Spring MVC 3.0.0 app won't bootstrap on Weblogic Server 11gR1 - ClassCastException

Question

I have a Spring MVC (3.0.0.RELEASE) based application I need to deploy to Oracle Weblogic Server 11gR1. It works fine on Spring TC Server. When I deploy my application WAR file (either via STS/Eclipse "Servers" view or to the "auto-deploy" folder, or manually via the web admin) I get the following exception:

    <Feb 3, 2010 9:17:20 AM GMT> <Error> <org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoader> <BEA-000000> <Context initialization failed
org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanDefinitionStoreException: Unexpected exception parsing XML document from ServletContext resource [/WEB-INF/spring/webapp-config.xml]; nested exception is java.lang.ClassCastException: weblogic.xml.jaxp.RegistryDocumentBuilderFactory cannot be cast to javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilderFactory
 at org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.XmlBeanDefinitionReader.doLoadBeanDefinitions(XmlBeanDefinitionReader.java:412)
 at org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.XmlBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(XmlBeanDefinitionReader.java:334)
 at org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.XmlBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(XmlBeanDefinitionReader.java:302)
 at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.java:143)
 at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.java:178)
 at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.java:149)
 at org.springframework.web.context.support.XmlWebApplicationContext.loadBeanDefinitions(XmlWebApplicationContext.java:124)
 at org.springframework.web.context.support.XmlWebApplicationContext.loadBeanDefinitions(XmlWebApplicationContext.java:93)
 at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractRefreshableApplicationContext.refreshBeanFactory(AbstractRefreshableApplicationContext.java:130)
 at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.obtainFreshBeanFactory(AbstractApplicationContext.java:458)
 at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.refresh(AbstractApplicationContext.java:388)
 at org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoader.createWebApplicationContext(ContextLoader.java:261)
 at org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoader.initWebApplicationContext(ContextLoader.java:192)
 at org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener.contextInitialized(ContextLoaderListener.java:47)
 at weblogic.servlet.internal.EventsManager$FireContextListenerAction.run(EventsManager.java:481)
 at weblogic.security.acl.internal.AuthenticatedSubject.doAs(AuthenticatedSubject.java:321)
 at weblogic.security.service.SecurityManager.runAs(SecurityManager.java:121)
 at weblogic.servlet.internal.EventsManager.notifyContextCreatedEvent(EventsManager.java:181)
 at weblogic.servlet.internal.WebAppServletContext.preloadResources(WebAppServletContext.java:1801)
 at weblogic.servlet.internal.WebAppServletContext.start(WebAppServletContext.java:3045)
 at weblogic.servlet.internal.WebAppModule.startContexts(WebAppModule.java:1397)
 at weblogic.servlet.internal.WebAppModule.start(WebAppModule.java:460)
 at weblogic.application.internal.flow.ModuleStateDriver$3.next(ModuleStateDriver.java:425)
 at weblogic.application.utils.StateMachineDriver.nextState(StateMachineDriver.java:83)
 at weblogic.application.internal.flow.ModuleStateDriver.start(ModuleStateDriver.java:119)
 at weblogic.application.internal.flow.ScopedModuleDriver.start(ScopedModuleDriver.java:200)
 at weblogic.application.internal.flow.ModuleListenerInvoker.start(ModuleListenerInvoker.java:247)
 at weblogic.application.internal.flow.ModuleStateDriver$3.next(ModuleStateDriver.java:425)
 at weblogic.application.utils.StateMachineDriver.nextState(StateMachineDriver.java:83)
 at weblogic.application.internal.flow.ModuleStateDriver.start(ModuleStateDriver.java:119)
 at weblogic.application.internal.flow.StartModulesFlow.activate(StartModulesFlow.java:27)
 at weblogic.application.internal.BaseDeployment$2.next(BaseDeployment.java:1267)
 at weblogic.application.utils.StateMachineDriver.nextState(StateMachineDriver.java:83)
 at weblogic.application.internal.BaseDeployment.activate(BaseDeployment.java:409)
 at weblogic.application.internal.SingleModuleDeployment.activate(SingleModuleDeployment.java:39)
 at weblogic.application.internal.DeploymentStateChecker.activate(DeploymentStateChecker.java:161)
 at weblogic.deploy.internal.targetserver.AppContainerInvoker.activate(AppContainerInvoker.java:79)
 at weblogic.deploy.internal.targetserver.BasicDeployment.activate(BasicDeployment.java:184)
 at weblogic.deploy.internal.targetserver.BasicDeployment.activateFromServerLifecycle(BasicDeployment.java:361)
 at weblogic.management.deploy.internal.DeploymentAdapter$1.doActivate(DeploymentAdapter.java:51)
 at weblogic.management.deploy.internal.DeploymentAdapter.activate(DeploymentAdapter.java:196)
 at weblogic.management.deploy.internal.AppTransition$2.transitionApp(AppTransition.java:30)
 at weblogic.management.deploy.internal.ConfiguredDeployments.transitionApps(ConfiguredDeployments.java:233)
 at weblogic.management.deploy.internal.ConfiguredDeployments.activate(ConfiguredDeployments.java:169)
 at weblogic.management.deploy.internal.ConfiguredDeployments.deploy(ConfiguredDeployments.java:123)
 at weblogic.management.deploy.internal.DeploymentServerService.resume(DeploymentServerService.java:173)
 at weblogic.management.deploy.internal.DeploymentServerService.start(DeploymentServerService.java:89)
 at weblogic.t3.srvr.SubsystemRequest.run(SubsystemRequest.java:64)
 at weblogic.work.ExecuteThread.execute(ExecuteThread.java:201)
 at weblogic.work.ExecuteThread.run(ExecuteThread.java:173)

