Upgrading grails from 2.1.1 to 2.4.3

Question

I am upgrading a grails app from 2.1.1 to 2.4.3 and solving errors along the upgrade is a never ending story.

Now I am stuck at this point.

Any ideas how to solve this?

Thanks!

C:\workspace\grails_apps\monitoring>grails run-app

| Running Grails application
| Error 2014-09-20 17:36:55,136 [localhost-startStop-1] ERROR context.ContextLoader  - Context initialization failed
Message: Error creating bean with name 'grailsApplication' defined in ServletContext resource [/WEB-INF/applicationContext.xml]: Cannot resolve reference to bean 'grailsResourceLoader' while setting bean property 'grailsResourceLoader'; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.CannotLoadBeanClassException: Cannot find class [org.codehaus.groovy.grails.commons.GrailsResourceLoaderFactoryBean] for bean with name 'grailsResourceLoader' defined in ServletContext resource [/WEB-INF/appli
cationContext.xml]; nested exception is java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.codehaus.groovy.grails.commons.GrailsResourceLoaderFactoryBean
    Line | Method
->>  334 | innerRun  in java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
|    166 | run       in java.util.concurrent.FutureTask
|   1145 | runWorker in java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor
|    615 | run       in java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker
^    722 | run . . . in java.lang.Thread

Caused by CannotLoadBeanClassException: Cannot find class [org.codehaus.groovy.grails.commons.GrailsResourceLoaderFactoryBean] for bean with name 'grailsResourceLoader' defined in ServletContext resource [/WEB-INF/applicationContext.xml]; nested exception is java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.codehaus.groovy.grails.commons.GrailsResourceLoaderFactoryBean
->>  334 | innerRun  in java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
|    166 | run       in java.util.concurrent.FutureTask
|   1145 | runWorker in java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor
|    615 | run       in java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker
^    722 | run . . . in java.lang.Thread

Caused by ClassNotFoundException: org.codehaus.groovy.grails.commons.GrailsResourceLoaderFactoryBean
->>   59 | findClass in org.grails.plugins.tomcat.ParentDelegatingClassLoader
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
|    423 | loadClass in java.lang.ClassLoader
|    356 | loadClass in     ''
|    334 | innerRun  in java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync
|    166 | run . . . in java.util.concurrent.FutureTask
|   1145 | runWorker in java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor
|    615 | run . . . in java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker
^    722 | run       in java.lang.Thread
| Error 2014-09-20 17:36:55,270 [localhost-startStop-1] ERROR context.GrailsContextLoaderListener  - Error initializing the application: Error creating bean with name 'grailsApplication' defined in ServletContext resource [/WEB-INF/applicationContext.xml]: Cannot resolve reference to bean 'grailsResourceLoader' while setting bean property 'grailsResourceLoader'; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.CannotLoadBeanClassException: Cannot find class [org.codehaus.groovy.grails.commo
ns.GrailsResourceLoaderFactoryBean] for bean with name 'grailsResourceLoader' defined in ServletContext resource [/WEB-INF/applicationContext.xml]; nested exception is java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.codehaus.groovy.grails.commons.GrailsResourceLoaderFactoryBean
Message: Error creating bean with name 'grailsApplication' defined in ServletContext resource [/WEB-INF/applicationContext.xml]: Cannot resolve reference to bean 'grailsResourceLoader' while setting bean property 'grailsResourceLoader'; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.CannotLoadBeanClassException: Cannot find class [org.codehaus.groovy.grails.commons.GrailsResourceLoaderFactoryBean] for bean with name 'grailsResourceLoader' defined in ServletContext resource [/WEB-INF/appli
cationContext.xml]; nested exception is java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.codehaus.groovy.grails.commons.GrailsResourceLoaderFactoryBean
    Line | Method
->>  334 | innerRun  in java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
|    166 | run       in java.util.concurrent.FutureTask
|   1145 | runWorker in java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor
|    615 | run       in java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker
^    722 | run . . . in java.lang.Thread

Caused by CannotLoadBeanClassException: Cannot find class [org.codehaus.groovy.grails.commons.GrailsResourceLoaderFactoryBean] for bean with name 'grailsResourceLoader' defined in ServletContext resource [/WEB-INF/applicationContext.xml]; nested exception is java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.codehaus.groovy.grails.commons.GrailsResourceLoaderFactoryBean
->>  334 | innerRun  in java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
|    166 | run       in java.util.concurrent.FutureTask
|   1145 | runWorker in java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor
|    615 | run       in java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker
^    722 | run . . . in java.lang.Thread

