Splunk Observability Cloud

Cannot start application with Splunk's javaagent

kherbert
New Member
I am trying to instrument a Java Spring Boot application for OpenTelemetry. 

But when I start the application, I get this error:

```
java -javaagent:./splunk-otel-javaagent.jar -jar my-app/target/my-app-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar

Unexpected error (103) returned by AddToSystemClassLoaderSearch

Unable to add ./splunk-otel-javaagent.jar to system class path - the system class loader does not define the appendToClassPathForInstrumentation method or the method failed

FATAL ERROR in native method: processing of -javaagent failed, appending to system class path failed
```

From my `mvn -v`:
```
Java version: 21.0.2, vendor: Oracle Corporation, runtime: C:\Users\****\apps\openjdk21\current

Default locale: en_US, platform encoding: UTF-8

OS name: "windows 10", version: "10.0", arch: "amd64", family: "windows"
```

How do I correctly start the application with the javaagent?
Labels (2)
Tags (1)
0 Karma

bishida
Splunk Employee
Splunk Employee

Since this is Windows, can you try using full paths in your command line?

Example:
java -javaagent:"C:\Users\user\Downloads\splunk-otel-javaagent.jar" -jar C:\Projects\my-app\target\my-app-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar

Also, please check if "java -version" returns the same result as "mvn -v". It's possible your call to "java" is using a different distro or version that you're not expecting.

0 Karma
Get Updates on the Splunk Community!

.conf25 Registration is OPEN!

Ready. Set. Splunk! Your favorite Splunk user event is back and better than ever. Get ready for more technical ...

Detecting Cross-Channel Fraud with Splunk

This article is the final installment in our three-part series exploring fraud detection techniques using ...

Splunk at Cisco Live 2025: Learning, Innovation, and a Little Bit of Mr. Brightside

Pack your bags (and maybe your dancing shoes)—Cisco Live is heading to San Diego, June 8–12, 2025, and Splunk ...