Unable to initialize class com.ibm.ws.ffdc.FFDCFilter

If you use a non-IBM JRE to work with a secure server, you might get the following error, which prevents you from starting or stopping the server, or publishing onto the server.

Unable to initialize class com.ibm.ws.ffdc.FFDCFilter

Important: Applicable to WebSphere® Application Server traditional
java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: Could not initialize class
    com.ibm.ws.ffdc.FFDCFilter

It is a known problem and is caused because the non-IBM JRE is missing certain classes. To work around this problem:

  1. Create a folder, and copy <WAS install>/runtimes/com.ibm.ws.orb_VERSION.jar into it.
  2. Add the following line in eclipse.ini:
    -Djava.endorsed.dirs=<the directory where 
    com.ibm.ws.orb_VERSION.jar was copied to in step 1>