How can I disable javax.validation.api in JBoss 6.4

Question

Similar questions:

How to use bean validation 1.1 in JBoss EAP 6.4.0?

How to change bean-validation version on jboss EAP 6.3?

Can you use bean validation 1.1 (JSR 349) in JBoss EAP 6.4.4?

There seems to be some uncertainty if we can use Bean Validation 1.1 in JBoss 6.x.

My current jboss-deployment-structure.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<jboss-deployment-structure xmlns="urn:jboss:deployment-structure:1.0">
  <deployment>
    <dependencies>
      <!-- list of modules taken from https://access.redhat.com/articles/1122333 -->
      <module name="javax.activation.api" />
      <module name="javax.annotation.api" />
      <module name="javax.ejb.api" />
      <module name="javax.el.api" />
      <module name="javax.enterprise.api" />
      <module name="javax.enterprise.deploy.api" />
      <module name="javax.faces.api" />
      <module name="javax.inject.api" />
      <module name="javax.interceptor.api" />
      <module name="javax.jms.api" />
      <module name="javax.jws.api" />
      <module name="javax.mail.api" />
      <module name="javax.management.j2ee.api" />
      <module name="javax.persistence.api" />
      <module name="javax.resource.api" />
      <module name="javax.rmi.api" />
      <module name="javax.security.auth.message.api" />
      <module name="javax.security.jacc.api" />
      <module name="javax.servlet.api" />
      <module name="javax.servlet.jsp.api" />
      <module name="javax.servlet.jstl.api" />
      <module name="javax.transaction.api" />
      <!--<module name="javax.validation.api" />-->
      <module name="javax.ws.rs.api" />
      <module name="javax.wsdl4j.api" />
      <module name="javax.xml.bind.api" />
      <module name="javax.xml.jaxp-provider" />
      <module name="javax.xml.registry.api" />
      <module name="javax.xml.rpc.api" />
      <module name="javax.xml.soap.api" />
      <module name="javax.xml.stream.api" />
      <module name="javax.xml.ws.api" />
      <module name="javax.api" />
    </dependencies>
    <exclusions>
      <module name="javaee.api" />
      <module name="org.hibernate.validator" />
    </exclusions>
  </deployment>
</jboss-deployment-structure>

I bundle the following dependencies in the .ear:

<dependency>
  <groupId>javax.validation</groupId>
  <artifactId>validation-api</artifactId>
  <version>1.1.0.Final</version>
</dependency>

<dependency>
  <groupId>org.hibernate</groupId>
  <artifactId>hibernate-validator</artifactId>
  <version>5.2.2.Final</version>
</dependency>

But I get the following stacktrace:

14:09:44,085 WARN  [org.jboss.resteasy.plugins.validation.hibernate.AbstractValidatorContextResolver] (AFP-HTTP-96) Unable to load Validation support: javax.validation.ValidationException: Unable to find provider: class org.hibernate.validator.HibernateValidator
at javax.validation.Validation$ProviderSpecificBootstrapImpl.configure(Validation.java:223) [validation-api-1.0.0.GA-redhat-3.jar:1.0.0.GA-redhat-3]
at org.jboss.resteasy.plugins.validation.hibernate.AbstractValidatorContextResolver.getGeneralValidator(AbstractValidatorContextResolver.java:40) [resteasy-hibernatevalidator-provider-3.0.9.Final.jar:]
at org.jboss.resteasy.plugins.validation.hibernate.AbstractValidatorContextResolver.getContext(AbstractValidatorContextResolver.java:54) [resteasy-hibernatevalidator-provider-3.0.9.Final.jar:]
at org.jboss.resteasy.plugins.validation.hibernate.ValidatorContextResolverCDI.getContext(ValidatorContextResolverCDI.java:16) [resteasy-hibernatevalidator-provider-3.0.9.Final.jar:]
at org.jboss.resteasy.cdi.JaxrsInjectionTarget.validate(JaxrsInjectionTarget.java:113) [resteasy-cdi-3.0.9.Final.jar:]
at org.jboss.resteasy.cdi.JaxrsInjectionTarget.inject(JaxrsInjectionTarget.java:67) [resteasy-cdi-3.0.9.Final.jar:]
at org.jboss.weld.bean.ManagedBean.create(ManagedBean.java:297) [weld-core-1.1.31.Final-redhat-1.jar:1.1.31.Final-redhat-1]
at org.jboss.weld.context.unbound.DependentContextImpl.get(DependentContextImpl.java:68) [weld-core-1.1.31.Final-redhat-1.jar:1.1.31.Final-redhat-1]
at org.jboss.weld.manager.BeanManagerImpl.getReference(BeanManagerImpl.java:626) [weld-core-1.1.31.Final-redhat-1.jar:1.1.31.Final-redhat-1]
at org.jboss.weld.manager.BeanManagerImpl.getReference(BeanManagerImpl.java:653) [weld-core-1.1.31.Final-redhat-1.jar:1.1.31.Final-redhat-1]
at org.jboss.resteasy.cdi.CdiConstructorInjector.construct(CdiConstructorInjector.java:64) [resteasy-cdi-3.0.9.Final.jar:]
at org.jboss.resteasy.cdi.CdiConstructorInjector.construct(CdiConstructorInjector.java:69) [resteasy-cdi-3.0.9.Final.jar:]
at org.jboss.resteasy.plugins.server.resourcefactory.POJOResourceFactory.createResource(POJOResourceFactory.java:52) [resteasy-jaxrs-3.0.9.Final.jar:]
at org.jboss.resteasy.core.ResourceMethodInvoker.invoke(ResourceMethodInvoker.java:236) [resteasy-jaxrs-3.0.9.Final.jar:]
at org.jboss.resteasy.core.SynchronousDispatcher.invoke(SynchronousDispatcher.java:356) [resteasy-jaxrs-3.0.9.Final.jar:]
at org.jboss.resteasy.core.SynchronousDispatcher.invoke(SynchronousDispatcher.java:179) [resteasy-jaxrs-3.0.9.Final.jar:]
at org.jboss.resteasy.plugins.server.servlet.ServletContainerDispatcher.service(ServletContainerDispatcher.java:220) [resteasy-jaxrs-3.0.9.Final.jar:]
at org.jboss.resteasy.plugins.server.servlet.HttpServletDispatcher.service(HttpServletDispatcher.java:56) [resteasy-jaxrs-3.0.9.Final.jar:]
at org.jboss.resteasy.plugins.server.servlet.HttpServletDispatcher.service(HttpServletDispatcher.java:51) [resteasy-jaxrs-3.0.9.Final.jar:]
 ...

As you can see, the validation API is validation-api-1.0.0.GA-redhat-3.jar:1.0.0.GA-redhat-3 which means that the JBoss bundled module is not actually removed from the classpath. Am I doing something wrong or is it a bug which doesn't let me remove javax.validation.api? Do I need to replace more modules with manual dependencies (e.g. resteasy)?

Answer 1

I have verified this answer given by Redhat support -

You can exclude the JBoss provided javax.validation api classes from the JBoss EAP 6 by excluding the jaxrs subsystem.

In addition to excluding validation classes themselves modules that depend on them should be excluded as well. Thus, the exclusion part of jboss-deployment-structure.xml should look like this:

<exclude-subsystems>
  <subsystem name="jaxrs"/>
</exclude-subsystems>
<exclusions>
  <module name="javaee.api"/>
  <module name="javax.validation.api"/>
  <module name="javax.faces.api"/>
  <module name="org.hibernate.validator"/>
</exclusions>

*note - excluding the javaee module limits the available support by RedHat

Answer 2

JBoss EAP 6.x is a JEE6 implementation container. Also keep in mind that changing the bean validation modules that are shipped with JBoss EAP6 breaks the supported bits.

Bean Validation is part of JEE7 specification. You will need to upgrade to JBoss EAP7 or use WildFly 9 or 10 from the community. Both of them implement JEE7 spec which includes Bean Validation 1.1.