Running Spring Boot within IntelliJ results in Unable to load 'javax.el.ExpressionFactory'

Question

I am trying to run a simple Spring Boot application that has the following Maven pom.file:

<properties>
    <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
    <start-class>com.ptkonline.EwsdProxyApplication</start-class>
    <java.version>1.8</java.version>
</properties>

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

<build>
    <plugins>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId>
        </plugin>
    </plugins>
</build>

If I package the file using Maven, and run the application through java -jar application.jar, the application starts up normally. However, if I run it from IntelliJ by executing the main class, the startup fails with the following error:

2014-12-25 22:18:55.831 ERROR 3388 --- [           main] o.s.boot.SpringApplication               : Application startup failed

org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'org.springframework.boot.context.properties.ConfigurationPropertiesBindingPostProcessor': Invocation of init method failed; nested exception is javax.validation.ValidationException: Unable to instantiate Configuration.
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.initializeBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1566)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:539)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:476)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:302)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:230)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:298)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:198)
    at org.springframework.context.support.PostProcessorRegistrationDelegate.registerBeanPostProcessors(PostProcessorRegistrationDelegate.java:199)
    at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.registerBeanPostProcessors(AbstractApplicationContext.java:615)
    at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.refresh(AbstractApplicationContext.java:465)
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.refresh(SpringApplication.java:691)
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.run(SpringApplication.java:321)
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.run(SpringApplication.java:961)
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.run(SpringApplication.java:950)
    at com.ptkonline.EwsdProxyApplication.main(EwsdProxyApplication.java:13)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:483)
    at com.intellij.rt.execution.application.AppMain.main(AppMain.java:134)
Caused by: javax.validation.ValidationException: Unable to instantiate Configuration.
    at javax.validation.Validation$GenericBootstrapImpl.configure(Validation.java:279)
    at org.springframework.validation.beanvalidation.LocalValidatorFactoryBean.afterPropertiesSet(LocalValidatorFactoryBean.java:223)
    at org.springframework.boot.context.properties.ConfigurationPropertiesBindingPostProcessor$Jsr303ValidatorFactory.run(ConfigurationPropertiesBindingPostProcessor.java:361)
    at org.springframework.boot.context.properties.ConfigurationPropertiesBindingPostProcessor.afterPropertiesSet(ConfigurationPropertiesBindingPostProcessor.java:174)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.invokeInitMethods(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1625)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.initializeBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1562)
    ... 19 common frames omitted
Caused by: javax.validation.ValidationException: HV000183: Unable to load 'javax.el.ExpressionFactory'. Check that you have the EL dependencies on the classpath
    at org.hibernate.validator.messageinterpolation.ResourceBundleMessageInterpolator.<init>(ResourceBundleMessageInterpolator.java:172)
    at org.hibernate.validator.messageinterpolation.ResourceBundleMessageInterpolator.<init>(ResourceBundleMessageInterpolator.java:118)
    at org.hibernate.validator.internal.engine.ConfigurationImpl.<init>(ConfigurationImpl.java:110)
    at org.hibernate.validator.internal.engine.ConfigurationImpl.<init>(ConfigurationImpl.java:86)
    at org.hibernate.validator.HibernateValidator.createGenericConfiguration(HibernateValidator.java:41)
    at javax.validation.Validation$GenericBootstrapImpl.configure(Validation.java:276)
    ... 24 common frames omitted

Has anyone been able to run a Spring Boot application directly from IntelliJ?

Unfortunately, if I add the dependency, it starts the application and immediately stops without any errors. It is also strange why it would need this dependency if executed from IDE, if it works when executing the JAR alone. — Ariod, Dec 26 '14 at 05:59

score 24 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 26 '14 at 14:57

24

The problem is probably that the EL implementation is in the Tomcat starter that you marked as "provided". If it isn't provided (which it won't be for a JAR file) maybe you should just leave it out?

answered Dec 26 '14 at 14:57

Dave Syer

56,583
10
155
143

Yes, that was the issue. Thanks a lot! – Ariod Dec 26 '14 at 19:26
1

Does it cause any issue in war when we don't have this provided dependency in build.gradle ? – Ashay Thorat Mar 01 '15 at 02:56
2

Highly voted, but seems bit cryptic to me. Appreciate if you could you explain little as to what should be left out. – ravindrab Oct 19 '15 at 14:24
I meant the tomcat starter. Right now it is included in the dependencies but marked as "provdided", so it is present when running in an IDE for instance, but not when running from the packaged jar. – Dave Syer Oct 21 '15 at 11:33
I would add the el from tomcat, org.apache.tomcat.embed tomcat-embed-el test – fan Apr 21 '17 at 07:48

score 9 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 17 '15 at 22:17

9

I had a similar problem when creating a WAR file using the Spring Initializr with Intellij, and by adding the following dependency the application executed without any errors, thank you:

    <dependency>
        <groupId>javax.el</groupId>
        <artifactId>javax.el-api</artifactId>
        <version>2.2.4</version>
    </dependency>

answered Oct 17 '15 at 22:17

dqromney

141
1
2

1

That was already suggested in the comment section of the question. – Marco Aurélio Deleu Oct 17 '15 at 22:40

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 29 '22 at 10:26

I've reproduced the same issue:

Error creating bean with name 'org.springframework.boot.context.properties.ConfigurationPropertiesBindingPostProcessor': Invocation of init method failed; nested exception is javax.validation.ValidationException: Unable to instantiate Configuration.

Using in POM versions of Java 11 and Spring Boot 1.3.0.RELEASE instead of:

<parent>
    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
    <version>1.3.0.RELEASE</version>
    <relativePath/> <!-- lookup parent from repository -->
</parent>

to:

<parent>
    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
    <version>1.5.9.RELEASE</version>
    <relativePath/> <!-- lookup parent from repository -->
</parent>

And working POM file was:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

    <groupId>org.example</groupId>
    <artifactId>springmvc</artifactId>
    <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
    <packaging>jar</packaging>

    <name>springmvc</name>
    <description>Demo project for Spring Boot</description>

    <parent>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
        <version>1.5.9.RELEASE</version>
        <!--<version>1.3.0.RELEASE</version>-->
        <relativePath/> <!-- lookup parent from repository -->
    </parent>

    <properties>
        <java.version>11</java.version>
        <maven.compiler.source>11</maven.compiler.source>
        <maven.compiler.target>11</maven.compiler.target>
    </properties>

    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-thymeleaf</artifactId>
        </dependency>

        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.hibernate</groupId>
            <artifactId>hibernate-validator-annotation-processor</artifactId>
            <version>4.1.0.Final</version>
        </dependency>

        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
        </dependency>

        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-test</artifactId>
            <scope>test</scope>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>

    <build>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
                <artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>

</project>

So I could even skip any additional dependencies in other answers, which were mentioned above:

<dependency>
    <groupId>javax.el</groupId>
    <artifactId>javax.el-api</artifactId>
    <version>2.2.4</version>
</dependency>

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.apache.tomcat.embed</groupId>
    <artifactId>tomcat-embed-el</artifactId>
    <scope>test</scope>
</dependency>

Running Spring Boot within IntelliJ results in Unable to load 'javax.el.ExpressionFactory'

3 Answers3

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