Configure class loaders and libraries for Java EE applications

By default, each application can access a set of provided APIs and its own internal classes and libraries. We can override the default settings, and configure class loading for each application.

Each Java EE application has its own class loader in a running Liberty server. Liberty assumes some default settings for all Java EE applications, so that they can access the supported specification APIs (for example the servlet APIs if the servlet feature is enabled), and the IBM APIs. By default, each application can access these provided APIs and access its own internal classes and libraries. To override the default settings and configure class loading for the application, complete one or more of the following tasks.

Note: If we use configuration to override the default settings, we cannot deploy the application by dropping it into the dropins directory.

• Use a Java library with a Java EE application
  
• Share a library across multiple Java EE applications
  
• Provide global libraries for all Java EE applications
  
• Access third-party APIs from a Java EE application
  
• Remove access to third-party APIs for a Java EE application
  
• Override a provided API with an alternative version
  
• Configure the web module class loader for an enterprise application
  

Parent topic: Administer Liberty manually

Related

• Define a utility project as a shared library
• Set a web project to use shared libraries
• Access stand-alone resource adapters from Java EE applications
• Class loader configuration