Can't run the SPRING BOOT application with @EnableWebMvc configuration

Question

I'm new to spring boot and i'm very much interested to learn this technology. Here is the issue, I got one configuration file with @configuration tag. so i can't run the application when i try to add @enablemvc annotation or if i add new file with @enablemvc annoation in the spring boot application. i really appreciate if some one can help me with thisss.

log

org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'resourceHandlerMapping' defined in class path resource [org/springframework/web/servlet/config/annotation/DelegatingWebMvcConfiguration.class]: Bean instantiation via factory method failed; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.BeanInstantiationException: Failed to instantiate [org.springframework.web.servlet.HandlerMapping]: Factory method 'resourceHandlerMapping' threw exception; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanInitializationException: Failed to init ResourceHttpRequestHandler; nested exception is java.lang.IllegalStateException: WebApplicationObjectSupport instance [ResourceHttpRequestHandler [locations=[class path resource [resources/], class path resource [images/]], resolvers=[org.springframework.web.servlet.resource.PathResourceResolver@39e6b948]]] does not run in a WebApplicationContext but in: org.springframework.context.annotation.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext@19b44076: startup date [Sat Feb 10 09:34:19 EST 2018]; root of context hierarchy
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.ConstructorResolver.instantiateUsingFactoryMethod(ConstructorResolver.java:599) ~[spring-beans-4.3.13.RELEASE.jar:4.3.13.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.instantiateUsingFactoryMethod(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1173) ~[spring-beans-4.3.13.RELEASE.jar:4.3.13.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBeanInstance(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1067) ~[spring-beans-4.3.13.RELEASE.jar:4.3.13.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:513) ~[spring-beans-4.3.13.RELEASE.jar:4.3.13.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:483) ~[spring-beans-4.3.13.RELEASE.jar:4.3.13.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:306) ~[spring-beans-4.3.13.RELEASE.jar:4.3.13.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:230) ~[spring-beans-4.3.13.RELEASE.jar:4.3.13.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:302) ~[spring-beans-4.3.13.RELEASE.jar:4.3.13.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:197) ~[spring-beans-4.3.13.RELEASE.jar:4.3.13.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.preInstantiateSingletons(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:761) ~[spring-beans-4.3.13.RELEASE.jar:4.3.13.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.finishBeanFactoryInitialization(AbstractApplicationContext.java:867) ~[spring-context-4.3.13.RELEASE.jar:4.3.13.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.refresh(AbstractApplicationContext.java:543) ~[spring-context-4.3.13.RELEASE.jar:4.3.13.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.refresh(SpringApplication.java:693) ~[spring-boot-1.5.9.RELEASE.jar:1.5.9.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.refreshContext(SpringApplication.java:360) ~[spring-boot-1.5.9.RELEASE.jar:1.5.9.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.run(SpringApplication.java:303) ~[spring-boot-1.5.9.RELEASE.jar:1.5.9.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.builder.SpringApplicationBuilder.run(SpringApplicationBuilder.java:134) [spring-boot-1.5.9.RELEASE.jar:1.5.9.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.builder.SpringApplicationBuilder.configureAsChildIfNecessary(SpringApplicationBuilder.java:147) [spring-boot-1.5.9.RELEASE.jar:1.5.9.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.builder.SpringApplicationBuilder.run(SpringApplicationBuilder.java:130) [spring-boot-1.5.9.RELEASE.jar:1.5.9.RELEASE]
    at com.boot.main.ClientMain.main(ClientMain.java:31) [bin/:na]
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) ~[na:1.8.0_131]
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source) ~[na:1.8.0_131]
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source) ~[na:1.8.0_131]
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Unknown Source) ~[na:1.8.0_131]
    at org.springframework.boot.devtools.restart.RestartLauncher.run(RestartLauncher.java:49) [spring-boot-devtools-1.5.9.RELEASE.jar:1.5.9.RELEASE]