Caused by ClassNotFoundException: org.codehaus.groovy.grails.commons.GrailsResourceLoaderFactoryBean
->>   59 | findClass in org.grails.plugins.tomcat.ParentDelegatingClassLoader
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
|    423 | loadClass in java.lang.ClassLoader
|    356 | loadClass in     ''
|    334 | innerRun  in java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync
|    166 | run . . . in java.util.concurrent.FutureTask
|   1145 | runWorker in java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor
|    615 | run . . . in java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker
^    722 | run       in java.lang.Thread

BuildConfig.groovy

grails.servlet.version = "2.5" // Change depending on target container compliance (2.5 or 3.0)
grails.server.port.http = 8090
grails.project.class.dir = "target/classes"
grails.project.test.class.dir = "target/test-classes"
grails.project.test.reports.dir = "target/test-reports"
grails.project.target.level = 1.6
grails.project.source.level = 1.6
grails.project.dependency.resolver = "maven" 
//grails.project.war.file = "target/${appName}-${appVersion}.war"

// uncomment (and adjust settings) to fork the JVM to isolate classpaths
//grails.project.fork = [
//   run: [maxMemory:1024, minMemory:64, debug:false, maxPerm:256]
//]

grails.project.dependency.resolution = {
    // inherit Grails' default dependencies
    inherits("global") {
        // specify dependency exclusions here; for example, uncomment this to disable ehcache:
        // excludes 'ehcache'
    }
    log "warn" // log level of Ivy resolver, either 'error', 'warn', 'info', 'debug' or 'verbose'
    checksums true // Whether to verify checksums on resolve
    legacyResolve false // whether to do a secondary resolve on plugin installation, not advised and here for backwards compatibility

    repositories {
        inherits true // Whether to inherit repository definitions from plugins

        grailsPlugins()
        grailsHome()
        grailsCentral()

        mavenLocal()
        mavenCentral()

        // uncomment these (or add new ones) to enable remote dependency resolution from public Maven repositories
        //mavenRepo "http://snapshots.repository.codehaus.org"
        //mavenRepo "http://repository.codehaus.org"
        //mavenRepo "http://download.java.net/maven/2/"
        //mavenRepo "http://repository.jboss.com/maven2/"
    }

    dependencies {
        // specify dependencies here under either 'build', 'compile', 'runtime', 'test' or 'provided' scopes e.g.

        // runtime 'mysql:mysql-connector-java:5.1.20'


    }

    plugins {
        runtime ":hibernate4:4.3.5.5"
        runtime ":jquery:1.11.1"

        build ":tomcat:7.0.54"

        runtime ":database-migration:1.4.0"

    }

}

---

Instead of upgrading an existing grails application I tried to create a new application and copy files to the new project. This approach results in a different error.

grails run-app

| Running Grails application
Error occurred during initialization of VM
agent library failed to init: instrument
Error opening zip file or JAR manifest missing : C:\Program%20Files%20(x86)\Grails\grails-2.4.3\lib\org.springframework\springloaded\jars\springloaded-1.2.0.RELEASE.jar
| Error Forked Grails VM exited with error

java version used: 1.7.0_21

GRAILS_HOME=C:\PROGRA~2\grails\grails-2.4.3

GROOVY_HOME=C:\PROGRA~2\Groovy\groovy-2.3.6

Grails version: 2.4.3

What to do now?

Thanks!

----------------------------------------------------

Based on the suggestion below to remove reference to bean 'grailsResourceLoader, I changed the applicationContext.xml accordingly.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
       xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
       xsi:schemaLocation="
http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-2.5.xsd">

    <bean id="grailsApplication" class="org.codehaus.groovy.grails.commons.GrailsApplicationFactoryBean">
        <description>Grails application factory bean</description>
        <property name="grailsDescriptor" value="/WEB-INF/grails.xml" />
    </bean>

    <bean id="pluginManager" class="org.codehaus.groovy.grails.plugins.GrailsPluginManagerFactoryBean">
        <description>A bean that manages Grails plugins</description>
        <property name="grailsDescriptor" value="/WEB-INF/grails.xml" />
        <property name="application" ref="grailsApplication" />
    </bean>

