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We need to package an extension jar file when deploying a Java client with webstart. The extension jar need to be installed under jre/lib/ext and make it available to the java client when started by WebStart.

I managed to copy the files to the right location, but the problem I was facing was that after I installed the extension jar under lib/ext, I needed to restart the client JVM in order to pick up the new jar.

How to avoid needing to restart the JVM?

Andrew Thompson
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val pop
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  • The problem I was facing was that after I installed the extension jar under lib/ext, I needed to restart the client JVM in order to pick up the new jar. Not sure how to avoid this. – val pop Sep 02 '12 at 13:01
  • Thanks Andrew, yes the second question is valid. – val pop Sep 03 '12 at 01:32

1 Answers1

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How to avoid needing to restart the JVM?

You can't AFAIU. Classloaders typically do not reload classes or other resources, and I imagine it would be impossible or impractical to change the bootstrap & other JRE related classloaders (or change them soon enough to make a difference).

An alternate strategy might be to:

  • Check for the presence of the resources
  • If not found, presume they were installed using an installer-desc extension this run and:

It might pay to pop a JOptionPane to confirm the restart. E.G.

To encode OGG right away, restart the app.
Restart?

OK Cancel

As an aside. It is generally advised to not put archives into any directory of the JRE.

Andrew Thompson
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