questions about EARs and Assembling and deploying multiple web applications

[Michael Arnett]

All,
I need multiple web applications to a single server. None of these applications currently utilize any EJBs, just servlets, beans, and jsps. Would it be appropriate to jar these web applications (war files) into a single ear for deployment? If so, how is it possible to have them 'share' a single jar, if that is indeed possible? If any of my assumptions appear erroneous, please let me know. I am still n ot entirely clear on what the purpose/advantages of a ear file is.
Thanks in advance,
-MLA

[Kyle Brown]

Yes, you can place multiple WAR's in a single EAR. That way they can share several "utility" JAR files placed in the root directory of the EAR (so things like Log4J, etc. could be shared).
Kyle

[Michael Arnett]

Thanks for the info Kyle. One other question: Is it possible to have classpath elements relative to the server's root directory, rather than relative to the ear's root directory or the web application's root directory?
Thanks again,
-MLA

[Tim Holloway]

Originally posted by Michael Arnett:
Thanks for the info Kyle. One other question: Is it possible to have classpath elements relative to the server's root directory, rather than relative to the ear's root directory or the web application's root directory?
Thanks again,
-MLA

That would require knowing about the internal structure of the appserver and violate the portability of the webapps. And, in extreme cases, wouldn't even exist.
For example, I run JOnAS for EJBs, Tomcat for servlets/JSPs and Apache for the front-end. The Tomcat components are placed in OS binary directories, not in a special directory all their own. So what would be the "server directory???"
If you do need such creatures, the best way to map them is via an environment definition. But make sure you really do need them!

[Simon Brown]

I agree - in general, I would keep any JARs that you need wrapped up inside the EAR or WAR files as it makes deployment and manageability much, much easier.
Simon