    <bean id="grailsConfigurator" class="org.codehaus.groovy.grails.commons.spring.GrailsRuntimeConfigurator">
        <constructor-arg>
            <ref bean="grailsApplication" />
        </constructor-arg>
        <property name="pluginManager" ref="pluginManager" />
    </bean>


    <bean id="characterEncodingFilter" class="org.springframework.web.filter.CharacterEncodingFilter">
        <property name="encoding">
            <value>utf-8</value>
        </property>
    </bean>
</beans>

Unfortunately, the problem remains the same.

| Running Grails application
Error opening zip file or JAR manifest missing : C:\Program%20Files%20(x86)\Grails\grails-2.4.3\lib\org.springframework\springloaded\jars\springloaded-1.2.0.RELEASE.jar
Error occurred during initialization of VM
agent library failed to init: instrument
| Error Forked Grails VM exited with error

Thanks for any further help!!

-----------------------------------------

Is Java 1.8.0 required for Grails 2.4.3 ?

• No it is not, problem is the same even for java 8

Taegu

I believe I experienced a similar error when upgrading from 1.3.9 to 2.3.11. Hmm... can it be that you are trying to deploy on Tomcat 6? Probably not, but there was something about applicationContext.xml as well... Are you using applicationContext.xml based on 2.4.3? Generate in an empty project with 2.4.3 (and I believe install-templates) and diff with what you have. Also Beckwiths book Programming Grails has an entire chapter on strategies for upgrading. Read that & hope it works out! – Cinch

why do you set GROOVY_HOME? There is no need for that. – Durrell

I doubt that setting GROOVY_HOME would cause this problem. Setting it is more of convenience. – Taegu

No, I was just asking why you do that. – Durrell

@Taegu I just realize that you didn't remove your grails resource loader from your applicationContext.xml it is still there! – Durrell

Exactly the same error happens even after I installed java jdk1.8.0_20, updated JAVA_HOME to the new java version and created a new grails application with grails create-app and try to run it with grails run-app. What is wrong here? I am lost. – Taegu

Also removed the grails resource loader from the applicationContext.xml, still no luck. – Taegu

Its a pitty upgrading grails turns out to be this tedious. – Taegu

Answer 1

I was able to resolve the issue by creating a new 2.4 grails project and copying the applicationContext.xml file from it into my existing project.

Abydos

The web-app/WEB-INF/applicationContext.xml file contains a bean definition for a grailsResourceLoader bean which is an instance of org.codehaus.groovy.grails.commons.GrailsResourceLoaderFactoryBean. That bean definition needs to be removed from the file. – Hematite

The grailsApplication bean definition should be left in the file but the grailsResourceLoader bean reference should be removed reference: grails.github.io/grails-doc/2.4.x/guide/upgradingFrom23.html – Hematite

Answer 2

Your newer version of Grails doesn't need these two lines in applicationContent.xml:

<property name="grailsResourceLoader" ref="grailsResourceLoader" />

and

<bean id="grailsResourceLoader" class="org.codehaus.groovy.grails.commons.GrailsResourceLoaderFactoryBean" />

Remove them and restart your project. It should work just fine.

Bromine

Answer 3

For anyone interested, this problem was solved for me by changing the location of my Grails SDK from:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Grails\grails-2.4.3

to

C:\Grails\grails-2.4.3

eg. by removing the spaces in the GRAILS_HOME path as explained in the post found here.

Note, it did not work to remove the spaces by setting GROOVY_HOME = C:\PROGRA~2\Grails\grails-2.4.3

Taegu

Answer 4

I got the same error but upgrading grails to 2.5.5 version, hope it helps for yours.

In the applicationContext.xml:

<bean id="grailsApplication" class="org.codehaus.groovy.grails.commons.GrailsApplicationFactoryBean">
    <description>Grails application factory bean</description>
    <property name="grailsDescriptor" value="/WEB-INF/grails.xml" />
    <property name="grailsResourceLoader" ref="grailsResourceLoader" />
</bean>

Delete the grailsResourceLoader leaving it like this:

<bean id="grailsApplication" class="org.codehaus.groovy.grails.commons.GrailsApplicationFactoryBean">
    <description>Grails application factory bean</description>
    <property name="grailsDescriptor" value="/WEB-INF/grails.xml" />
</bean>

I did use this link: https://grails.github.io/grails2-doc/2.5.5/guide/upgradingFrom23.html

Stantonstanway