When running a java command with the -jar option, can you supply additional libraries using -cp?

Question

When calling java command line using the -jar option:

java -jar connector-plugin-client.jar

Can you include additional libraries with -cp ?

java -jar connector-plugin-client.jar -cp ojdbc8.jar

I know I can do

java -cp "connector-plugin-client.jar:ojdbc8.jar" the.main.MainClass

But wondering if that was necessary.

Answer 1

No, you cannot. When using -jar , the class path is entirely defined by the jar itself and the Class-Path entry in the META-INF/MANIFEST.MF file inside the jar. It is not possible to add additional jars or directories to the class path using -cp .

In other words, -cp and -jar are mutually exclusive: you must choose one or the other.