Which is caused by:

Caused By: java.lang.ClassCastException: weblogic.xml.jaxp.RegistryDocumentBuilderFactory cannot be cast to javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilderFactory
 at javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance(Unknown Source)
 at org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.DefaultDocumentLoader.createDocumentBuilderFactory(DefaultDocumentLoader.java:89)
 at org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.DefaultDocumentLoader.loadDocument(DefaultDocumentLoader.java:70)
 at org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.XmlBeanDefinitionReader.doLoadBeanDefinitions(XmlBeanDefinitionReader.java:388)
 at org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.XmlBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(XmlBeanDefinitionReader.java:334)
 at org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.XmlBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(XmlBeanDefinitionReader.java:302)
 at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.java:143)
 at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.java:178)
 at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.java:149)
 at org.springframework.web.context.support.XmlWebApplicationContext.loadBeanDefinitions(XmlWebApplicationContext.java:124)
 at org.springframework.web.context.support.XmlWebApplicationContext.loadBeanDefinitions(XmlWebApplicationContext.java:93)
 at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractRefreshableApplicationContext.refreshBeanFactory(AbstractRefreshableApplicationContext.java:130)
 at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.obtainFreshBeanFactory(AbstractApplicationContext.java:458)
 at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.refresh(AbstractApplicationContext.java:388)
 at org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoader.createWebApplicationContext(ContextLoader.java:261)
 at org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoader.initWebApplicationContext(ContextLoader.java:192)
 at org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener.contextInitialized(ContextLoaderListener.java:47)
 at weblogic.servlet.internal.EventsManager$FireContextListenerAction.run(EventsManager.java:481)
 at weblogic.security.acl.internal.AuthenticatedSubject.doAs(AuthenticatedSubject.java:321)
 at weblogic.security.service.SecurityManager.runAs(SecurityManager.java:121)
 at weblogic.servlet.internal.EventsManager.notifyContextCreatedEvent(EventsManager.java:181)
 at weblogic.servlet.internal.WebAppServletContext.preloadResources(WebAppServletContext.java:1801)
 at weblogic.servlet.internal.WebAppServletContext.start(WebAppServletContext.java:3045)
 at weblogic.servlet.internal.WebAppModule.startContexts(WebAppModule.java:1397)
 at weblogic.servlet.internal.WebAppModule.start(WebAppModule.java:460)
 at weblogic.application.internal.flow.ModuleStateDriver$3.next(ModuleStateDriver.java:425)
 at weblogic.application.utils.StateMachineDriver.nextState(StateMachineDriver.java:83)
 at weblogic.application.internal.flow.ModuleStateDriver.start(ModuleStateDriver.java:119)
 at weblogic.application.internal.flow.ScopedModuleDriver.start(ScopedModuleDriver.java:200)
 at weblogic.application.internal.flow.ModuleListenerInvoker.start(ModuleListenerInvoker.java:247)
 at weblogic.application.internal.flow.ModuleStateDriver$3.next(ModuleStateDriver.java:425)
 at weblogic.application.utils.StateMachineDriver.nextState(StateMachineDriver.java:83)
 at weblogic.application.internal.flow.ModuleStateDriver.start(ModuleStateDriver.java:119)
 at weblogic.application.internal.flow.StartModulesFlow.activate(StartModulesFlow.java:27)
 at weblogic.application.internal.BaseDeployment$2.next(BaseDeployment.java:1267)
 at weblogic.application.utils.StateMachineDriver.nextState(StateMachineDriver.java:83)
 at weblogic.application.internal.BaseDeployment.activate(BaseDeployment.java:409)
 at weblogic.application.internal.SingleModuleDeployment.activate(SingleModuleDeployment.java:39)
 at weblogic.application.internal.DeploymentStateChecker.activate(DeploymentStateChecker.java:161)
 at weblogic.deploy.internal.targetserver.AppContainerInvoker.activate(AppContainerInvoker.java:79)
 at weblogic.deploy.internal.targetserver.BasicDeployment.activate(BasicDeployment.java:184)
 at weblogic.deploy.internal.targetserver.BasicDeployment.activateFromServerLifecycle(BasicDeployment.java:361)
 at weblogic.management.deploy.internal.DeploymentAdapter$1.doActivate(DeploymentAdapter.java:51)
 at weblogic.management.deploy.internal.DeploymentAdapter.activate(DeploymentAdapter.java:196)
 at weblogic.management.deploy.internal.AppTransition$2.transitionApp(AppTransition.java:30)
 at weblogic.management.deploy.internal.ConfiguredDeployments.transitionApps(ConfiguredDeployments.java:233)
 at weblogic.management.deploy.internal.ConfiguredDeployments.activate(ConfiguredDeployments.java:169)
 at weblogic.management.deploy.internal.ConfiguredDeployments.deploy(ConfiguredDeployments.java:123)
 at weblogic.management.deploy.internal.DeploymentServerService.resume(DeploymentServerService.java:173)
 at weblogic.management.deploy.internal.DeploymentServerService.start(DeploymentServerService.java:89)
 at weblogic.t3.srvr.SubsystemRequest.run(SubsystemRequest.java:64)
 at weblogic.work.ExecuteThread.execute(ExecuteThread.java:201)

