Tomcat 7.0 service fails to start with ClassNotFoundException: javax.ws.rs.ProcessingException

Question

I have a toy REST web service that I'm trying to deploy to Tomcat 7.0 server. The problem is I can't even start the server. Here's the error message I'm getting:

SEVERE: A child container failed during start java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardEngine[Catalina].StandardHost[localhost].StandardContext[/HelloWorldRestService]] at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.report(FutureTask.java:133) at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.get(FutureTask.java:199) at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.startInternal(ContainerBase.java:1123) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHost.startInternal(StandardHost.java:800) at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150) at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1559) at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1549) at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:273) at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1170) at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:640) at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:853) Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardEngine[Catalina].StandardHost[localhost].StandardContext[/HelloWorldRestService]] at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:154) ... 6 more

Caused by: java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: javax.ws.rs.ProcessingException at java.lang.J9VMInternals.prepareClassImpl(Native Method) at java.lang.J9VMInternals.prepare(J9VMInternals.java:1122) at java.lang.Class.getDeclaredFields(Class.java:685) at org.apache.catalina.util.Introspection.getDeclaredFields(Introspection.java:106) at org.apache.catalina.startup.WebAnnotationSet.loadFieldsAnnotation(WebAnnotationSet.java:263) at org.apache.catalina.startup.WebAnnotationSet.loadApplicationServletAnnotations(WebAnnotationSet.java:142) at org.apache.catalina.startup.WebAnnotationSet.loadApplicationAnnotations(WebAnnotationSet.java:67) at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.applicationAnnotationsConfig(ContextConfig.java:405) at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.configureStart(ContextConfig.java:881) at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.lifecycleEvent(ContextConfig.java:376) at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleSupport.fireLifecycleEvent(LifecycleSupport.java:119) at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.fireLifecycleEvent(LifecycleBase.java:90) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.startInternal(StandardContext.java:5322) at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150) ... 6 more Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: javax.ws.rs.ProcessingException at org.apache.catalina.loader.WebappClassLoader.loadClass(WebappClassLoader.java:1702) at org.apache.catalina.loader.WebappClassLoader.loadClass(WebappClassLoader.java:1547) ... 20 more

SEVERE: A child container failed during start java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardEngine[Catalina].StandardHost[localhost]] at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.report(FutureTask.java:133) at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.get(FutureTask.java:199) at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.startInternal(ContainerBase.java:1123) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngine.startInternal(StandardEngine.java:302) at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardService.startInternal(StandardService.java:443) at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardServer.startInternal(StandardServer.java:732) at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150) at org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina.start(Catalina.java:691) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:94) at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:55) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:619) at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.start(Bootstrap.java:322) at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.main(Bootstrap.java:456) Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardEngine[Catalina].StandardHost[localhost]] at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:154) at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1559) at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1549) at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:273) at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1170) at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:640) at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:853) Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: A child container failed during start at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.startInternal(ContainerBase.java:1131) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHost.startInternal(StandardHost.java:800) at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150) ... 6 more

SEVERE: The required Server component failed to start so Tomcat is unable to start. org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardServer[8005]] at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:154) at org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina.start(Catalina.java:691) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:94) at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:55) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:619) at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.start(Bootstrap.java:322) at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.main(Bootstrap.java:456) Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardService[Catalina]] at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:154) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardServer.startInternal(StandardServer.java:732) at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150) ... 7 more Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardEngine[Catalina]] at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:154) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardService.startInternal(StandardService.java:443) at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150) ... 9 more Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: A child container failed during start at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.startInternal(ContainerBase.java:1131) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngine.startInternal(StandardEngine.java:302) at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150) ... 11 more

I'm using Jersey 2.x. Here're my jars:

javax.ws.rs-api-2.0-m10.jar

jersey-client.jar

jersey-common.jar

jersey-container-servlet.jar

jersey-container-servlet-core.jar

jersey-server.jar

My web.xml looks like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<web-app id="WebApp_ID" version="3.0" xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_3_0.xsd">
<display-name>HelloWorldRestService</display-name>
<servlet>
    <servlet-name>java.helloworldrestservice.resources.HelloWorldApplication</servlet-name>
    <servlet-class>org.glassfish.jersey.servlet.ServletContainer</servlet-class>

    <!-- Register JAX-RS Application, if needed. -->
    <init-param>
        <param-name>javax.ws.rs.Application</param-name>
        <param-value>java.helloworldrestservice.resources.HelloWorldApplication</param-value>
    </init-param>

    <!-- Register resources and providers under my.package. -->
    <init-param>
        <param-name>jersey.config.server.provider.packages</param-name>
        <param-value>java.helloworldrestservice.resources</param-value>
    </init-param>

    <!-- Enable Tracing support. -->
    <init-param>
        <param-name>jersey.config.server.tracing</param-name>
        <param-value>ALL</param-value>
    </init-param>

