Spring JavaConfig Configuration Exception: ServletContext is required to configure default servlet handling

I am trying to replace my web.xml with a clean install of Spring 4.1.0 JavaConfig. According to the examples I've read and the API docs, do the following:

public class WebAppInitializer implements WebApplicationInitializer {
    @Override
    public void onStartup(ServletContext servletContext) throws ServletException {

        // Create the root appcontext (replaces the web.xml context-param & ContextLoaderListener)
        AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext rootContext = new AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext();
        rootContext.register(RootConfig.class);
        // since we registered RootConfig instead of passing it to the constructor
        rootContext.refresh(); 
    ...
    ...
}

}

      

        
        
        
      

    

With RootConfig.java:

@Configuration
@ComponentScan(basePackages="com.ia", excludeFilters=@ComponentScan.Filter(type=FilterType.ANNOTATION, value=Controller.class))
@EnableSpringConfigured
public class RootConfig{
}

      

        
        
        
      

    

However, when doing so, you receive the following error message:

org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'defaultServletHandlerMapping' defined in class path resource [org/springframework/web/servlet/config/annotation/DelegatingWebMvcConfiguration.class]: Instantiation of bean failed; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanDefinitionStoreException: Factory method [public org.springframework.web.servlet.HandlerMapping org.springframework.web.servlet.config.annotation.WebMvcConfigurationSupport.defaultServletHandlerMapping()] threw exception; nested exception is java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: A ServletContext is required to configure default servlet handling
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.ConstructorResolver.instantiateUsingFactoryMethod(ConstructorResolver.java:601)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.instantiateUsingFactoryMethod(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1113)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBeanInstance(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1008)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:505)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:476)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:302)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:229)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:298)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:193)
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.preInstantiateSingletons(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:725)
    at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.finishBeanFactoryInitialization(AbstractApplicationContext.java:757)
    at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.refresh(AbstractApplicationContext.java:480)
    at com.ia.system.configuration.WebAppInitializer.onStartup(WebAppInitializer.java:60)
    at org.springframework.web.SpringServletContainerInitializer.onStartup(SpringServletContainerInitializer.java:175)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.startInternal(StandardContext.java:5423)
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1559)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1549)
    at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:262)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1145)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:615)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:724)

      

        
        
        
      

    

where the offending string is located:

rootContext.refresh();

      

        
        
        
      

    

If I remove the operator rootContext.refresh()

everything works fine.

This is the same error as mentioned in this SO Post , however the accepted answer indicates it refresh()

should work fine for rootContext. This does not apply to me. I'm not sure why this is throwing the error.

I've read in several places that you can pass a class @Configuration

to a constructor instead of calling a method refresh()

, but I'm not sure which constructor is. AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext()

doesn't have such a constructor, so I'm a little confused.