Eclipse tomcat error: Document base does not exist or is not a readable directory

Question

13-dic-2011 17.00.36 org.apache.catalina.core.AprLifecycleListener init
INFO: The APR based Apache Tomcat Native library which allows optimal performance in production environments was not found on the java.library.path: /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk/jre/lib/amd64/server:/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk/jre/lib/amd64:/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk/jre/../lib/amd64:/usr/java/packages/lib/amd64:/usr/lib/jni:/lib:/usr/lib
13-dic-2011 17.00.36 org.apache.tomcat.util.digester.SetPropertiesRule begin
AVVERTENZA: [SetPropertiesRule]{Server/Service/Engine/Host/Context} Setting property 'source' to 'org.eclipse.jst.jee.server:Preventivi' did not find a matching property.
13-dic-2011 17.00.36 org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol init
INFO: Initializing ProtocolHandler ["http-bio-8080"]
13-dic-2011 17.00.36 org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol init
INFO: Initializing ProtocolHandler ["http-bio-8443"]
13-dic-2011 17.00.37 org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol init
INFO: Initializing ProtocolHandler ["ajp-bio-8009"]
13-dic-2011 17.00.37 org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina load
INFO: Initialization processed in 983 ms
13-dic-2011 17.00.37 org.apache.catalina.core.StandardService startInternal
INFO: Starting service Catalina
13-dic-2011 17.00.37 org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngine startInternal
INFO: Starting Servlet Engine: Apache Tomcat/7.0.23
13-dic-2011 17.00.37 org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext resourcesStart
GRAVE: Error starting static Resources
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Document base /home/claudio/workspace/.metadata/.plugins/org.eclipse.wst.server.core/tmp0/wtpwebapps/Preventivi does not exist or is not a readable directory
    at org.apache.naming.resources.FileDirContext.setDocBase(FileDirContext.java:140)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.resourcesStart(StandardContext.java:4880)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.startInternal(StandardContext.java:5060)
    at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1525)
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1515)
    at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync.innerRun(FutureTask.java:334)
    at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:166)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1110)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:603)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:636)
13-dic-2011 17.00.37 org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext startInternal
GRAVE: Error in resourceStart()
13-dic-2011 17.00.37 org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext startInternal
GRAVE: Error getConfigured
13-dic-2011 17.00.37 org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext startInternal
GRAVE: Context [/Preventivi] startup failed due to previous errors
13-dic-2011 17.00.37 org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol start
INFO: Starting ProtocolHandler ["http-bio-8080"]
13-dic-2011 17.00.37 org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol start
INFO: Starting ProtocolHandler ["http-bio-8443"]
13-dic-2011 17.00.37 org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol start
INFO: Starting ProtocolHandler ["ajp-bio-8009"]
13-dic-2011 17.00.37 org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina start
INFO: Server startup in 319 ms

I've run my webapp project in Eclipse, but today I received the message in console. Tomcat return me a 404 page error. Maybe the problem is that the folder where I would write doesn't exist. Where is the trick?

Answer 1

The easiest solution (and what worked for me) was to delete my tomcat server from the "Servers" view in Eclipse, then create a new server and add all the appropriate modules to it.

Sometimes tomcat gets confused and the easiest/least time consuming way to resolve things is to start over.