Java Spring Boot - war file not deploying on Tomcat Apache

Question

I am building a Java Spring boot project - and as a requirement I need to generate the project as a war file - and then have Tomcat Apache run from this alone.

I've built the war file, but when I try to deploy it, its as if the structure is incorrect and its generating a 404 trying to view the project.

• the problem

• my pom

  http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd"> 4.0.0

  <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
  <artifactId>gs-spring-boot</artifactId>
  <version>0.1.0</version>
  <packaging>war</packaging>
  
  <parent>
      <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
      <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
      <version>1.5.7.RELEASE</version>
  </parent>
  
  <dependencies>
      <!-- web -->
      <dependency>
          <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
          <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
      </dependency>
      <!-- test -->
      <dependency>
          <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
          <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-test</artifactId>
          <scope>test</scope>
      </dependency>
      <!-- Spring Security -->
      <dependency>
          <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
          <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-security</artifactId>
      </dependency>
      <!-- jpa -->
      <dependency>
          <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
          <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-data-jpa</artifactId>
      </dependency>
      <!-- https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.hibernate.javax.persistence/hibernate-jpa-2.0-api -->
      <dependency>
          <groupId>org.hibernate.javax.persistence</groupId>
          <artifactId>hibernate-jpa-2.0-api</artifactId>
          <version>1.0.1.Final</version>
      </dependency>
      <!-- mysql connector -->
      <dependency>
          <groupId>mysql</groupId>
          <artifactId>mysql-connector-java</artifactId>
      </dependency>
      <!-- mail service -->
      <dependency>
          <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
          <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-mail</artifactId>
      </dependency>       
      <!-- hot swapping, disable cache for template, enable live reload -->
      <dependency>
          <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
          <artifactId>spring-boot-devtools</artifactId>
          <optional>true</optional>
          <scope>provided</scope>
      </dependency>
      <!-- freemarker template -->
      <dependency>
          <groupId>org.freemarker</groupId>
          <artifactId>freemarker</artifactId>
          <version>2.3.23</version>
      </dependency>
      <!-- json simple -->
      <dependency>
          <groupId>com.googlecode.json-simple</groupId>
          <artifactId>json-simple</artifactId>
          <version>1.1.1</version>
      </dependency>
  
      <!-- tag::actuator[] -->
      <dependency>
          <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
          <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-actuator</artifactId>
      </dependency>
      <!-- end::actuator[] -->
      <dependency>
          <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
          <artifactId>spring-boot-configuration-processor</artifactId>
          <optional>true</optional>
      </dependency>
      <dependency>
          <groupId>com.h2database</groupId>
          <artifactId>h2</artifactId>
          <version>1.4.194</version>
          <scope>test</scope>
      </dependency>
  </dependencies>
  
  <properties>
      <java.version>1.8</java.version>
  </properties>
  
  <build>
      <plugins>
          <plugin>
              <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
              <artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId>
          </plugin>
          <plugin>
              <artifactId>maven-failsafe-plugin</artifactId>
              <executions>
                  <execution>
                      <goals>
                          <goal>integration-test</goal>
                          <goal>verify</goal>
                      </goals>
                  </execution>
              </executions>
          </plugin>
      </plugins>
  </build>
  

Answer 1

To get Spring Boot to deploy as a war - you need to reconfigure the Application class.

https://docs.spring.io/spring-boot/docs/current/reference/html/howto-traditional-deployment.html#howto-create-a-deployable-war-file

@SpringBootApplication
public class Application extends SpringBootServletInitializer {

    @Override
    protected SpringApplicationBuilder configure(SpringApplicationBuilder application) {
        return application.sources(Application.class);
    }

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

}

in the pom.xml add

<packaging>war</packaging>

as I was using maven I also added the dependency.

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

My application was complicated in that I was using reactjs as a frontend presentation layer and the Java just as an api layer. I had to move the reactjs build into main/src/webapps -- this then gets rendered in the war file correctly as bundle of js, css and html files. With the reactjs acting as a presentation layer it could only connect to the java side via the api - so the url structure is important and I had placed everything in anticipation it would run from the root. So if you deploy to tomcat - you may need to rename the war file ROOT.war.

Answer 2

Java Spring Boot - war file not deploying on Tomcat Apache

Spring-Boot builed with application.jar including application server inside.

Spring Boot aims to make it easy to create Spring-powered, production-grade applications and services with minimum fuss. It takes an opinionated view of the Spring platform so that new and existing users can quickly get to the bits they need. You can use it to create stand-alone Java applications that can be started using ‘java -jar’ or more traditional WAR deployments. We also provide a command line tool that runs ‘spring scripts’.

https://spring.io/blog/2013/08/06/spring-boot-simplifying-spring-for-everyone

So, You don't need to again deploy in Apache Tomcat Application Server. Just Run It like simple java .jar file.

nohup java -jar app.jar &

Answer 3

A working example of Spring Boot web project Spring Boot WebApp as WAR

A regular SpringBoot app build through maven is a packaged jar.

You need to modify it as WAR and check if the content of WEB-INF is correct or not.

Spring boot application packaged as war is not for deploying separately into Tomcat but to run directly through the Spring Boot App(through main method). You need to test but as per my understanding if someone is suggesting you to deploy it inside a tomcat then you need to inform them they asking for a regular Web Application and not a SpringBoot application.

Each SpringBoot Application runs its own container.

Additionally you are keeping your view files in template directory, you cannot pick them from template directory as a static content if you are not using Thymeleaf.

Answer 4

According to Traditional deployment page you have to add dependency

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