receive smtp error: javax.mail.NoSuchProviderExcep

Question

I am trying to set up JavaMail to read emails that have been received via smtp on a CentOS 7 server with postfix and mailx installed and functioning properly. I created a POJO named TestEmail.java that contains a method named read(). A Spring MVC controller instantiates TestEmail.java and calls the read.() method, but this call is throwing the following error:

javax.mail.NoSuchProviderException: Invalid protocol: null  

I have read other postings about this error, including this one and this one. But the other postings relate to sending email. My error is related to reading received email. So this new post is different.

Here is the method that is throwing the error:

public void read(){
    //lookup the java mail session
    InitialContext ic;
    try {
        ic = new InitialContext();
        String snName = "java:comp/env/mail/Session";
        Session session = (Session)ic.lookup(snName);
        //Get a Store object from the Session, then connect to the mail server using the Store object’s connect() method. You must supply a mail server name, a mail user name, and a password.
        Store store = session.getStore();
        store.connect("mail.smtp.host", "someuser", "somepassword"); 
        //Get the default folder, then get the INBOX folder:
        Folder folder = store.getDefaultFolder();
        folder = folder.getFolder("INBOX"); 
        //It is efficient to read the Message objects (which represent messages on the server) into an array:
        Message[] messages = folder.getMessages();
        int num_msgs = messages.length;
        System.out.println("num_msgs is: "+num_msgs);
    } 
    catch (NamingException e) {e.printStackTrace();} 
    catch (MessagingException me){me.printStackTrace();}
}

I added the following as the very last node in web.xml:

<resource-ref>
  <description>
    Resource reference to a factory for javax.mail.Session
    instances that may be used for sending electronic mail
    messages, preconfigured to connect to the appropriate
    SMTP server.
  </description>
  <res-ref-name>
    mail/Session
  </res-ref-name>
  <res-type>
    javax.mail.Session
  </res-type>
  <res-auth>
    Container
  </res-auth>
</resource-ref>  

And I added the following line to /opt/tomcat/conf/context.xml:

<Resource name="mail/Session" auth="Container" type="javax.mail.Session" mail.smtp.host="localhost"/>

The line in the stack trace that refers to calling the read() method above is:

at some.package.SomeController.processSomeForm(SomeController.java:277)  

Here is the complete stack trace:

javax.mail.NoSuchProviderException: Invalid protocol: null
    at javax.mail.Session.getProvider(Session.java:455)
    at javax.mail.Session.getStore(Session.java:553)
    at javax.mail.Session.getStore(Session.java:533)
    at javax.mail.Session.getStore(Session.java:519)
    at mainpackage.TestEmail.read(TestEmail.java:91)
    at some.package.SomeController.processSomeForm(SomeController.java:277)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:57)
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:606)
    at org.springframework.web.method.support.InvocableHandlerMethod.invoke(InvocableHandlerMethod.java:219)
    at org.springframework.web.method.support.InvocableHandlerMethod.invokeForRequest(InvocableHandlerMethod.java:132)
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.method.annotation.ServletInvocableHandlerMethod.invokeAndHandle(ServletInvocableHandlerMethod.java:104)
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.method.annotation.RequestMappingHandlerAdapter.invokeHandleMethod(RequestMappingHandlerAdapter.java:745)
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.method.annotation.RequestMappingHandlerAdapter.handleInternal(RequestMappingHandlerAdapter.java:686)
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.method.AbstractHandlerMethodAdapter.handle(AbstractHandlerMethodAdapter.java:80)
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.doDispatch(DispatcherServlet.java:925)
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.doService(DispatcherServlet.java:856)
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.processRequest(FrameworkServlet.java:936)
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.doPost(FrameworkServlet.java:838)
    at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:644)
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.service(FrameworkServlet.java:812)
    at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:725)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:291)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:206)
    at org.springframework.web.filter.HiddenHttpMethodFilter.doFilterInternal(HiddenHttpMethodFilter.java:77)
    at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:107)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:239)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:206)
    at org.apache.tomcat.websocket.server.WsFilter.doFilter(WsFilter.java:52)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:239)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:206)
    at com.github.dandelion.datatables.core.web.filter.DatatablesFilter.doFilter(DatatablesFilter.java:73)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:239)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:206)
    at com.github.dandelion.datatables.extras.servlet2.filter.DatatablesFilter.doFilter(DatatablesFilter.java:71)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:239)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:206)
    at org.springframework.web.filter.CharacterEncodingFilter.doFilterInternal(CharacterEncodingFilter.java:88)
    at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:107)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:239)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:206)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:330)
    at org.springframework.security.web.access.intercept.FilterSecurityInterceptor.invoke(FilterSecurityInterceptor.java:118)
    at org.springframework.security.web.access.intercept.FilterSecurityInterceptor.doFilter(FilterSecurityInterceptor.java:84)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:342)
    at org.springframework.security.web.access.ExceptionTranslationFilter.doFilter(ExceptionTranslationFilter.java:113)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:342)
    at org.springframework.security.web.session.SessionManagementFilter.doFilter(SessionManagementFilter.java:103)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:342)
    at org.springframework.security.web.authentication.AnonymousAuthenticationFilter.doFilter(AnonymousAuthenticationFilter.java:113)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:342)
    at org.springframework.security.web.servletapi.SecurityContextHolderAwareRequestFilter.doFilter(SecurityContextHolderAwareRequestFilter.java:154)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:342)
    at org.springframework.security.web.savedrequest.RequestCacheAwareFilter.doFilter(RequestCacheAwareFilter.java:45)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:342)
    at org.springframework.security.web.authentication.AbstractAuthenticationProcessingFilter.doFilter(AbstractAuthenticationProcessingFilter.java:199)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:342)
    at org.springframework.security.web.authentication.logout.LogoutFilter.doFilter(LogoutFilter.java:110)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:342)
    at org.springframework.security.web.header.HeaderWriterFilter.doFilterInternal(HeaderWriterFilter.java:57)
    at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:107)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:342)
    at org.springframework.security.web.context.SecurityContextPersistenceFilter.doFilter(SecurityContextPersistenceFilter.java:87)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:342)
    at org.springframework.security.web.context.request.async.WebAsyncManagerIntegrationFilter.doFilterInternal(WebAsyncManagerIntegrationFilter.java:50)
    at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:107)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:342)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy.doFilterInternal(FilterChainProxy.java:192)
    at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:160)
    at org.springframework.web.filter.DelegatingFilterProxy.invokeDelegate(DelegatingFilterProxy.java:343)
    at org.springframework.web.filter.DelegatingFilterProxy.doFilter(DelegatingFilterProxy.java:260)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:239)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:206)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invoke(StandardWrapperValve.java:219)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invoke(StandardContextValve.java:106)
    at org.apache.catalina.authenticator.AuthenticatorBase.invoke(AuthenticatorBase.java:501)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke(StandardHostValve.java:142)
    at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:79)
    at org.apache.catalina.valves.AbstractAccessLogValve.invoke(AbstractAccessLogValve.java:610)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invoke(StandardEngineValve.java:88)
    at org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:537)
    at org.apache.coyote.http11.AbstractHttp11Processor.process(AbstractHttp11Processor.java:1085)
    at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol$AbstractConnectionHandler.process(AbstractProtocol.java:658)
    at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11NioProtocol$Http11ConnectionHandler.process(Http11NioProtocol.java:222)
    at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.NioEndpoint$SocketProcessor.doRun(NioEndpoint.java:1556)
    at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.NioEndpoint$SocketProcessor.run(NioEndpoint.java:1513)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1145)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:615)
    at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.TaskThread$WrappingRunnable.run(TaskThread.java:61)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745)
sessionID is: 24FA856A1F66FEC2E282693662BE0BB0