Spring Boot java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: javax/servlet/Filter

Question

I Started a new project with Spring Boot 1.2.3. I'm getting error

java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: javax/servlet/Filter

Gradle Dependencies:

dependencies {
    compile("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-actuator")
    compile("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-data-jpa")
    compile("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-security")
    compile("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-thymeleaf")
    compile("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web")
    compile("org.codehaus.groovy:groovy")
    compile("com.h2database:h2")
    compile("org.thymeleaf.extras:thymeleaf-extras-springsecurity3")

    providedRuntime("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-tomcat")
    testCompile("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-test")

    compile 'org.webjars:jquery:2.1.4'
    compile 'org.webjars:bootstrap:3.3.4'
}

Here is the full stack trace

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: javax/servlet/Filter
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass1(Native Method)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass(ClassLoader.java:800)
    at java.security.SecureClassLoader.defineClass(SecureClassLoader.java:142)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.defineClass(URLClassLoader.java:449)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.access$100(URLClassLoader.java:71)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:361)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:355)
    at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:354)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:425)
    at sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(Launcher.java:308)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:358)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass1(Native Method)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass(ClassLoader.java:800)
    at java.security.SecureClassLoader.defineClass(SecureClassLoader.java:142)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.defineClass(URLClassLoader.java:449)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.access$100(URLClassLoader.java:71)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:361)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:355)
    at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:354)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:425)
    at sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(Launcher.java:308)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:358)
    at java.lang.Class.getDeclaredMethods0(Native Method)
    at java.lang.Class.privateGetDeclaredMethods(Class.java:2570)
    at java.lang.Class.getMethod0(Class.java:2813)
    at java.lang.Class.getMethod(Class.java:1663)
    at com.intellij.rt.execution.application.AppMain.main(AppMain.java:125)
Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: javax.servlet.Filter
    at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:366)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:355)
    at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
    at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:354)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:425)
    at sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(Launcher.java:308)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:358)
    ... 29 more

Process finished with exit code 1

Answer 1

for the maven users, comment the scope provided in the following dependency:

    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-tomcat</artifactId>
        <!--<scope>provided</scope>-->
    </dependency>

UPDATE

As feed.me mentioned you have to uncomment the provided part depending on what kind of app you are deploying.

Here is a useful link with the details: http://docs.spring.io/spring-boot/docs/current/reference/htmlsingle/#build-tool-plugins-maven-packaging

Answer 2

It's not good to change the scope of your application dependencies. Putting the dependency as compile, will provide the dependency also in your artifact that will be installed somewere. The best think to do is configure the RUN configuration of your sping boot application by specifying as stated in documentation :

"Include dependencies with 'Provided' scope" "Enable this option to add dependencies with the Provided scope to the runtime classpath."