Shared library files

Shared library files in WebSphere Application Server consist of a symbolic name, a Java classpath, and a native path for loading Java Native Interface (JNI) libraries.

You can define a shared library at the cell, node, or server level. Defining a library at one of the three levels does not cause the library to be placed into the appserver's class loader. You must associate the library to an application or server in order for the classes represented by the shared library to be loaded in either a server-wide or application-specific class loader.

A separate class loader is used for shared libraries that are associated with an appserver. This class loader is the parent of the application class loader, and the WebSphere Application Server extensions class loader is its parent. Shared libraries that are associated with an application are loaded by the application class loader.

Related concepts
Class loaders
Related tasks
Managing shared libraries
Related reference
Shared library collection
Shared library settings