Why does Spring Boot web app close immediately after starting?

Question

Using STS, if I import the "Rest Service" Getting Started project using the latest Spring Boot and choose "Run As Spring Boot App", it starts up, then immediately shuts down.

Looking at the debug logs, Spring is for some reason deciding the project is not a web application, but I have no idea why.

If I switch from Spring Boot 1.1.1.RELEASE to 1.0.1.RELEASE, the project works as expected and the default Tomcat embedded server is found.

I can't find anything in the 1.1.1 release notes that suggests there is a config change or anything?

UPDATE: Steps to reproduce and log output

I'm running STS 3.6.0.M1 and Spring 4.0.5 and Spring Boot 1.1.1. I can easily reproduce this by doing the following:

1. Import the REST Service Getting started app.
2. Select "Run as Spring Boot Project"

3. This is the output:

   :: Spring Boot ::        (v1.1.1.RELEASE)  2014-06-14 11:08:34.226  INFO 47728 --- [           main] hello.Application                        : Starting Application on localhost with PID 47728 (/Users/pdrummond/src/sts/gs-rest-service-complete/target/classes started by pdrummond in /Users/pdrummond/src/sts/gs-rest-service-complete) 2014-06-14 11:08:34.257  INFO 47728 --- [           main] s.c.a.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext : Refreshing org.springframework.context.annotation.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext@802b249: startup date [Sat Jun 14 11:08:34 BST 2014]; root of context hierarchy 2014-06-14 11:08:34.680  INFO 47728 --- [           main] o.s.j.e.a.AnnotationMBeanExporter        : Registering beans for JMX exposure on startup 2014-06-14 11:08:34.908  INFO 47728 --- [           main] hello.Application                        : Started Application in 0.917 seconds (JVM running for 1.351) 2014-06-14 11:08:36.397  INFO 47728 --- [       Thread-3] s.c.a.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext : Closing org.springframework.context.annotation.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext@802b249: startup date [Sat Jun 14 11:08:34 BST 2014]; root of context hierarchy 2014-06-14 11:08:36.398  INFO 47728 --- [       Thread-3] o.s.j.e.a.AnnotationMBeanExporter        : Unregistering JMX-exposed beans on shutdown 

