Tomcat 8 embedded - ERROR {org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase} - A child container failed during start

Question

I'm using tomcat embedded and when I try to star the server following error get occurred. I'm using tomcat 8.0.20 and jdk8

ERROR {org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase} -  A child container failed during start
java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardEngine[Catalina].StandardHost[localhost].StandardContext[/]]
    at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.report(FutureTask.java:122)
    at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.get(FutureTask.java:192)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.startInternal(ContainerBase.java:917)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHost.startInternal(StandardHost.java:871)
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1409)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1399)
    at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:266)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1142)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:617)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745)
Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardEngine[Catalina].StandardHost[localhost].StandardContext[/]]
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:154)
    ... 6 more
Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to initialize component [org.apache.catalina.webresources.StandardRoot@178ad6ef]
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.init(LifecycleBase.java:106)
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:139)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.resourcesStart(StandardContext.java:4840)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.startInternal(StandardContext.java:4970)
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
    ... 6 more
Caused by: java.lang.Error: factory already defined
    at java.net.URL.setURLStreamHandlerFactory(URL.java:1105)
    at org.apache.catalina.webresources.TomcatURLStreamHandlerFactory.<init>(TomcatURLStreamHandlerFactory.java:122)
    at org.apache.catalina.webresources.TomcatURLStreamHandlerFactory.getInstanceInternal(TomcatURLStreamHandlerFactory.java:51)
    at org.apache.catalina.webresources.TomcatURLStreamHandlerFactory.register(TomcatURLStreamHandlerFactory.java:75)
    at org.apache.catalina.webresources.StandardRoot.registerURLStreamHandlerFactory(StandardRoot.java:677)
    at org.apache.catalina.webresources.StandardRoot.initInternal(StandardRoot.java:660)
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.init(LifecycleBase.java:102)
    ... 10 more
[2015-03-07 10:24:08,114] ERROR {org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase} -  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:122)
    at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.get(FutureTask.java:192)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.startInternal(ContainerBase.java:917)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngine.startInternal(StandardEngine.java:262)
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
    at org.wso2.carbon.tomcat.ext.service.ExtendedStandardService.startInternal(ExtendedStandardService.java:49)
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardServer.startInternal(StandardServer.java:769)
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
    at org.wso2.carbon.tomcat.internal.CarbonTomcat.start(CarbonTomcat.java:103)
    at org.wso2.carbon.tomcat.internal.ServerManager$1.run(ServerManager.java:99)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745)
Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardEngine[Catalina].StandardHost[localhost]]
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:154)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1409)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1399)
    at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:266)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1142)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:617)
    ... 1 more
Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: A child container failed during start
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.startInternal(ContainerBase.java:925)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHost.startInternal(StandardHost.java:871)
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
    ... 6 more
[2015-03-07 10:24:08,116] ERROR {org.wso2.carbon.tomcat.internal.ServerManager} -  tomcat life-cycle exception
org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardServer[8005]]
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:154)
    at org.wso2.carbon.tomcat.internal.CarbonTomcat.start(CarbonTomcat.java:103)
    at org.wso2.carbon.tomcat.internal.ServerManager$1.run(ServerManager.java:99)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745)
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:769)
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
    ... 3 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.wso2.carbon.tomcat.ext.service.ExtendedStandardService.startInternal(ExtendedStandardService.java:49)
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
    ... 5 more
Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: A child container failed during start
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.startInternal(ContainerBase.java:925)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngine.startInternal(StandardEngine.java:262)
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
    ... 7 more

Why I'm getting this? And what can I do to fix thi?

Answer 1

I was able to fix this issue by disabling the default TomcatURLStreamHandlerFactory before starting the sever instance

TomcatURLStreamHandlerFactory.disable();
            

Answer 2

I was getting similar exception while running integration tests using the failsafe plugin. Fixed it by setting reuseForks=false - this disallows maven from reusing the forked VM.

<plugin>
  <artifactId>maven-failsafe-plugin</artifactId>
  <version>${failsafe.version}</version>
  <executions>
    <execution>
      <goals>
        <goal>integration-test</goal>
        <goal>verify</goal>
      </goals>
    </execution>
  </executions>
  <configuration>
    <reuseForks>false</reuseForks>       <!-- FIXES THE EXCEPTION
  </configuration>
</plugin>