    <load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup>
</servlet>

<servlet-mapping>
    <servlet-name>java.helloworldrestservice.resources.HelloWorldApplication</servlet-name>
    <url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>

HelloWorldApplication.java:

package java.helloworldrestservice.resources;

import java.util.HashSet;
import java.util.Set;
import javax.ws.rs.core.Application;


public class HelloWorldApplication extends Application 
{

@Override
public Set<Class<?>> getClasses()
{
    //log.info("starting the HelloWorld application...");
    Set<Class<?>> set = new HashSet<Class<?>>();
    set.add(HelloWorld.class);
    return set;
}
}

HelloWorld.java:

package java.helloworldrestservice.resources;


import javax.ws.rs.GET;
import javax.ws.rs.Path;
import javax.ws.rs.Produces;
import javax.ws.rs.core.MediaType;

@Path("/hello")
public class HelloWorld {
@GET
@Produces(MediaType.TEXT_PLAIN)
public String sayPlainTextHello()
{
    return "Hello World!!";
}
}

What is wrong? Why do I see this missing ProcessingException class and how can I get rid of this error?

Thanks a lot!

Answer 1

It appears that javax.ws.rs.ProcessingException is part of the javax.ws.rs package, which is part of rest but is not shipped by default with Java or with Tomcat.

it appears to be included in , among other things, javax.ws.rs-api-2.0.jar . There is also a version of javax.ws.rs available on the Maven repository.

It appears that Jersey REFERENCES but does not IMPLEMENT this class.

https://jersey.java.net/apidocs/2.6/jersey/javax/ws/rs/class-use/ProcessingException.html

So you're going to need to download the corresponding jar and include it in your classpath in order for it to be able to use ProcessingException and start your container.

Did some looking. I would hope that Jersey.java.net would provide this library as part of their bundle. If they don't, you're going to have to pull the REST prerequisites off of Maven yourself.

Answer 2

Sorry the text isn't specifically tailored to your question (but it should get the job done). I answered a similar question so I'm just reusing it.

If you're using a standard Tomcat install (or some other servlet container), AFAIK you can't avoid explicitly telling it what servlets to start in the web.xml file*. Since you have to use web.xml anyway, the simplest way to get restful web services working is to forget extending javax.ws.rs.core.Application entirely and just specify the context path there. You can still use standard jax-rs annotations to declare the actual web services.

web.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<web-app
  xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee"
  xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
  xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_3_0.xsd"
  version="3.0"
>
  <servlet>
    <servlet-name>rest-test</servlet-name>
    <servlet-class>com.sun.jersey.spi.container.servlet.ServletContainer</servlet-class>
    <init-param>
      <param-name>com.sun.jersey.config.property.packages</param-name>
      <param-value>com.domain.mypackage</param-value>
    </init-param>
    <load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup>
  </servlet>
  <servlet-mapping>
    <servlet-name> rest-test</servlet-name>
    <url-pattern>/rest/*</url-pattern>
  </servlet-mapping>
</web-app>

Two noteworthy points:

1. You will need to bundle a REST implementation in your WAR file, since servlet containers don't usually contain one. Since Jersey is the reference implementation for JAX-RS, that's the one I'm using in the servlet-class element above. You can replace this with Apache CXF implementation if you want.

2. The init-param element tells Jersey which of your packages to search for Java files with web service annotations. Edit this to point to your web services. Note that if you opt to use apache CXF instead of Jersey, the stuff needed in any init-param elements will be different. Someone who knows CXF please post what they would be.

If you're using Maven, just add a dependency to jersey-servlet in the dependencies section of your pom.xml file:

<dependencies>
  <dependency>
    <groupId>com.sun.jersey</groupId>
    <artifactId>jersey-servlet</artifactId>
    <version>1.18.2</version>
  </dependency>
  ...
</dependencies>

After this, declaring your web services is straight forward using the standard JAX-RS annotations in your Java classes:

package com.domain.mypackage;
import javax.ws.rs.Consumes;
import javax.ws.rs.Produces;
import javax.ws.rs.GET;
import javax.ws.rs.MatrixParam;
import javax.ws.rs.Path;

// It's good practice to include a version number in the path so you can have
// multiple versions deployed at once. That way consumers don't need to upgrade
// right away if things are working for them.
@Path("calc/1.0")
public class CalculatorV1_0 {
  @GET
  @Consumes("text/plain")
  @Produces("text/plain")
  @Path("addTwoNumbers")
  public String add(@MatrixParam("firstNumber") int n1, @MatrixParam("secondNumber") int n2) {
    return String.valueOf(n1 + n2);
  }
}

This should be all you need. If your Tomcat install is running locally on port 8080 and you deploy your WAR file to the context myContext, going to

http://localhost:8080/myContext/rest/calc/1.0/addTwoNumbers;firstNumber=2;secondNumber=3

...should produce the expected result (5).

Cheers!

* Someone please correct me if you know of a way to a add the Jersey servlet to the context in Tomcat without using web.xml--maybe by using a context or life cycle listener?