How to set Java PATH and CLASSPATH in a Spring Boot application

01 Oct 2023

SpringBoot

In this blog post, we will learn how to set the Java PATH and CLASSPATH in a Spring Boot application. The PATH variable is used by the operating system to locate the Java executable, while the CLASSPATH variable helps the Java compiler and runtime find the required Java classes.

Setting Java PATH

To set the Java PATH in a Spring Boot application, follow these steps:

Open the terminal or command prompt.
Type java -version and press Enter. This will display the current Java version installed on your system.
Note down the path to the Java installation directory. It should be something like C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.x.x_x\bin on Windows or /usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.x.x_x/bin on Linux.
Now open the system environment variables. On Windows, go to Control Panel > System and Security > System > Advanced system settings > Environment Variables. On Linux, you can edit the .bashrc or .bash_profile file located in your home directory.
In the environment variables window, locate the “Path” variable and click on Edit (Windows) or Add (Linux).
Add a new entry with the Java installation directory path that you noted down earlier.
Click OK to save the changes and close the environment variables window.
Open a new terminal or command prompt and type java -version again to verify that the Java PATH has been set correctly.

Setting Java CLASSPATH

To set the Java CLASSPATH in a Spring Boot application, follow these steps:

Create a new file named setclasspath.bat (Windows) or setclasspath.sh (Linux) in the root directory of your Spring Boot application.
Open the file in a text editor and add the following line of code:
```
CLASSPATH=.;lib/*;$CLASSPATH
```
This sets the CLASSPATH to include the current directory (.), all JAR files in the lib directory, and any existing CLASSPATH.
Save the file and close the text editor.
Open a terminal or command prompt in the root directory of your Spring Boot application.
Run the following command to execute the setclasspath script:
```
source setclasspath.bat  # for Windows
source setclasspath.sh   # for Linux
```
This will set the CLASSPATH for your Spring Boot application.

Congratulations! You have successfully set the Java PATH and CLASSPATH in your Spring Boot application. Now you can run your application without any classpath-related issues.

#Java #SpringBoot