Caused by: org.springframework.beans.BeanInstantiationException: Failed to instantiate [org.springframework.web.servlet.HandlerMapping]: Factory method 'resourceHandlerMapping' threw exception; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanInitializationException: Failed to init ResourceHttpRequestHandler; nested exception is java.lang.IllegalStateException: WebApplicationObjectSupport instance [ResourceHttpRequestHandler [locations=[class path resource [resources/], class path resource [images/]], resolvers=[org.springframework.web.servlet.resource.PathResourceResolver@39e6b948]]] does not run in a WebApplicationContext but in: org.springframework.context.annotation.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext@19b44076: startup date [Sat Feb 10 09:34:19 EST 2018]; root of context hierarchy
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.SimpleInstantiationStrategy.instantiate(SimpleInstantiationStrategy.java:189) ~[spring-beans-4.3.13.RELEASE.jar:4.3.13.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.ConstructorResolver.instantiateUsingFactoryMethod(ConstructorResolver.java:588) ~[spring-beans-4.3.13.RELEASE.jar:4.3.13.RELEASE]
    ... 23 common frames omitted
Caused by: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanInitializationException: Failed to init ResourceHttpRequestHandler; nested exception is java.lang.IllegalStateException: WebApplicationObjectSupport instance [ResourceHttpRequestHandler [locations=[class path resource [resources/], class path resource [images/]], resolvers=[org.springframework.web.servlet.resource.PathResourceResolver@39e6b948]]] does not run in a WebApplicationContext but in: org.springframework.context.annotation.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext@19b44076: startup date [Sat Feb 10 09:34:19 EST 2018]; root of context hierarchy
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.config.annotation.ResourceHandlerRegistry.getHandlerMapping(ResourceHandlerRegistry.java:150) ~[spring-webmvc-4.3.12.RELEASE.jar:4.3.12.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.config.annotation.WebMvcConfigurationSupport.resourceHandlerMapping(WebMvcConfigurationSupport.java:446) ~[spring-webmvc-4.3.12.RELEASE.jar:4.3.12.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.config.annotation.DelegatingWebMvcConfiguration$$EnhancerBySpringCGLIB$$7c7bc0fe.CGLIB$resourceHandlerMapping$28(<generated>) ~[spring-webmvc-4.3.12.RELEASE.jar:4.3.12.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.config.annotation.DelegatingWebMvcConfiguration$$EnhancerBySpringCGLIB$$7c7bc0fe$$FastClassBySpringCGLIB$$d042f6eb.invoke(<generated>) ~[spring-webmvc-4.3.12.RELEASE.jar:4.3.12.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.cglib.proxy.MethodProxy.invokeSuper(MethodProxy.java:228) ~[spring-core-4.3.13.RELEASE.jar:4.3.13.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.context.annotation.ConfigurationClassEnhancer$BeanMethodInterceptor.intercept(ConfigurationClassEnhancer.java:358) ~[spring-context-4.3.13.RELEASE.jar:4.3.13.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.config.annotation.DelegatingWebMvcConfiguration$$EnhancerBySpringCGLIB$$7c7bc0fe.resourceHandlerMapping(<generated>) ~[spring-webmvc-4.3.12.RELEASE.jar:4.3.12.RELEASE]
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) ~[na:1.8.0_131]
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source) ~[na:1.8.0_131]
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source) ~[na:1.8.0_131]
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Unknown Source) ~[na:1.8.0_131]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.SimpleInstantiationStrategy.instantiate(SimpleInstantiationStrategy.java:162) ~[spring-beans-4.3.13.RELEASE.jar:4.3.13.RELEASE]
    ... 24 common frames omitted
Caused by: java.lang.IllegalStateException: WebApplicationObjectSupport instance [ResourceHttpRequestHandler [locations=[class path resource [resources/], class path resource [images/]], resolvers=[org.springframework.web.servlet.resource.PathResourceResolver@39e6b948]]] does not run in a WebApplicationContext but in: org.springframework.context.annotation.AnnotationConfigApplicationContext@19b44076: startup date [Sat Feb 10 09:34:19 EST 2018]; root of context hierarchy
    at org.springframework.web.context.support.WebApplicationObjectSupport.getWebApplicationContext(WebApplicationObjectSupport.java:112) ~[spring-web-4.3.12.RELEASE.jar:4.3.12.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.web.context.support.WebApplicationObjectSupport.getServletContext(WebApplicationObjectSupport.java:128) ~[spring-web-4.3.12.RELEASE.jar:4.3.12.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.resource.ResourceHttpRequestHandler.initContentNegotiationStrategy(ResourceHttpRequestHandler.java:306) ~[spring-webmvc-4.3.12.RELEASE.jar:4.3.12.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.resource.ResourceHttpRequestHandler.afterPropertiesSet(ResourceHttpRequestHandler.java:268) ~[spring-webmvc-4.3.12.RELEASE.jar:4.3.12.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.config.annotation.ResourceHandlerRegistry.getHandlerMapping(ResourceHandlerRegistry.java:147) ~[spring-webmvc-4.3.12.RELEASE.jar:4.3.12.RELEASE]
    ... 35 common frames omitted

