class not found exception for com.mysql.jdbc.Driver not a classpath problem

Question

I've been working on this for weeks, and now I'm just running in circles. I'm getting the runtime error: " class not found exception in [class] while getting connection com.mysql.jdbc.Driver ".

The connection function is as follows:

/**
 * @return a MySQL connection to the server as specified above 
 */
private static Connection getConnection() {
  Connection con = null;
  try {
    Class.forName("com.mysql.jdbc.Driver");
    con = DriverManager.getConnection(url, username, password);
  } catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
    System.err.println("class not found exception in [class] while getting connection " + e.getMessage());
  } catch (SQLException e) {
    System.err.println("sql exception in [class] while getting connection " + e.getMessage());
  }
  return con;
} //end getConnection

I have set the $CLASSPATH a hundred times a hundred ways, and still no luck. This is what it looks like now:

# echo $CLASSPATH
:/usr/share/java/mysql-connector-java-5.1.13-bin.jar:/usr/share/java/mysql-connector-java-3.0.17-ga-bin.jar:

Both of those files exist and have the Driver.class file in them in the right place.

I even tried importing the class into my code before exporting the jar, but that caused a world of other problems.

I'm using Eclipse 3.5.2 and the server is running Fedora 13 x86_64

Please help.

edit: I'm running the code remotely on my server with the command:

# java -jar program.jar

Why do you say "not a classpath problem"? It very definitely is. — skaffman
– skaffman, Commented Nov 30, 2010 at 20:46
I said not classpath because most threads on the issue are full of people stating "just add it to the classpath" which doesn't help, since I think I have done that. Yes, I do think I did it wrong, or did it right but have another issue with the classpath, but I did try. — Jay
– Jay, Commented Nov 30, 2010 at 21:00

olegtaranenko · Accepted Answer · 2010-11-30 20:50:36Z

4

Assuming you run it under Eclipse, try to add a reference to the jars in the Eclipse Run setting dialog. Menu Run -> Run Configuration -> you project -> Classpath tab -> User Entries -> Add Jar...

answered Nov 30, 2010 at 20:50

olegtaranenko

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1 Comment

Jay Over a year ago

Sorry, forgot to say I'm only coding in eclipse, not running in it. I'm running the code with "# java -jar program.jar" in the command line on the server.

Bo Persson · Accepted Answer · 2011-07-26 17:57:23Z

4

If you are deploying on Apache Tomcat, place your JDBC connector jar file (mysql-connector-java-5.0.8-bin.jar) on lib folder of Tomcat home \apache-tomcat-6.0.29\lib\.

Some threads say its <tomcat_home>\common\lib\, but there is no common directory found on 6.0 in my case.

And don't forget to restart the server.

edited Jul 26, 2011 at 17:57

Bo Persson

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answered Jul 25, 2011 at 23:45

JanaVish

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Juan Manuel · Accepted Answer · 2012-06-01 09:26:01Z

4

There is an easy way to solve this problem in Eclipse:

Right Click on your project
Select "Properties"
Select "Deployment Assembly"
Click Add -> "Java Build Path Entries"
Select your user library that contains your database connector (for example, mysql-connector-java-5.1.20.jar).

answered Jun 1, 2012 at 9:26

Juan Manuel

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Community · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-10 08:42:46Z

1

Problem has been fixed: I had to edit the manifest file to include the ClassPath: variable to the files I needed outside of eclipse, because eclipse does not allow an easy way to do it. When using JAR files, the classpath of the server doesn't matter, only that of the jar.

edited Jul 10, 2012 at 8:42

CommunityBot

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answered Nov 30, 2010 at 21:37

Jay

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Liam Mitchell · Accepted Answer · 2016-01-10 21:17:58Z

0

I found that I had to goto

Package Properties (Right click on project/package name and find Properties in the sub menu it might be at the bottom).

Java Build Path Click the tab 'Order and Export'

Then tick the empty check box next to the library I wanted to include in the jar export. (In my case it was ojdbc6.jar)

answered Jan 10, 2016 at 21:17

Liam Mitchell

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