"A JNI error has occurred" when running jar file

Question

I have 2 machines.

One running Ubuntu server 14.04.5 and orcale java 8

root@first:~# lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS
Release:    14.04
Codename:   trusty

root@first:~# java -version
java version "1.8.0_144"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_144-b01)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.144-b01, mixed mode)

root@first:~# javac -version
javac 1.8.0_144

The other running Ubuntu server 18.04.3 and the same java version.

root@second:~# lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS
Release:    18.04
Codename:   bionic

root@second:~# java -version
java version "1.8.0_144"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_144-b01)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.144-b01, mixed mode)

root@second:~# javac -version
javac 1.8.0_144

When I try to run a jar file (built with maven) that for sure runs on the first machine (14.04), I get the following exception:

root@second:/data/gps/runner# java -jar runner.jar 
Error: A JNI error has occurred, please check your installation and try again
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/kohsuke/args4j/CmdLineException
    at java.lang.Class.getDeclaredMethods0(Native Method)
    at java.lang.Class.privateGetDeclaredMethods(Class.java:2701)
    at java.lang.Class.privateGetMethodRecursive(Class.java:3048)
    at java.lang.Class.getMethod0(Class.java:3018)
    at java.lang.Class.getMethod(Class.java:1784)
    at sun.launcher.LauncherHelper.validateMainClass(LauncherHelper.java:544)
    at sun.launcher.LauncherHelper.checkAndLoadMain(LauncherHelper.java:526)
Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.kohsuke.args4j.CmdLineException
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:381)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:424)
    at sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(Launcher.java:335)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:357)
    ... 7 more

My pom.xml:

<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
    <parent>
        <groupId>com.gps</groupId>
        <artifactId>gps-parent</artifactId>
        <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
    </parent>
    <properties>
        <aspectj.version>1.8.6</aspectj.version>
    </properties>
    <artifactId>gps-core</artifactId>
    <packaging>jar</packaging>
    <build>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
                <artifactId>aspectj-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>1.8</version>
                <configuration>
                    <complianceLevel>1.8</complianceLevel>
                    <aspectLibraries>
                        <aspectLibrary>
                            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
                            <artifactId>spring-aspects</artifactId>
                        </aspectLibrary>
                    </aspectLibraries>
                </configuration>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>compile</goal>
                            <goal>test-compile</goal>
                        </goals>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
                <dependencies>
                    <dependency>
                        <groupId>org.aspectj</groupId>
                        <artifactId>aspectjtools</artifactId>
                        <version>${aspectj.version}</version>
                    </dependency>
                </dependencies>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>com.googlecode.flyway</groupId>
                <artifactId>flyway-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>2.3.1</version>
                <configuration>
                    <user>gps</user>
                    <password>ak12mysql21ka</password>
                    <driver>com.mysql.jdbc.Driver</driver>
                    <url>jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/gps</url>
                </configuration>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <phase>process-classes</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>migrate</goal>
                        </goals>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <phase>process-classes</phase>
                        <configuration>
                            <tasks>
                                <java classname="org.eclipse.persistence.tools.weaving.jpa.StaticWeave"
                                    classpathref="maven.runtime.classpath" fork="true">
                                    <arg line="-loglevel FINE target/classes target/classes" />
                                </java>
                            </tasks>
                        </configuration>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>run</goal>
                        </goals>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>2.18.1</version>
                <configuration>
                    <runOrder>reversealphabetical</runOrder>
                    <forkCount>2</forkCount>
                </configuration>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <id>default-test</id>
                        <phase>test</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>test</goal>
                        </goals>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>2.6</version>
                <configuration>
                    <archive>
                        <manifest>
                            <addClasspath>true</addClasspath>
                            <mainClass>com.gps.Runner</mainClass>
                            <classpathPrefix>dependency-jars/</classpathPrefix>
                        </manifest>
                    </archive>
                </configuration>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>jar</goal>
                            <goal>test-jar</goal>
                        </goals>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>2.10</version>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <id>copy-dependencies</id>
                        <phase>package</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>copy-dependencies</goal>
                        </goals>
                        <configuration>
                            <outputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/dependency-jars/</outputDirectory>
                        </configuration>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
        <pluginManagement>
            <plugins>
                <!--This plugin's configuration is used to store Eclipse m2e settings only. It has no influence on the Maven build itself.-->
                <plugin>
                    <groupId>org.eclipse.m2e</groupId>
                    <artifactId>lifecycle-mapping</artifactId>
                    <version>1.0.0</version>
                    <configuration>
                        <lifecycleMappingMetadata>
                            <pluginExecutions>
                                <pluginExecution>
                                    <pluginExecutionFilter>
                                        <groupId>
                                            com.googlecode.flyway
                                        </groupId>
                                        <artifactId>
                                            flyway-maven-plugin
                                        </artifactId>
                                        <versionRange>
                                            [2.3.1,)
                                        </versionRange>
                                        <goals>
                                            <goal>migrate</goal>
                                        </goals>
                                    </pluginExecutionFilter>
                                    <action>
                                        <ignore></ignore>
                                    </action>
                                </pluginExecution>
                            </pluginExecutions>
                        </lifecycleMappingMetadata>
                    </configuration>
                </plugin>
            </plugins>
        </pluginManagement>
    </build>
    <dependencies>
        <!-- Code coverage tool -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.jacoco</groupId>
            <artifactId>jacoco-maven-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>0.7.5.201505241946</version>
        </dependency>
        <!-- Flyway db migration tool -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>com.googlecode.flyway</groupId>
            <artifactId>flyway-core</artifactId>
            <version>2.3.1</version>
        </dependency>
        <!-- MySQL database driver -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>mysql</groupId>
            <artifactId>mysql-connector-java</artifactId>
            <version>5.1.36</version>
        </dependency>
        <!-- EclipseLink JPA2 provider -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.eclipse.persistence</groupId>
            <artifactId>eclipselink</artifactId>
            <version>2.6.0</version>
        </dependency>
        <!-- jsch ssh library -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>com.jcraft</groupId>
            <artifactId>jsch</artifactId>
            <version>0.1.54</version>
        </dependency>
        <!-- Spring -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-beans</artifactId>
            <version>${spring.version}</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-aspects</artifactId>
            <version>${spring.version}</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-jdbc</artifactId>
            <version>${spring.version}</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-orm</artifactId>
            <version>${spring.version}</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-context-support</artifactId>
            <version>${spring.version}</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>javax.mail</groupId>
            <artifactId>mail</artifactId>
            <version>1.4.7</version>
        </dependency>
        <!-- Apache commons lang3, for StringUtils and more -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
            <artifactId>commons-lang3</artifactId>
            <version>3.4</version>
        </dependency>
        <!-- Apache commons io, for IOUtils -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>commons-io</groupId>
            <artifactId>commons-io</artifactId>
            <version>2.4</version>
        </dependency>
        <!-- AspectjRT -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.aspectj</groupId>
            <artifactId>aspectjrt</artifactId>
            <version>${aspectj.version}</version>
        </dependency>
        <!-- opencsv -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>net.sf.opencsv</groupId>
            <artifactId>opencsv</artifactId>
            <version>2.3</version>
        </dependency>
        <!-- ant-jsch for copying files and directories over ssh -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.ant</groupId>
            <artifactId>ant-jsch</artifactId>
            <version>1.9.6</version>
        </dependency>
        <!-- tomcat jdbc for database connections pooling -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.tomcat</groupId>
            <artifactId>tomcat-jdbc</artifactId>
            <version>7.0.63</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>args4j</groupId>
            <artifactId>args4j</artifactId>
            <version>2.32</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
            <artifactId>commons-math3</artifactId>
            <version>3.5</version>
        </dependency>
        <!-- thymeleaf for email templates -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.thymeleaf</groupId>
            <artifactId>thymeleaf-spring4</artifactId>
            <version>2.1.4.RELEASE</version>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>
</project>

What might be the cause? Can the difference in the distribution version affect this?

Thank you

Answer 1

The problem was I didn't copy the 'dependency-jars' folder to my machine where the jar file is located. The other machine did have this folder that's why it worked only there.