java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: com.mysql.jdbc.Driver during Runtime (eclipse / maven /tomcat) [duplicate]

Answer 1

for this error: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: com.mysql.jdbc.Driver

you need to "Import com.mysql.jdbc.Driver;" even if its not used till app running.

Answer 2

Tomcat 7 requires that JDBC driver JARs must go in its /lib directory:

http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-7.0-doc/jndi-datasource-examples-howto.html

Search for the word "forget".

Answer 3

Make sure the driver actually gets copied to your webapp WEB-INF/lib directory and to wtp deploy dir (something like /.metadata/.plugins/org.eclipse.wst.server.core/tmp0/wtpwebapps/ in your workspace).

I find maven-wtp integration a bit worse than perfect as i stumble upon this problem very often.