AutoConfiguration.java

@Configuration
//@EnableAutoConfiguration
@ConditionalOnClass(MyClass.class)
@EnableConfigurationProperties(MyProperties.class)
@ComponentScan({ "com.boot", "com.jspClient" })
@SpringBootApplication
public class AutoConfiguration {

    private static Log log = LogFactory.getLog(AutoConfiguration.class);




    @Bean
    public ViewResolver getViewResolver() {
        InternalResourceViewResolver resolver = new InternalResourceViewResolver();
        resolver.setPrefix("/WEB-INF/jsp/");
        resolver.setSuffix(".jsp");
        resolver.setViewClass(JstlView.class);
        return resolver;
    }

    /*@Bean  
    public UrlBasedViewResolver urlBasedViewResolver() {  
      UrlBasedViewResolver resolver = new UrlBasedViewResolver();  
      resolver.setPrefix("/WEB-INF/jsp/");  
      resolver.setSuffix(".jsp");
      resolver.setViewClass(JstlView.class);  
      return resolver;  
    }*/


    //http://www.logicbig.com/tutorials/spring-framework/spring-web-mvc/simple-mapping-exception-resolver/
    //https://github.com/paulc4/mvc-exceptions/blob/master/src/main/java/demo/config/ExceptionConfiguration.java
    @Bean
    public SimpleMappingExceptionResolver createSimpleMappingExceptionResolver() {
      SimpleMappingExceptionResolver resolver = new SimpleMappingExceptionResolver();
      Properties errorMaps = new Properties();
      errorMaps.setProperty(UserNotFoundException.class.getName(), "myError");
      errorMaps.setProperty("Exception", "generic_error");
      resolver.setExceptionMappings(errorMaps);
      resolver.setDefaultErrorView("generic_error");
      resolver.setExceptionAttribute("exc");
      return resolver;
   }

    @Bean
    WebMvcConfigurer configurer () {
        return new WebMvcConfigurerAdapter() {
            @Override
            public void addResourceHandlers (ResourceHandlerRegistry registry) {
                ResourceHandlerRegistration resourceRegistration  = registry
                        .addResourceHandler("/pages/**")
                        .addResourceLocations("/resources/","classpath:/images/")  //Configuring Multiple Locations for a Resource
                        .setCachePeriod(3600);            //The resources served will be cached in the browser for 3600 seconds
                registry.addResourceHandler("resources/**").addResourceLocations("/resources/");
                //registry.addResourceHandler("/css/**").addResourceLocations("/css/");
                //registry.addResourceHandler("/img/**").addResourceLocations("/img/");
                //registry.addResourceHandler("/js/**").addResourceLocations("/js/");
            }
        };
    }
}

AppConfig.java

@Configuration 
@ComponentScan("com.boot.controllers") 
@EnableWebMvc
public class AppConfig extends WebMvcConfigurerAdapter {  

    @Bean
    public SimpleMappingExceptionResolver createSimpleMappingExceptionResolver() {
      SimpleMappingExceptionResolver resolver = new SimpleMappingExceptionResolver();
      Properties errorMaps = new Properties();
      errorMaps.setProperty("ElectricityNotFoundException", "error");
      errorMaps.setProperty("NullPointerException", "error");
      resolver.setExceptionMappings(errorMaps);
      resolver.setDefaultErrorView("globalerror");
      resolver.setExceptionAttribute("exc");
      return resolver;
   }
}

