Spring Boot - java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: javax.servlet.ServletContext and Unable to start EmbeddedWebApplicationContext

Question

I have a Spring Boot application (Grails 3.1.8), but when I run the application in IntelliJ IDEA I get the following error:

Caused by: java.lang.IllegalStateException: Failed to introspect annotated methods on class org.springframework.web.servlet.config.annotation.WebMvcConfigurationSupport
    at org.springframework.core.type.StandardAnnotationMetadata.getAnnotatedMethods(StandardAnnotationMetadata.java:163)
    at org.springframework.context.annotation.ConfigurationClassParser.doProcessConfigurationClass(ConfigurationClassParser.java:292)
    at org.springframework.context.annotation.ConfigurationClassParser.processConfigurationClass(ConfigurationClassParser.java:232)
    at org.springframework.context.annotation.ConfigurationClassParser.processImports(ConfigurationClassParser.java:510)
    ... 26 common frames omitted
Caused by: java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: javax/servlet/ServletContext
    at java.lang.Class.getDeclaredMethods0(Native Method)
    at java.lang.Class.privateGetDeclaredMethods(Class.java:2701)
    at java.lang.Class.getDeclaredMethods(Class.java:1975)
    at org.springframework.core.type.StandardAnnotationMetadata.getAnnotatedMethods(StandardAnnotationMetadata.java:152)
    ... 29 common frames omitted
Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: javax.servlet.ServletContext
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:381)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:424)
    at sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(Launcher.java:331)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:357)
    ... 33 common frames omitted

I tried adding javax-servlet-api dependency as suggested in an answer to Constructor threw exception; nested exception is java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: javax/servlet/ServletContext

But then I started getting:


ERROR org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication - Application startup failed
org.springframework.context.ApplicationContextException: Unable to start embedded container; nested exception is org.springframework.context.ApplicationContextException: Unable to start EmbeddedWebApplicationContext due to missing EmbeddedServletContainerFactory bean.
    at org.springframework.boot.context.embedded.EmbeddedWebApplicationContext.onRefresh(EmbeddedWebApplicationContext.java:133)
    at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.refresh(AbstractApplicationContext.java:532)
    at org.springframework.boot.context.embedded.EmbeddedWebApplicationContext.refresh(EmbeddedWebApplicationContext.java:118)
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.refresh(SpringApplication.java:766)
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.createAndRefreshContext(SpringApplication.java:361)
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.run(SpringApplication.java:307)
    at grails.boot.GrailsApp.run(GrailsApp.groovy:55)
    at grails.boot.GrailsApp.run(GrailsApp.groovy:374)
    at grails.boot.GrailsApp.run(GrailsApp.groovy:363)
    at grails.boot.GrailsApp$run.call(Unknown Source)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.callsite.CallSiteArray.defaultCall(CallSiteArray.java:48)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.callsite.AbstractCallSite.call(AbstractCallSite.java:113)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.callsite.AbstractCallSite.call(AbstractCallSite.java:133)
    at closemytab.Application.main(Application.groovy:13)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:497)
    at com.intellij.rt.execution.application.AppMain.main(AppMain.java:144)
Caused by: org.springframework.context.ApplicationContextException: Unable to start EmbeddedWebApplicationContext due to missing EmbeddedServletContainerFactory bean.
    at org.springframework.boot.context.embedded.EmbeddedWebApplicationContext.getEmbeddedServletContainerFactory(EmbeddedWebApplicationContext.java:185)
    at org.springframework.boot.context.embedded.EmbeddedWebApplicationContext.createEmbeddedServletContainer(EmbeddedWebApplicationContext.java:158)
    at org.springframework.boot.context.embedded.EmbeddedWebApplicationContext.onRefresh(EmbeddedWebApplicationContext.java:130)
    ... 18 common frames omitted

This post then suggests to remove the javax-servlet-api: Spring boot -- Unable to start EmbeddedWebApplicationContext due to missing EmbeddedServletContainerFactory bean

But then I face the original issue.

