Spring Boot web JSP – No Java compiler available

By mkyong | Updated: November 25, 2016

Viewed: 815 (+4 pv/w)

Spring boot web application with embeded Tomcat and JSP. Run and access the JSP page, but hits the following errors

$ mvn spring-boot:run
...
java.lang.IllegalStateException: No Java compiler available
        at org.apache.jasper.JspCompilationContext.createCompiler(JspCompilationContext.java:235) ~[tomcat-embed-jasper-8.5.6.jar:8.5.6]
        at org.apache.jasper.JspCompilationContext.compile(JspCompilationContext.java:592) ~[tomcat-embed-jasper-8.5.6.jar:8.5.6]
        at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.service(JspServletWrapper.java:368) ~[tomcat-embed-jasper-8.5.6.jar:8.5.6]
        at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.serviceJspFile(JspServlet.java:385) ~[tomcat-embed-jasper-8.5.6.jar:8.5.6]
        at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.service(JspServlet.java:329) ~[tomcat-embed-jasper-8.5.6.jar:8.5.6]
        at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:729) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.6.jar:8.5.6]
        at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:230) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.6.jar:8.5.6]
        at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:165) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.6.jar:8.5.6]
        at org.apache.tomcat.websocket.server.WsFilter.doFilter(WsFilter.java:52) [tomcat-embed-websocket-8.5.6.jar:8.5.6]
        at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:192) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.6.jar:8.5.6]
        at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:165) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.6.jar:8.5.6]
        at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:101) [spring-web-4.3.4.RELEASE.jar:4.3.4.RELEASE]
        at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:192)

Environment :

1. Spring Boot 1.4.2.RELEASE
2. Tomcat Embed 8.5.6

1. Spring Boot Environment

To compile JSP, need tomcat-embed-jasper.

	<parent>
		<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
		<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
		<version>1.4.2.RELEASE</version>
	</parent>

	<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.apache.tomcat.embed</groupId>
			<artifactId>tomcat-embed-jasper</artifactId>
			<scope>provided</scope>
		</dependency>

		<dependency>
			<groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
			<artifactId>jstl</artifactId>
		</dependency>

	</dependencies>

Show project dependencies :

$ mvn dependency:tree

[INFO] +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-tomcat:jar:1.4.2.RELEASE:provided
[INFO] |  +- org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core:jar:8.5.6:provided
[INFO] |  +- org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-el:jar:8.5.6:provided
[INFO] |  \- org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-websocket:jar:8.5.6:provided
[INFO] +- org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-jasper:jar:8.5.6:provided
[INFO] |  \- org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler:ecj:jar:4.5.1:provided
[INFO] \- javax.servlet:jstl:jar:1.2:compile

2. Solution

No idea why tomcat-embed-jasper didn’t pick up the ecj compiler, to fix this, declares the Eclipse ecj manually :

	<parent>
		<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
		<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
		<version>1.4.2.RELEASE</version>
	</parent>

	<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.apache.tomcat.embed</groupId>
			<artifactId>tomcat-embed-jasper</artifactId>
			<scope>provided</scope>
		</dependency>

		<dependency>
			<groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
			<artifactId>jstl</artifactId>
		</dependency>
		
		<!-- Add this -->
		<dependency>
			<groupId>org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler</groupId>
			<artifactId>ecj</artifactId>
			<version>4.6.1</version>
			<scope>provided</scope>
		</dependency>
		
	</dependencies>

Show project dependencies :

$ mvn dependency:tree

[INFO] +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-tomcat:jar:1.4.2.RELEASE:provided
[INFO] |  +- org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core:jar:8.5.6:provided
[INFO] |  +- org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-el:jar:8.5.6:provided
[INFO] |  \- org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-websocket:jar:8.5.6:provided
[INFO] +- org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-jasper:jar:8.5.6:provided
[INFO] +- javax.servlet:jstl:jar:1.2:compile
[INFO] \- org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler:ecj:jar:4.6.1:provided

References

1. Create a Java Web Application Using Embedded Tomcat
2. Jasper 2 JSP Engine How To
3. Dreaded No Java compiler available