“webxml attribute is required” error in Maven

Question

I am getting the following error:

Error assembling WAR: webxml attribute is required (or pre-existing WEB-INF/web.xml if executing in update mode)

I have got web.xml in right place which is projectname\src\main\webapp\WEB-INF\web.xml

What could be causing this?

Answer 1

It works perfectly for me too.

<project>

.....

    <build>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-war-plugin</artifactId>
                <configuration>
                    <webXml>WebContent\WEB-INF\web.xml</webXml>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>
</project>

Answer 2

If you change the default project path, you must specify the location of the web.xml file, for example:

        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
            <artifactId>maven-war-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>2.5</version>
            <configuration>
                <webXml>src\main\web\WEB-INF\web.xml</webXml>
            </configuration>
        </plugin>

Answer 3

I had the exact same problem and i solved it like this :

Make a new folder named WEB-INF under src/main/webbapp then

Right Click on your Project -> Java EE Tools -> Generate Deployment Descriptor Stub

This should generate your web.xml

I hope this helps by solving your problem :D

Answer 4

It would be helpful if you can provide a code snippet of your maven-war-plugin. Looks like the web.xml is at right place, still you can try and give the location explicitly

<plugin>            
  <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
  <artifactId>maven-war-plugin</artifactId>
  <configuration>
    <webXml>src\main\webapp\WEB-INF\web.xml</webXml>        
  </configuration>
</plugin>

Answer 5

As per the documentation, it says : Whether or not to fail the build if the web.xml file is missing. Set to false if you want you WAR built without a web.xml file. This may be useful if you are building an overlay that has no web.xml file. Default value is: true. User property is: failOnMissingWebXml.

<plugin>
                <artifactId>maven-war-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>2.1.1</version>
                <extensions>false</extensions>
                <configuration>
                    <failOnMissingWebXml>false</failOnMissingWebXml>
                </configuration>            </plugin>

Hope it makes more clear

Answer 6

I have had the same error on the test server but not in local. After a few minutes, I discovered that the IDE wasn't synchronized with the pom.xml. Here is how I solve it:

Re-Generate the deployment descriptor with Eclipse

1. Right click on your project folder
2. In the contextual menu, choose "Java EE Tools" then "Generate Deployment Descriptor Stub"
3. It will create the web.xml.

Re-Generate the deployment descriptor with IntelliJ

1. Right click on your project folder
2. In the contextual menu, choose "Open Module Settings", then click on the + to add the web deployment descriptor.
3. Then your can change the path to your descriptor or the Web Ressource Directoriesand the on the right side.
4. Then you will get something like: