Archiver-Version: Plexus Archiver
Created-By: Apache Maven
Built-By: ${user.name}
Build-Jdk: ${java.version}
Class-Path: plexus-utils-1.1.jar commons-lang-2.1.jar

Make The Jar Executable

If you want to create an executable jar file, you need to configure Maven Archiver accordingly. You need to tell it which main class to use. This is done with the <mainClass> configuration element. Here is a sample pom.xml configured to add the classpath and use the class fully.qualified.MainClass as the main class:

<project>
  ...
  <build>
    <plugins>
      <plugin>
        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
        <artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
        ...
        <configuration>
          <archive>
            <manifest>
              <addClasspath>true</addClasspath>
              <mainClass>fully.qualified.MainClass</mainClass>
            </manifest>
          </archive>
        </configuration>
        ...
      </plugin>
    </plugins>
  </build>
  ...
  <dependencies>
    <dependency>
      <groupId>commons-lang</groupId>
      <artifactId>commons-lang</artifactId>
      <version>2.1</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
      <groupId>org.codehaus.plexus</groupId>
      <artifactId>plexus-utils</artifactId>
      <version>1.1</version>
    </dependency>
  </dependencies>
  ...
</project>

The manifest produced using the above configuration would look like this:

Manifest-Version: 1.0
Archiver-Version: Plexus Archiver
Created-By: Apache Maven
Built-By: ${user.name}
Build-Jdk: ${java.version}
Main-Class: fully.qualified.MainClass
Class-Path: plexus-utils-1.1.jar commons-lang-2.1.jar

Altering The Classpath

Sometimes it is useful to be able to alter the classpath, for example when creating skinny war-files. This can be achieved with the <classpathPrefix> configuration element.

<project>
  ...
  <build>
    <plugins>
      <plugin>
         <artifactId>maven-war-plugin</artifactId>
         <configuration>
           <archive>
             <manifest>
               <addClasspath>true</addClasspath>
               <classpathPrefix>lib/</classpathPrefix>
             </manifest>
           </archive>
         </configuration>
      </plugin>
    </plugins>
  </build>
  ...
  <dependencies>
    <dependency>
      <groupId>commons-lang</groupId>
      <artifactId>commons-lang</artifactId>
      <version>2.1</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
      <groupId>org.codehaus.plexus</groupId>
      <artifactId>plexus-utils</artifactId>
      <version>1.1</version>
    </dependency>
  </dependencies>
  ...
</project>

The manifest produced using the above configuration would look like this:

Manifest-Version: 1.0
Archiver-Version: Plexus Archiver
Created-By: Apache Maven
Built-By: ${user.name}
Build-Jdk: ${java.version}
Class-Path: lib/plexus-utils-1.1.jar lib/commons-lang-2.1.jar