ClassCastException: org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet cannot be cast to javax.servlet.Servlet

Question

I have created a new Spring MVC project using maven-eclipse and the following error is thrown:

(I tried some solutions from the stackoverflow which is not working in my case. Some problem with the pom.xml which I could not find. I added provided scope for the servlet-api and tried which was not working either.)

SEVERE: Servlet /Remindem threw load() exception
java.lang.ClassCastException: 
org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet cannot be cast to javax.servlet.Servlet

My pom.xml

<dependency>
  <groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
  <artifactId>servlet-api</artifactId>
  <version>2.5</version>
  <scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>
<dependency>
  <groupId>javax.servlet.jsp</groupId>
  <artifactId>jsp-api</artifactId>
  <version>2.1</version>
  <scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>
<dependency>
  <groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
  <artifactId>jstl</artifactId>
  <version>1.2</version>
</dependency>

My web.xml

contextConfigLocation /WEB-INF/classes/config/spring/*-context.xml

<!-- Creates the Spring Container shared by all Servlets and Filters -->
<listener>
    <listener-class>org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener</listener-class>
</listener>

<!-- Processes application requests -->
<servlet>
    <servlet-name>appServlet</servlet-name>
    <servlet-class>org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet</servlet-class>
    <init-param>
        <param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name>
        <param-value>
            /WEB-INF/classes/config/spring/servlet_context.xml
        </param-value>
    </init-param>
    <load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup>
</servlet>

<servlet-mapping>
    <servlet-name>appServlet</servlet-name>
    <url-pattern>*.do</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>

Answer 1

Try to change the config as it follows.

<init-param>
    <param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name>
    <param-value>
        /WEB-INF/classes/config/spring/servlet_context.xml
    </param-value>
</init-param>

<listener>
    <listener-class>org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener</listener-class>
</listener>

<!-- Processes application requests -->
<servlet>
    <servlet-name>appServlet</servlet-name>
    <servlet-class>org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet</servlet-class>
    <load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup>
</servlet>

<servlet-mapping>
    <servlet-name>appServlet</servlet-name>
    <url-pattern>*.do</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>

DispatcherServlet does not need init-param by default use

XXXX-servlet.xml where XXXX is the name of the servlet

Be sure these dependencies are in your pom.xml

 <!-- Spring dependencies section -->
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-core</artifactId>
        <version>${spring.version}</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-webmvc</artifactId>
        <version>${spring.version}</version>
    </dependency>

Answer 2

Remove the servlet-api form your pom.xml, as it will be available in server.

Here is my pom.xml: http://maven.apache.org/maven-v4_0_0.xsd"> 4.0.0 com.mkyong CounterWebApp war 1.0-SNAPSHOT CounterWebApp Maven Webapp http://maven.apache.org 1.8 3.0.5.RELEASE</spring.version> --> 4.1.1.RELEASE 1.2 4.11 1.0.13 1.7.5

<dependencies>
    <!-- Unit Test -->
    <dependency>
        <groupId>junit</groupId>
        <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
        <version>${junit.version}</version>
    </dependency>
    <!-- Spring Core -->
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-core</artifactId>
        <version>${spring.version}</version>
        <exclusions>
            <exclusion>
                <groupId>commons-logging</groupId>
                <artifactId>commons-logging</artifactId>
            </exclusion>
        </exclusions>
    </dependency>
    <!--Binding for commons logging over slf4j-->
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
        <artifactId>jcl-over-slf4j</artifactId>
        <version>${jcl-over-slf4j.version}</version>
        <scope>runtime</scope>
    </dependency>       
    <dependency>
        <groupId>ch.qos.logback</groupId>
        <artifactId>logback-classic</artifactId>
        <version>${logback.version}</version>
    </dependency>       
     <!-- Spring dependencies section -->
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-web</artifactId>
        <version>${spring.version}</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-webmvc</artifactId>
        <version>${spring.version}</version>
    </dependency>
    <!-- jstl -->
    <dependency>
        <groupId>jstl</groupId>
        <artifactId>jstl</artifactId>
        <version>${jstl.version}</version>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>

<build>
    <finalName>CounterWebApp</finalName>
    <plugins>
        <!-- Eclipse project -->
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
            <artifactId>maven-eclipse-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>2.9</version>
            <configuration>
                <!-- Always download and attach dependencies source code -->
                <downloadSources>true</downloadSources>
                <downloadJavadocs>false</downloadJavadocs>
                <!-- Avoid type mvn eclipse:eclipse -Dwtpversion=2.0 -->
                <wtpversion>2.0</wtpversion>
            </configuration>
        </plugin>
        <!--Set JDK Compiler Level -->
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
            <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
            <!-- <version>2.3.2</version> 3.3 -->
            <version>3.5.1</version>
            <configuration>
                <source>${jdk.version}</source>
                <target>${jdk.version}</target>
            </configuration>
        </plugin>
            <!-- For Maven Tomcat Plugin -->
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.tomcat.maven</groupId>
            <artifactId>tomcat7-maven-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>2.2</version>
            <configuration>
                <path>/CounterWebApp</path>
            </configuration>
        </plugin>
    </plugins>
</build>

Run the tomcat from cmd line: mvn tomcat:run

Note: you should stop the tomcat server running in the eclipse.

This one worked for me.