I'm assuming your access database is on a windows server and your java application on the Linux server right? In that case you need to read up on the JDBC and/or ODBC/JDBC driver for Access that works with your flavour of Linux/Application Server
Sorry I got confused there, thought you were talking about an MS Access Database. What type of Database do you have?
If both are on the same server then you still need to include the JAR file that contains a JDBC driver for your particular type of database. You can then use normal JDBC lookups in order to connect.