Tag Archives: webxml

Tip: Maven – “webxml attribute is required” Error

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Using web.xml can be tricky sometimes with Maven.

The Correct location of web.xml: project\src\main\webapp\WEB-INF\web.xml

PROBLEM:

Although, maven should be automatically picking up this file (Convention Over Configuration right?) but most of the times it fails to do so and burps out this ERROR:

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

SOLUTION:

May looks annoying, but try specifying the location explicitly and it works…

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