java - The type javax.servlet.ServletContext and javax.servlet.ServletException cannot be resolved

Question

I'm trying to include Spring Security to my web project, i'm following this tutorial http://docs.spring.io/spring-security/site/docs/current/guides/html5//helloworld.html

I've done everything in the tutorial with the given maven project and works fine. But when i'm trying to include it to my project a compilation error appear. Specifically when i extends from AbstractSecurityWebApplicationInitializer appear the given error

Multiple markers at this line

• The type javax.servlet.ServletContext cannot be resolved. It is indirectly referenced from required .class files
• The type javax.servlet.ServletException cannot be resolved. It is indirectly referenced from required .class files

The POM.xml

<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
<groupId>spring.primefaces</groupId>
<artifactId>primefaces.testwebapp</artifactId>
<version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
<packaging>war</packaging>
<name>SpringPrimefacesWebApp</name>
<build>
    <plugins>
        <plugin>
            <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
            <configuration>
                <source>1.7</source>
                <target>1.7</target>
            </configuration>
        </plugin>
        <plugin>
            <artifactId>maven-war-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>2.3</version>
            <configuration>
                <failOnMissingWebXml>false</failOnMissingWebXml>
            </configuration>
        </plugin>
    </plugins>
</build>
<dependencies>
    <!-- JSF 2.2 core and implementation -->
    <dependency>
        <groupId>com.sun.faces</groupId>
        <artifactId>jsf-api</artifactId>
        <version>2.2.11</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>com.sun.faces</groupId>
        <artifactId>jsf-impl</artifactId>
        <version>2.2.11</version>
    </dependency>
    <!-- Prime Faces -->
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.primefaces</groupId>
        <artifactId>primefaces</artifactId>
        <version>5.2</version>
    </dependency>
    <!-- Spring security -->
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.security</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-security-web</artifactId>
        <version>4.0.1.RELEASE</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.security</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-security-config</artifactId>
        <version>4.0.1.RELEASE</version>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>
<dependencyManagement>
    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-framework-bom</artifactId>
            <version>4.1.6.RELEASE</version>
            <type>pom</type>
            <scope>import</scope>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>
</dependencyManagement>

Thanks for the help!

Using mvn clean install -U

Answer 1

Just add the javax.servlet API to the compile time dependencies. You don't need to include it in the build, it's already provided by the target servlet container.

Your current pom suggests that you're deploying to a barebones servlet container (Tomcat, Jetty, etc) instead of a full fledged Java EE application server (WildFly, TomEE, GlassFish, Liberty, etc), otherwise you'd have run into classloading-related trouble by providing JSF along with the webapp instead of using the container-provided one.

In that case, adding the below dependency should do for a Servlet 3.1 container like Tomcat 8:

<dependency>
    <groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
    <artifactId>javax.servlet-api</artifactId>
    <version>3.1.0</version>
    <scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>

Or if you're actually targeting an older Servlet 3.0 container like Tomcat 7, change the <version> to 3.0.1 (note: there's no 3.0 due to a mistake on their side).

If you happen to actually deploy to a Java EE 7 application server like WildFly 8, use the below dependency instead. It covers the entire Java EE API, including javax.servlet (and javax.faces, so you'd then remove those individual JSF API/impl dependencies):

<dependency>
    <groupId>javax</groupId>
    <artifactId>javaee-api</artifactId>
    <version>7.0</version>
    <scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>

Also here, if you're targeting an older Java EE 6 application server like JBoss AS 7, change the <version> to 6.0.