Spring JavaConfig configuration exception : A ServletContext is required to configure default servlet handling

Question

I am trying to replace my web.xml with a pure Spring 4.1.0 JavaConfig setup. According to examples I've read, and the API docs, the follow 'should' work:

public class WebAppInitializer implements WebApplicationInitializer {
    @Override
    public void onStartup(ServletContext servletContext) throws ServletException {

        // Create the root appcontext (replaces the web.xml context-param & ContextLoaderListener)
        AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext rootContext = new AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext();
        rootContext.register(RootConfig.class);
        // since we registered RootConfig instead of passing it to the constructor
        rootContext.refresh(); 
    ...
    ...
}

}

With RootConfig.java:

@Configuration
@ComponentScan(basePackages="com.ia", [email protected](type=FilterType.ANNOTATION, value=Controller.class))
@EnableSpringConfigured
public class RootConfig{
}

However, when doing so, I get the following error message:

org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'defaultServletHandlerMapping' defined in class path resource [org/springframework/web/servlet/config/annotation/DelegatingWebMvcConfiguration.class]: Instantiation of bean failed; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanDefinitionStoreException: Factory method [public org.springframework.web.servlet.HandlerMapping org.springframework.web.servlet.config.annotation.WebMvcConfigurationSupport.defaultServletHandlerMapping()] threw exception; nested exception is java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: A ServletContext is required to configure default servlet handling
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.ConstructorResolver.instantiateUsingFactoryMethod(ConstructorResolver.java:601)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.instantiateUsingFactoryMethod(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1113)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBeanInstance(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1008)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:505)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:476)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:302)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:229)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:298)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:193)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.preInstantiateSingletons(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:725)
    at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.finishBeanFactoryInitialization(AbstractApplicationContext.java:757)
    at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.refresh(AbstractApplicationContext.java:480)
    at com.ia.system.configuration.WebAppInitializer.onStartup(WebAppInitializer.java:60)
    at org.springframework.web.SpringServletContainerInitializer.onStartup(SpringServletContainerInitializer.java:175)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.startInternal(StandardContext.java:5423)
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1559)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1549)
    at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:262)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1145)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:615)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:724)

where the offending line is at:

rootContext.refresh();

If I remove the rootContext.refresh() statement, everything seems to work properly.

This is the same error as specified in this SO Post, however the accepted response seems to indicate that the refresh() should work fine for the rootContext. This is not the case for me. I am unsure why this is throwing an error.

I have read in a couple of places that you can pass the @Configuration class to the constructor instead of calling the refresh() method, but I am not sure which constructor that is. AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext() does not have such a constructor, so I am a little confused.

Answer 1

Try setting the servlet context before calling refresh():

rootContext.setServletContext(servletContext);