Maven: How to add all jar files in lib folder during a web application build

Question

I have an old project. I am trying to add maven build to the project. All the jar files in the project are present currently in the WEB-INF/lib folder.

Is there a way to add these jar files to the classpath during source compilation and then have it in the war file lib

Create a fat-jar, enable the option of including all the dependencies in the jar file. See, https://stackoverflow.com/questions/574594/how-can-i-create-an-executable-jar-with-dependencies-using-maven — KumarAnkit, Dec 26 '18 at 12:07
Possible duplicate of [Including all the jars in a directory within the Java classpath](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/219585/including-all-the-jars-in-a-directory-within-the-java-classpath) — MRizwan33, Dec 26 '18 at 12:33

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 26 '18 at 13:41

This is one of the places where switching to Maven hurts. There are a lot of suggestions where most short-circuit something you will need later, and hurt you there. I would suggest that you

Move your jar files out of the lib folder into another project folder not meaning anything special to Maven.
For all jars that you easily recognize, make the proper Maven dependency in your pom file. This will allow Maven to download sources and javadoc if present.
For the remaining jars, you can tell Maven to install them as part of your normal build as custom dependencies. I asked the same question years back and got a very useful response at Multiple install:install-file in a single pom.xml. This will allow you to get up and running quickly.
When you have the time, locate proper replacements for your custom dependencies.

Take your time doing this. It is tedious work but it pays off quickly.

I have a lot of jar files very old ones. I think I better stick with Ant. It would be good, if maven can support this in future — BJ5, Dec 27 '18 at 09:17
Ant has disadvantages but if you have something that works then good for you. Maven will most likely never support this. — Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen, Dec 27 '18 at 11:09

Maven: How to add all jar files in lib folder during a web application build

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