4. If I edit the pom and change the spring-boot-starter-parent to 1.0.1.RELEASE it boots as expected.

UPDATE 2: Added output from --debug command

     :: Spring Boot ::        (v1.1.1.RELEASE)      2014-06-14 19:29:03.814  INFO 986 --- [           main] hello.Application                        : Starting Application on localhost with PID 986 (/Users/pdrummond/src/sts/gs-rest-service-complete/target/classes started by pdrummond in /Users/pdrummond/src/sts/gs-rest-service-complete)     2014-06-14 19:29:03.816 DEBUG 986 --- [           main] o.s.boot.SpringApplication               : Loading source class hello.Application     2014-06-14 19:29:03.838  INFO 986 --- [           main] s.c.a.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext : Refreshing org.springframework.context.annotation.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext@c163956: startup date [Sat Jun 14 19:29:03 BST 2014]; root of context hierarchy     2014-06-14 19:29:04.177  INFO 986 --- [           main] o.s.j.e.a.AnnotationMBeanExporter        : Registering beans for JMX exposure on startup     2014-06-14 19:29:04.346 DEBUG 986 --- [           main] utoConfigurationReportLoggingInitializer :        =========================     AUTO-CONFIGURATION REPORT     =========================       Positive matches:     -----------------         PropertyPlaceholderAutoConfiguration#propertySourcesPlaceholderConfigurer           - @ConditionalOnMissingBean (types: org.springframework.context.support.PropertySourcesPlaceholderConfigurer; SearchStrategy: current) found no beans (OnBeanCondition)         JacksonAutoConfiguration           - @ConditionalOnClass classes found: com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper (OnClassCondition)         JacksonAutoConfiguration#jacksonObjectMapper           - @ConditionalOnMissingBean (types: com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper; SearchStrategy: all) found no beans (OnBeanCondition)         JmxAutoConfiguration           - @ConditionalOnClass classes found: org.springframework.jmx.export.MBeanExporter (OnClassCondition)           - SpEL expression on org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.jmx.JmxAutoConfiguration: ${spring.jmx.enabled:true} (OnExpressionCondition)         JmxAutoConfiguration#mbeanServer           - @ConditionalOnMissingBean (types: javax.management.MBeanServer; SearchStrategy: all) found no beans (OnBeanCondition)         JmxAutoConfiguration#objectNamingStrategy           - @ConditionalOnMissingBean (types: org.springframework.jmx.export.naming.ObjectNamingStrategy; SearchStrategy: all) found no beans (OnBeanCondition)         HttpMessageConvertersAutoConfiguration           - @ConditionalOnClass classes found: org.springframework.http.converter.HttpMessageConverter (OnClassCondition)         HttpMessageConvertersAutoConfiguration#messageConverters           - @ConditionalOnMissingBean (types: org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.web.HttpMessageConverters; SearchStrategy: all) found no beans (OnBeanCondition)         HttpMessageConvertersAutoConfiguration.ObjectMappers           - @ConditionalOnClass classes found: com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper (OnClassCondition)         HttpMessageConvertersAutoConfiguration.ObjectMappers#mappingJackson2HttpMessageConverter           - @ConditionalOnMissingBean (types: org.springframework.http.converter.json.MappingJackson2HttpMessageConverter; SearchStrategy: all) found no beans (OnBeanCondition)       Negative matches:     -----------------         MessageSourceAutoConfiguration           - Bundle found for spring.messages.basename: messages (MessageSourceAutoConfiguration.ResourceBundleCondition)         RabbitAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: org.springframework.amqp.rabbit.core.RabbitTemplate,com.rabbitmq.client.Channel (OnClassCondition)         AopAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: org.aspectj.lang.annotation.Aspect,org.aspectj.lang.reflect.Advice (OnClassCondition)         BatchAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: org.springframework.batch.core.launch.JobLauncher,org.springframework.jdbc.core.JdbcOperations (OnClassCondition)         ElasticsearchRepositoriesAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: org.elasticsearch.client.Client,org.springframework.data.elasticsearch.repository.ElasticsearchRepository (OnClassCondition)         JpaRepositoriesAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.JpaRepository (OnClassCondition)         MongoRepositoriesAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: com.mongodb.Mongo,org.springframework.data.mongodb.repository.MongoRepository (OnClassCondition)         RepositoryRestMvcAutoConfiguration           - not a web application (OnWebApplicationCondition)         SolrRepositoriesAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: org.apache.solr.client.solrj.SolrServer,org.springframework.data.solr.repository.SolrRepository (OnClassCondition)         ElasticsearchAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: org.elasticsearch.client.Client,org.springframework.data.elasticsearch.client.TransportClientFactoryBean,org.springframework.data.elasticsearch.client.NodeClientFactoryBean (OnClassCondition)         ElasticsearchDataAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: org.elasticsearch.client.Client,org.springframework.data.elasticsearch.core.ElasticsearchTemplate (OnClassCondition)         FlywayAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: org.flywaydb.core.Flyway (OnClassCondition)         FreeMarkerAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: freemarker.template.Configuration,org.springframework.ui.freemarker.FreeMarkerConfigurationFactory (OnClassCondition)         GroovyTemplateAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: groovy.text.TemplateEngine (OnClassCondition)         HypermediaAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: org.springframework.hateoas.Resource (OnClassCondition)         IntegrationAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: org.springframework.integration.config.EnableIntegration (OnClassCondition)         JacksonAutoConfiguration.JodaModuleAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: com.fasterxml.jackson.datatype.joda.JodaModule (OnClassCondition)         JacksonAutoConfiguration.Jsr310ModuleAutoConfiguration           - Required JVM version 1.8 or newer found 1.6 (OnJavaCondition)         DataSourceAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: org.springframework.jdbc.datasource.embedded.EmbeddedDatabaseType (OnClassCondition)         DataSourceTransactionManagerAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: org.springframework.jdbc.core.JdbcTemplate,org.springframework.transaction.PlatformTransactionManager (OnClassCondition)         JmsAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: org.springframework.jms.core.JmsTemplate (OnClassCondition)         ActiveMQAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: javax.jms.ConnectionFactory,org.apache.activemq.ActiveMQConnectionFactory (OnClassCondition)         HornetQAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: javax.jms.ConnectionFactory,org.hornetq.api.jms.HornetQJMSClient (OnClassCondition)         JmxAutoConfiguration#mbeanExporter           - @ConditionalOnMissingBean (types: org.springframework.jmx.export.MBeanExporter; SearchStrategy: current) found the following [mbeanExporter] (OnBeanCondition)         LiquibaseAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: liquibase.integration.spring.SpringLiquibase (OnClassCondition)         DeviceDelegatingViewResolverAutoConfiguration           - not a web application (OnWebApplicationCondition)         DeviceResolverAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: org.springframework.mobile.device.DeviceResolverHandlerInterceptor,org.springframework.mobile.device.DeviceHandlerMethodArgumentResolver (OnClassCondition)         SitePreferenceAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: org.springframework.mobile.device.site.SitePreferenceHandlerInterceptor,org.springframework.mobile.device.site.SitePreferenceHandlerMethodArgumentResolver (OnClassCondition)         MongoAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: com.mongodb.Mongo (OnClassCondition)         MongoDataAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: com.mongodb.Mongo,org.springframework.data.mongodb.core.MongoTemplate (OnClassCondition)         HibernateJpaAutoConfiguration           - did not find HibernateEntityManager class (HibernateJpaAutoConfiguration.HibernateEntityManagerCondition)         ReactorAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: reactor.spring.context.config.EnableReactor (OnClassCondition)         RedisAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: org.springframework.data.redis.connection.jedis.JedisConnection,org.springframework.data.redis.core.RedisOperations,redis.clients.jedis.Jedis (OnClassCondition)         FallbackWebSecurityAutoConfiguration           - SpEL expression on org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.security.FallbackWebSecurityAutoConfiguration: !${security.basic.enabled:true} (OnExpressionCondition)         SecurityAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: org.springframework.security.authentication.AuthenticationManager (OnClassCondition)         FacebookAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: org.springframework.social.facebook.connect.FacebookConnectionFactory (OnClassCondition)         LinkedInAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: org.springframework.social.linkedin.connect.LinkedInConnectionFactory (OnClassCondition)         SocialWebAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: org.springframework.social.connect.web.ConnectController,org.springframework.social.config.annotation.SocialConfigurerAdapter (OnClassCondition)         TwitterAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: org.springframework.social.twitter.connect.TwitterConnectionFactory (OnClassCondition)         SolrAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: org.apache.solr.client.solrj.SolrServer (OnClassCondition)         ThymeleafAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: org.thymeleaf.spring4.SpringTemplateEngine (OnClassCondition)         VelocityAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: org.apache.velocity.app.VelocityEngine,org.springframework.ui.velocity.VelocityEngineFactory (OnClassCondition)         DispatcherServletAutoConfiguration           - not a web application (OnWebApplicationCondition)         EmbeddedServletContainerAutoConfiguration           - not a web application (OnWebApplicationCondition)         ErrorMvcAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: javax.servlet.Servlet,org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet (OnClassCondition)         MultipartAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: javax.servlet.Servlet,javax.servlet.MultipartConfigElement (OnClassCondition)         ServerPropertiesAutoConfiguration           - not a web application (OnWebApplicationCondition)         WebMvcAutoConfiguration           - not a web application (OnWebApplicationCondition)         WebSocketAutoConfiguration           - required @ConditionalOnClass classes not found: javax.servlet.Servlet,org.apache.catalina.startup.Tomcat,org.springframework.web.socket.WebSocketHandler,org.apache.tomcat.websocket.server.WsSci (OnClassCondition)        2014-06-14 19:29:04.348  INFO 986 --- [           main] hello.Application                        : Started Application in 0.73 seconds (JVM running for 1.085)     2014-06-14 19:29:06.378  INFO 986 --- [       Thread-3] s.c.a.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext : Closing org.springframework.context.annotation.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext@c163956: startup date [Sat Jun 14 19:29:03 BST 2014]; root of context hierarchy     2014-06-14 19:29:06.379  INFO 986 --- [       Thread-3] o.s.j.e.a.AnnotationMBeanExporter        : Unregistering JMX-exposed beans on shutdown 

Answer 1

I had this same issue. To make it work I had to adjust the pom.xml and comment-out the 'provided' scope for spring-boot-starter-tomcat artifact and update the dependencies.

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

Now it starts up as expected! Thanks to some of the other answers that put me on the right track.