JNI Error - Executable Jar built using Maven can't find Spring Libraries when run from command line

Question

I have an executable jar built using Maven that, if executed from Eclipse, works fine, but when executed from command-line using "java -jar filename.jar" is unable to execute.

I tried to do a mvn -U clean install for the executable jar and then attempted to run it again, but keep getting the same error. I double-checked that the Spring related libraries are already present in my .m2 repository on the machine.

Below is the error:

Error: A JNI error has occurred, please check your installation and try again
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/springframework/c
ontext/ApplicationContext
        at java.lang.Class.getDeclaredMethods0(Native Method)
        at java.lang.Class.privateGetDeclaredMethods(Unknown Source)
        at java.lang.Class.privateGetMethodRecursive(Unknown Source)
        at java.lang.Class.getMethod0(Unknown Source)
        at java.lang.Class.getMethod(Unknown Source)
        at sun.launcher.LauncherHelper.validateMainClass(Unknown Source)
        at sun.launcher.LauncherHelper.checkAndLoadMain(Unknown Source)
Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.springframework.context.Applica
tionContext
        at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(Unknown Source)
        at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(Unknown Source)
        at sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(Unknown Source)
        at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(Unknown Source)
        ... 7 more

What am I doing wrong/missing?

Here's my pom.xml

<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
  <groupId>finesse-config</groupId>
  <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
    <repositories>
        <repository>
            <id>eap</id>
            <url>http://maven.repository.redhat.com/techpreview/all</url>
            <releases>
                <enabled>true</enabled>
            </releases>
            <snapshots>
                <enabled>true</enabled>
            </snapshots>
        </repository>
        <repository>
            <id>central</id>
            <name>myCompany Central Repository</name>
            <url>http://repo-art.myCompany.com/artifactory/repo</url>
            <snapshots>
                <enabled>true</enabled>
                <updatePolicy>always</updatePolicy>
                <checksumPolicy>warn</checksumPolicy>
            </snapshots>
        </repository>       
    </repositories>    
  <build>
    <sourceDirectory>src</sourceDirectory>
    <plugins>
      <plugin>
        <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
        <version>3.1</version>
        <configuration>
          <source/>
          <target/>
        </configuration>
      </plugin>
      <!--  Maven-plugin below is used to pass parameters to the Main Class to execute -->
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
                <configuration>
                    <archive>
                        <manifest>
                            <mainClass>com.myCompany.ccat.finesse.BackupOrchestrator</mainClass>
                        </manifest>
                    </archive>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
    </plugins>
  </build>
  <dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>log4j</groupId>
        <artifactId>log4j</artifactId>
        <version>1.2.17</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.codehaus.jettison</groupId>
        <artifactId>jettison</artifactId>
        <version>1.3.8</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>commons-io</groupId>
        <artifactId>commons-io</artifactId>
        <version>2.5</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-jdbc</artifactId>
        <version>4.2.5.RELEASE</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-tx</artifactId>
        <version>4.2.5.RELEASE</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>mysql</groupId>
        <artifactId>mysql-connector-java</artifactId>
        <version>5.1.25</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-context</artifactId>
        <version>4.2.5.RELEASE</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-aop</artifactId>
        <version>4.2.5.RELEASE</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>com.github.spullara.mustache.java</groupId>
        <artifactId>compiler</artifactId>
        <version>0.8.18</version>
    </dependency>
  </dependencies>
  <artifactId>finesse-config</artifactId>
</project>

Answer 1

When packaging a runnable JAR, it is quite special. Read official reference at: http://maven.apache.org/plugins/maven-assembly-plugin/

and existing solution: How can I create an executable JAR with dependencies using Maven?

(Tip: Spring Boot can create executable JAR very easy and effective: https://docs.spring.io/spring-boot/docs/current/reference/html/deployment-install.html )