Bootstrap

The Bootstrap class loader loads the basic runtime classes provided by the JVM, plus any classes from JAR files present in the system extensions directory. It is parent to the System class loader. To add JAR files to the system extensions, directory, see?Using the Java Optional Package Mechanism.

System

The System class loader loads Application Server launch classes. It is parent to the Shared Chain class loader. It is created based on the?system-classpath?attribute of the?java-config?element in the?domain.xml?file. In the Admin Console, select the Application Server component, the JVM Settings tab, and the Path Settings tab, then edit the System Classpath field. See?Using the System Class Loader?and?java-config?in?Sun Java System Application Server Platform Edition 9 Administration Reference.

Shared Chain?

The Shared Chain class loader loads most of the core Application Server classes. It is parent to the MBean class loader and the Common class loader. Classes specified by the?classpath-prefix?and?classpath-suffixattributes of the?java-config?element in the?domain.xml?file are added to this class loader. In the Admin Console, select the Application Server component, the JVM Settings tab, and the Path Settings tab, then edit the Classpath Prefix or Classpath Suffix field.

The environment classpath is included if?env-classpath-ignored="false"?is set in the?java-configelement.

Use?classpath-prefix?to place libraries ahead of Application Server implementation classes in the shared chain. The?classpath-prefix?is ideal for placing development and diagnostic patches. Use?classpath-suffix?to place libraries after implementation classes in the shared chain.

MBean

The MBean class loader loads the MBean implementation classes. See?MBean Class Loading.

Common

The Common class loader loads classes in the?domain-dir/lib/classes?directory, followed by JAR files in thedomain-dir/lib?directory. It is parent to the Connector class loader. No special classpath settings are required. The existence of these directories is optional; if they do not exist, the Common class loader is not created. See?Using the Common Class Loader.

Connector

The Connector class loader is a single class loader instance that loads individually deployed connector modules, which are shared across all applications. It is parent to the LifeCycleModule class loader and the Application class loader.?

LifeCycleModule

The LifeCycleModule class loader is created once per lifecycle module. Each?lifecycle-module?element’sclasspath?attribute is used to construct its own class loader. For more information on lifecycle modules, seeChapter?13, Developing Lifecycle Listeners.

Application

The Application class loader loads the classes in a specific enabled individually deployed module or Java EE application. One instance of this class loader is present in each class loader universe; see?Class Loader Universes. The Application class loader is created with a list of URLs that point to the locations of the classes it needs to load. It is parent to the Web class loader.

The Application class loader loads classes in the following order:?

The?location?attribute points to?domain-dir/applications/j2ee-apps/app-name?or?domain-dir/applications/j2ee-modules/module-name.

The stubs directory is?domain-dir/generated/ejb/j2ee-apps/app-name?or?domain-dir/generated/ejb/j2ee-modules/module-name.

Web

The Web class loader loads the servlets and other classes in a specific enabled web module or a Java EE application that contains a web module. This class loader is present in each class loader universe that contains a web module; see?Class Loader Universes. One instance is created for each web module. The Web class loader is created with a list of URLs that point to the locations of the classes it needs to load. The classes it loads are in?WEB-INF/classes?or?WEB-INF/lib/*.jar. It is parent to the JSP Engine class loader.

JSP Engine

The JSP Engine class loader loads compiled JSP classes of enabled JSP files. This class loader is present in each class loader universe that contains a JSP page; see?Class Loader Universes. The JSP Engine class loader is created with a list of URLs that point to the locations of the classes it needs to load.