Now this is after I have already discovered the need to set:

<wls:prefer-web-inf-classes>true</wls:prefer-web-inf-classes>

in weblogic.xml (that fixed my myriad of earlier problems - the classpath was totally screwed and I was getting "NoSuchMethodError" problems for Spring's "getBeanDefinitionDefaults(...) which was bundled in my WAR's WEB-INF/lib directory).

Investigation has shown that javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilderFactory comes from xml-apis-1.0.b2.jar which is being brought in by maven from commons-digester, dom4j and jdom. In short, I need it for my Spring App to run.

I've checked (and double checked) and I'm not bundling the weblogic class with my war so I'm not shooting myself in my own foot.

I've also seen this post on the java.net forums: http://forums.java.net/jive/thread.jspa?messageID=216363 - the Log4J workaround didn't work (I presume because the root of the problem isn't Log4J) and this bug fix note on oracle.com (search for "CR172469") http://download-llnw.oracle.com/docs/cd/E13222_01/wls/docs81/notes/resolved_sp03.html This seems to do nothing either.

What I don't understand is, I'm telling Weblogic to prefer the jars in my WEB-INF/lib, the jar I need is in there, and the error is coming from Spring, not Weblogic (i.e. I'm not forcing the server itself to use a jar it can't handle.)

I've held off from adding more of my Spring config to this question as I'm not sure its relevant. If however this would help, please let me know and I'll add it.

Hope someone can help.

Regs, Andrew

Answer 1

Your application should almost certainly not be including any javax.* classes within itself - these are usually handled by the appserver. If you do this, you end up with ClassCastExceptions just like this.

You need to stop maven from dragging in stuff like xml-apis-1.0.b2.jar, it doesn't belong inside your application.

If you fix that, then you won't need to worry about weblogic-specific classloader settings.