java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Invalid WelcomeServlet in servlet mapping

Question

I have installed tomcat server to work with my dynamic web project on eclipse Luna. The server seems to be running fine when I dont load it with any project file but when I load my project it gives the error "Server Tomcat v7.0 Server at localhost failed to start." I have checked my project and there seems to be no error in it. These are the server startup messages that I get:

Caused by: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Invalid <url-pattern> WelcomeServlet in servlet mapping
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.addServletMapping(StandardContext.java:3325)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.addServletMapping(StandardContext.java:3300)
    at org.apache.catalina.deploy.WebXml.configureContext(WebXml.java:1438)
    at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.webConfig(ContextConfig.java:1357)
    at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.configureStart(ContextConfig.java:889)
    at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.lifecycleEvent(ContextConfig.java:386)
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleSupport.fireLifecycleEvent(LifecycleSupport.java:117)
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.fireLifecycleEvent(LifecycleBase.java:90)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.startInternal(StandardContext.java:5419)
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
    ... 6 more

show the code of your `WelcomeServlet`: `Caused by: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Invalid WelcomeServlet in servlet mapping` — JohnnyAW, Jul 20 '15 at 21:46
Also add your web.xml servlet configuration if you are not using annotations. — Jorge Campos, Jul 20 '15 at 21:51

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 20 '15 at 21:52

0

You used incorrect syntax for the url pattern of the WelcomeServlet. Make it <url-pattern>/WelcomeServlet</url-pattern>. I added a / before the name of the Servlet.

answered Jul 20 '15 at 21:52

cbender

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1
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18

Thanks alot, I had missed / in . Now its working fine – masterfly Jul 23 '15 at 01:43

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:31

Servlet mapping can be defined two ways:

<servlet-name> for Named Servlets
<url-pattern> for url patterns.

Using servlet-name

<servlet-mapping>
    <servlet-name>WelcomeServlet</servlet-name>
</servlet-mapping>

OR

Using url-pattern

<servlet-mapping>
    <url-pattern>/WelcomeServlet</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>

If you are interested in knowing the rules for url-pattern, Refere here

java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Invalid WelcomeServlet in servlet mapping

2 Answers2