My server runs a Java application that requires I replace a few java library files with ones I downloaded on my own. This has to do with JCE security extensions and isn't really relevant to my question.

I've found that these library files tend to get overwritten by apt when it later updates my java package.

Is there a apt-friendly way of masking these specific files so apt won't touch them?

Potential Solutions

1. I'm considering just removing the write flag from the files, though I'm expecting this will cause apt to spew its guts everywhere when it later tries to overwrite them?

2. Perhaps there's a java custom library directory I don't know of, where I can park my files and they'll be loaded instead of the package's defaults?

3. The last-resort option I'm considering is writing a cron job to periodically replace the files with my versions. I hate this option.