WebAppInitializer.java

public class WebAppInitializer implements WebApplicationInitializer {
    public void onStartup(ServletContext servletContext) throws ServletException {  
        AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext ctx = new AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext();  
        ctx.register(AppConfig.class);  
        ctx.setServletContext(servletContext);    
        Dynamic dynamic = servletContext.addServlet("dispatcher", new DispatcherServlet(ctx));  
        dynamic.addMapping("/");  
        dynamic.setLoadOnStartup(1);  
   }  
} 

ClientMain.java

@ComponentScan("com.boot") // to scan controller under com.boot -> com.boot.controllers
@SpringBootApplication
public class ClientMain {

    private static SpringApplicationBuilder start(Class<?>... sources) {
        return new SpringApplicationBuilder(ClientMain.class)
            .child(sources);
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {

        // using just Spring alone
        /*ApplicationContext context = new AnnotationConfigApplicationContext(AutoConfiguration.class);

    }

}

JspClientMain.java

@ComponentScan("com.boot") 
@SpringBootApplication
public class JspClientMain {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SpringApplication.run(JspClientMain.class, args);
    }
}

Answer 1

In general, the @EnableWebMvc should not be used in Spring boot applications. I quote an article by Boz Hogan:

It turns out that Spring Boot doesn’t mix well with the standard Spring MVC @EnableWebMvc. What happens when you add the annotation is that Spring Boot's autoconfiguration is disabled.

The bad part (that wasted me a few hours) is that in no guide you can find that explicitly stated. (...)

Here's a quote from the Spring Boot documentation:

If you want to keep Spring Boot MVC features and you want to add additional MVC configuration (interceptors, formatters, view controllers, and other features), you can add your own @Configuration class of type WebMvcConfigurer but without @EnableWebMvc. (...)

If you want to take complete control of Spring MVC, you can add your own @Configuration annotated with @EnableWebMvc.

So, to use @EnableWebMvc in a Spring Boot app, you need to take complete control of Spring MVC—I read that as you need to be a Spring wiz.

We had a problem with a Spring boot 1.5.9 application that had a dependency to a shared lib that contained a class annotated with @EnableWebMvc. Removing the annotation solved the problem.

Answer 2

It seems the issue is caused by mixing two different kind of initializers i.e WebApplicationInitializer and ApplicationContextInitializer.

Both WebApplicationInitializer and ApplicationContextInitializer serve fairly different purposes. The WebApplicationInitializer is used by a Servlet Container at startup of the web application and provides a way for programmatic creating a web application(replacement for a web.xml file),

ApplicationContextInitializer provides a hook to configure the Spring application context before it gets fully created. For a non spring boot application/normal spring mvc app it is programmatic configuration of web.xml. like you have done in your code in WebAppInitializer.java

public class WebAppInitializer implements WebApplicationInitializer {
    public void onStartup(ServletContext servletContext) throws 
     ServletException {  
        AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext ctx = new AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext(); 

            ctx.register(AppConfig.class);  
        ctx.setServletContext(servletContext);    
        Dynamic dynamic = servletContext.addServlet("dispatcher", new 
            DispatcherServlet(ctx));  
        dynamic.addMapping("/");  
        dynamic.setLoadOnStartup(1);  
   }  
}

ApplicationContextInitializer is essentially code that gets executed before the Spring application context gets completely created. A good use case for using an ApplicationContextInitializer would be to set a Spring environment profile programmatically, along these lines.

For Spring-Boot based application then registering an ApplicationContextInitializer could be done like below:

@Configuration
@EnableAutoConfiguration
@ComponentScan
public class SampleWebApplication {

 public static void main(String[] args) {
  new SpringApplicationBuilder(SampleWebApplication.class)
    .initializers(new DemoApplicationContextInitializer())
    .run(args);
 }
}

public class DemoApplicationContextInitializer implements ApplicationContextInitializer<ConfigurableApplicationContext> {

 @Override
 public void initialize(ConfigurableApplicationContext ac) {
  ConfigurableEnvironment appEnvironment = ac.getEnvironment();
  appEnvironment.addActiveProfile("demo");

 }
}