EAR is a file extension used for archived Java application package files. EAR archives contains two other archives: JAR and WAR, which together comprise a server-side Java Enterprise Edition application. In order to run a EAR application the servers must support the EE libraries.

EAR packages are created with Java EE SDK, which compared to SE version offers more functions and additional features, most of which are business oriented. Servers that fully supports EAR files are WebSphere, Glassfish, WebLogic, or Wildfly/JBoss.