Any thoughts?

score 54 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 09 '23 at 01:23

54

The issue was with the build.gradle file:

provided "org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-tomcat"

IntelliJ IDEA wasn't happy with the provided.

As soon as I switched to

compile "org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-tomcat"

the application worked.

edited Jan 09 '23 at 01:23

Peter Mortensen

30,738
21
105
131

answered Jun 21 '16 at 14:28

O_k

993
1
8
13

11

In maven, I changed the scope like this: `provided` to `compile` and it worked!!. Thanks for the solution. – jacobcs Aug 21 '17 at 20:57
Thank you! Works like a charm <3 – amstegraf Jan 31 '18 at 12:44
3

Note that the 'provided' scope is there for a reason. You don't want your deployables to contain the servlet APIs or other web application server artifacts - this can potentially lead to all kinds of runtime errors when your application gets deployed. In my opinion it is better to use a Spring Boot Run configuration to fix aforementioned error. – Walco Jul 13 '19 at 19:49
@Walco I partially understand you point, could you please post your solution? Maybe could be the right answer for other people. Thanks – Aerox May 29 '20 at 14:59

score 17 · Answer 2 · edited Jan 09 '23 at 01:22

17

Run with a Maven Spring Boot goal:

spring-boot:run

Steps to set up Maven configuration in IntelliJ IDEA:

Menu Debug/Run Configuration → Click on the + button visible at the top left → Select Maven → Set command line to spring-boot:run.

edited Jan 09 '23 at 01:22

Peter Mortensen

30,738
21
105
131

answered May 16 '18 at 12:56

Techflash

707
7
15

1

Using this suggestion instead of running the class directly from the project explorer in IntelliJ got rid of my ClassNotFoundException I was seeing when trying to debug in IntelliJ. – jovanchohan Mar 12 '19 at 20:43

score 16 · Answer 3 · edited Jan 09 '23 at 01:17

16

If you are using IntelliJ IDEA, you need to enable ' Include dependencies with "Provider" scope in menu Run → Edit Configurations → Application → 'your main class' (by default it's disabled)

Enter image description here

edited Jan 09 '23 at 01:17

Peter Mortensen

30,738
21
105
131

answered Dec 23 '20 at 00:19

WalidRH

161
1
3

score 5 · Answer 4 · edited Jan 09 '23 at 01:28

5

Adding the dependency below fixed my issue:

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
</dependency>

Remember to have a parent dependency as well!

edited Jan 09 '23 at 01:28

Peter Mortensen

30,738
21
105
131

answered Apr 03 '20 at 12:35

Jacek Góraj

983
1
10
16

Thanks this fixes it for me (spring n00b here). How come it does not auto add it however? - project builds fine without it but will crash with dreaded java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: javax/servlet/ServletContext – Mr_and_Mrs_D Oct 09 '20 at 16:42

score 1 · Answer 5 · edited Jan 09 '23 at 01:18

1

For me, it's because of the Tomcat version. I changed Tomcat version from 7.5 to 8.5, and the problem's solved.

edited Jan 09 '23 at 01:18

Peter Mortensen

30,738
21
105
131

answered Aug 27 '19 at 16:23

ccg ccc

51
3

score 1 · Answer 6 · edited Jan 09 '23 at 01:28

1

Exception is java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: javax/servlet/ServletContext only means you are not providing the Tomcat dependency to your application. In case you are using IntelliJ IDEA, it’s really simple to do that as shown below.

Select your project → open the Maven panel (it mostly resides on the top right side of the panel) → select embedded.

Click here for a screenshot

edited Jan 09 '23 at 01:28

Peter Mortensen

30,738
21
105
131

answered Nov 01 '19 at 17:33

Jarnail Singh

11
2

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered May 22 '23 at 19:20

0

I had the same issue for the maven project and what I did was

Select Modify Options

Select the option Add dependencies with "provided" scope to classpath

Apply the changes

answered May 22 '23 at 19:20

Prateek Gupta

2,422
2
16
30

Spring Boot - java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: javax.servlet.ServletContext and Unable to start EmbeddedWebApplicationContext

7 Answers7