WAAE Web Server fails to start after upgrade due to: ClassNotFoundException org.apache.catalina.core.JasperListener
Document ID : KB000007711
Last Modified Date : 14/02/2018
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Issue:

 

WAAE Web Server does not start after upgrade to release 11.3.6 Service Pack 2 or higher.

The following error is logged in the %AUTOUSER%\out\waae_webservices_wrapper.log

INFO | jvm 1 | 2017/07/30 12:21:21 | Jul 30, 2017 12:21:21 PM org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina load
INFO | jvm 1 | 2017/07/30 12:21:21 | WARNING: Catalina.start using conf/server.xml: Error at (29, 67) : org.apache.catalina.core.JasperListener
INFO | jvm 1 | 2017/07/30 12:21:21 | Jul 30, 2017 12:21:21 PM org.apache.tomcat.util.digester.Digester startElement
INFO | jvm 1 | 2017/07/30 12:21:21 | SEVERE: Begin event threw exception
INFO | jvm 1 | 2017/07/30 12:21:21 | java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.apache.catalina.core.JasperListener

 
Environment:
CA Workoad Automation AE (WAAE) 11.3.6 SP2 or higher on supported environments.
Cause:

 

The "ClassNotFoundException: org.apache.catalina.core.JasperListener" is caused by a misconfiguration in the Webserver's server.xml file. During the WAAE upgrade, something prevented the Web Server configuration file from being updated.

Previous WAAE releases shipped Tomcat 7 and used to reference the JasperListener class in the server.xml file like so:

<Listener className="org.apache.catalina.core.JasperListener" />

WAAE releases 11.3.6 SP2 and higher are shipped with Tomcat 8. The JasperListener class is no longer supported since Tomcat 8.0.0.

Here is the excerpt from the Apache Tomcat 8 Changelog:

"Initialize the JSP runtime in Jasper's initializer to avoid need for a Jasper-specific lifecycle listener. JasperListener has been removed. (jboynes)"
Resolution:

 

  • Edit the %AUTOUSER%\webserver\conf\server.xml file and comment out the following line

<Listener className="org.apache.catalina.core.JasperListener" />

The commented line should look like so:

<!--Listener className="org.apache.catalina.core.JasperListener" /-->

  • Save the updated server.xml file and then start the WAAE Web Server service.

 
Additional Information:

Note: Although this Knowledge Base document is written targeting CA Workoad Automation AE (WAAE), the same issue may manifest in any CA solution or product that uses Apache Tomcat for webserver, upgrades Tomcat version from 7 to 8 and does not update the server.xml with the change listed in the Solution section.

WAAE Web Server (ACE) - not active after upgrade to SP5