Will a jar compiled with java 1.6.0_45 run in java 1.6.0 environment?

Question

I have a jar compiled with java 1.6.0_45 but when I try to run this on an AIX machine having java 1.6.0 it gives me the below exception:

2016-08-12 15:32:39,179 WARN o.s.b.SpringApplication [main] Error handling failed (no error message)
2016-08-12 15:32:39,197 INFO o.h.v.i.u.Version [background-preinit] HV000001: Hibernate Validator 5.2.4.Final
2016-08-12 15:32:39,249 ERROR o.s.b.SpringApplication [main] Application startup failed
java.lang.UnsupportedClassVersionError: JVMCFRE003 bad major version; class=javax/annotation/ManagedBean, offset=6
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass(ClassLoader.java:275) ~[?:1.6.0]
    at java.security.SecureClassLoader.defineClass(SecureClassLoader.java:69) ~[?:?]
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.defineClass(URLClassLoader.java:529) ~[?:1.6.0]
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.defineClass(URLClassLoader.java:440) ~[?:1.6.0]
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.access$300(URLClassLoader.java:68) ~[?:1.6.0]
    at java.net.URLClassLoader$ClassFinder.run(URLClassLoader.java:1027) ~[?:1.6.0]
    at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(AccessController.java:284) ~[?:?]
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:418) ~[?:1.6.0]
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:660) ~[?:1.6.0]
    at org.springframework.boot.loader.LaunchedURLClassLoader.loadClass(LaunchedURLClassLoader.java:89) ~[DiamondFeedGeneratorCMTTool-1.0.jar:?]
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:626) ~[?:1.6.0]
    at org.springframework.util.ClassUtils.forName(ClassUtils.java:250) ~[spring-core-4.3.2.RELEASE.jar!/:4.3.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.context.annotation.ClassPathScanningCandidateComponentProvider.registerDefaultFilters(ClassPathScanningCandidateComponentProvider.java:243) ~[spring-context-4.3.2.RELEASE.jar!/:4.3.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.context.annotation.ClassPathScanningCandidateComponentProvider.<init>(ClassPathScanningCandidateComponentProvider.java:116) ~[spring-context-4.3.2.RELEASE.jar!/:4.3.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.context.annotation.ClassPathBeanDefinitionScanner.<init>(ClassPathBeanDefinitionScanner.java:136) ~[spring-context-4.3.2.RELEASE.jar!/:4.3.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.context.annotation.ClassPathBeanDefinitionScanner.<init>(ClassPathBeanDefinitionScanner.java:111) ~[spring-context-4.3.2.RELEASE.jar!/:4.3.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.context.annotation.ClassPathBeanDefinitionScanner.<init>(ClassPathBeanDefinitionScanner.java:83) ~[spring-context-4.3.2.RELEASE.jar!/:4.3.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.context.annotation.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext.<init>(AnnotationConfigApplicationContext.java:62) ~[spring-context-4.3.2.RELEASE.jar!/:4.3.2.RELEASE]
    at java.lang.J9VMInternals.newInstanceImpl(Native Method) ~[?:1.6.0]
    at java.lang.Class.newInstance(Class.java:1345) ~[?:1.6.0]
    at org.springframework.beans.BeanUtils.instantiate(BeanUtils.java:77) ~[spring-beans-4.3.2.RELEASE.jar!/:4.3.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.createApplicationContext(SpringApplication.java:595) [spring-boot-1.4.0.RELEASE.jar!/:1.4.0.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.run(SpringApplication.java:310) [spring-boot-1.4.0.RELEASE.jar!/:1.4.0.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.run(SpringApplication.java:1185) [spring-boot-1.4.0.RELEASE.jar!/:1.4.0.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.run(SpringApplication.java:1174) [spring-boot-1.4.0.RELEASE.jar!/:1.4.0.RELEASE]
    at com.td.diamond.cmt.feed.generator.config.DiamondFeedGeneratorConfig.main(DiamondFeedGeneratorConfig.java:44) [classes!/:?]
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) ~[?:1.6.0]
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:48) ~[?:1.6.0]
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25) ~[?:1.6.0]
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:600) ~[?:1.6.0]
    at org.springframework.boot.loader.MainMethodRunner.run(MainMethodRunner.java:48) [DiamondFeedGeneratorCMTTool-1.0.jar:?]
    at org.springframework.boot.loader.Launcher.launch(Launcher.java:87) [DiamondFeedGeneratorCMTTool-1.0.jar:?]
    at org.springframework.boot.loader.Launcher.launch(Launcher.java:50) [DiamondFeedGeneratorCMTTool-1.0.jar:?]
    at org.springframework.boot.loader.JarLauncher.main(JarLauncher.java:58) [DiamondFeedGeneratorCMTTool-1.0.jar:?]

Any suggestions what the issue could be and how to fix this?

Answer 1

It is a spring boot application but in your classpath (lib directory of your war for example) a Java EE API jar is present ( javaee-api or servlet-api ). It does not contain the implementation of the annotation ManagedBean and thus it throws the error.

Usually, this type of library is used for compilation only in an application deployed on server implementing these specifications (Servlet or Java EE).