Checklist for Spring XML configuration for bootstrapping and configuring GemFire Server

Products

• VMware Tanzu Gemfire

Resolution

Checklist:

This article attempts to provide a working example and discuss various issues you may encounter when using a Spring XML configuration file for bootstrapping and configuring a GemFire CacheServer using the "--spring-xml-location" command-line option.


Working Scenario

1. CacheServer start script example:

......
### Gemfire lib jars ###
export CLASSPATH=$GEMFIRE/lib/geode-dependencies.jar:$GEMFIRE/lib/gfsh-dependencies.jar:/usr/java/jdk1.8.0_211/lib/tools.jar

### Spring & Spring data gemfire jars ###
# For example(Gemfire 9.9.1 + Spring data gemfire 2.2.6) :
# spring-data-gemfire-2.2.6.RELEASE.jar
# spring-core-5.2.5.RELEASE.jar
# spring-beans-5.2.5.RELEASE.jar
# spring-tx-5.2.5.RELEASE.jar
export CLASSPATH=/home/gpadmin/apps/springjars/*:$CLASSPATH

### directory of spring-gemfire-config.xml ###
# In my case, I put spring-gemfire-config.xml in path:
# /home/gpadmin/apps/springxmlDirectory/springxml/spring-gemfire-config.xml
export CLASSPATH=/home/gpadmin/apps/springxmlDirectory/:$CLASSPATH

gfsh start server --server-port=7901 --name=server1 --mcast-port=0 --locators=pivhdsne.localdomain[7900] --include-system-classpath=true --spring-xml-location="classpath:springxml/spring-gemfire-config.xml"

2. Example spring-gemfire-config.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
  xmlns:gfe="http://www.springframework.org/schema/gemfire"
  xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
  xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context"
  xsi:schemaLocation="
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans 
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans.xsd
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/gemfire 
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/gemfire/spring-gemfire.xsd
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/context
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context.xsd">
        
	<gfe:cache id="gemfireCache" pdx-read-serialized="true">
	</gfe:cache>
	
	<gfe:cache-server cache-ref="gemfireCache" port="0"></gfe:cache-server>
	
	<gfe:partitioned-region id="examplePartionRegion1" copies="1" ></gfe:partitioned-region>
	<gfe:replicated-region id="exampleReplicatedRegion1"></gfe:replicated-region>
	
	<context:annotation-config/>
</beans>

Failure Scenarios

Scenario 1:
Symptom
The GemFire CacheServer fails to create the regions as expected despite the Spring xml configuration file being correctly set in the "--spring-xml-location" option. However, there are no exception/error messages in the CacheServer's log when CacheServer is starting.

Root Cause
Most likely the CacheServer didn't find the Spring & Spring Data GemFire jars in the "CLASSPATH" environment variable.

Resolution
You need to add the below Spring Data GemFire and Spring dependency jars into the "CLASSPATH" environment variable.

spring-data-gemfire-X.X.X.RELEASE.jar 
spring-core-X.X.X.RELEASE.jar 
spring-beans-X.X.X.RELEASE.jar 
spring-tx-X.X.X.RELEASE.jar 

Note:
You can find the Spring Data GemFire(SDG) and Spring Framework dependency combinations from the compatibility matrix table.

Scenario 2:
Symptom

When starting a CacheServer with "--spring-xml-location" option, it fails with an InvalidDataAccessApiUsageException.

[pivhdsne:GemfireCluster1]$ ./startSpringXMLServer.sh 
..The Cache Server process terminated unexpectedly with exit status 1. Please refer to the log file in /home/gpadmin/apps/GemfireCluster1/server1 for full details.

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/springframework/dao/InvalidDataAccessApiUsageException
	at org.springframework.data.gemfire.support.SpringContextBootstrappingInitializer.init(SpringContextBootstrappingInitializer.java:400)
	at org.springframework.data.gemfire.support.SpringServerLauncherCacheProvider.createCache(SpringServerLauncherCacheProvider.java:57)
	at org.apache.geode.distributed.ServerLauncher.createCache(ServerLauncher.java:881)
	at org.apache.geode.distributed.ServerLauncher.start(ServerLauncher.java:803)
	at org.apache.geode.distributed.ServerLauncher.run(ServerLauncher.java:732)
	at org.apache.geode.distributed.ServerLauncher.main(ServerLauncher.java:251)
Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.springframework.dao.InvalidDataAccessApiUsageException
	at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:381)
	at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:424)
	at sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(Launcher.java:331)
	at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:357)
	... 6 more

Root Cause
The CacheServer failed to find all the necessary Spring Framework dependency jars from the "CLASSPATH" environmental variable.

Resolution
You need to add all the following Spring dependency jars into the "CLASSPATH" environmental variable.

spring-core-X.X.X.RELEASE.jar 
spring-beans-X.X.X.RELEASE.jar 
spring-tx-X.X.X.RELEASE.jar

Scenario 3:
Symptom

When starting a CacheServer with "--spring-xml-location" option, it fails with ApplicationContextException.

[pivhdsne:GemfireCluster1]$ ./startSpringXMLServer.sh 
..The Cache Server process terminated unexpectedly with exit status 1. Please refer to the log file in /home/gpadmin/apps/GemfireCluster1/server1 for full details.

Exception in thread "main" org.springframework.context.ApplicationContextException: Failed to bootstrap the Spring ApplicationContext; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.XmlBeanDefinitionStoreException: Line 21 in XML document from class path resource [springxml/spring-gemfire-config_new.xml] is invalid; nested exception is org.xml.sax.SAXParseException; lineNumber: 21; columnNumber: 30; The prefix "context" for element "context:annotation-config" is not bound.
	at org.springframework.data.gemfire.support.SpringContextBootstrappingInitializer.init(SpringContextBootstrappingInitializer.java:448)
	at org.springframework.data.gemfire.support.SpringContextBootstrappingInitializer.init(SpringContextBootstrappingInitializer.java:400)
	at org.springframework.data.gemfire.support.SpringServerLauncherCacheProvider.createCache(SpringServerLauncherCacheProvider.java:57)
	at org.apache.geode.distributed.ServerLauncher.createCache(ServerLauncher.java:881)
	at org.apache.geode.distributed.ServerLauncher.start(ServerLauncher.java:803)
	at org.apache.geode.distributed.ServerLauncher.run(ServerLauncher.java:732)
	at org.apache.geode.distributed.ServerLauncher.main(ServerLauncher.java:251)
Caused by: org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.XmlBeanDefinitionStoreException: Line 21 in XML document from class path resource [springxml/spring-gemfire-config_new.xml] is invalid; nested exception is org.xml.sax.SAXParseException; lineNumber: 21; columnNumber: 30; The prefix "context" for element "context:annotation-config" is not bound.
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.XmlBeanDefinitionReader.doLoadBeanDefinitions(XmlBeanDefinitionReader.java:399)
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.XmlBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(XmlBeanDefinitionReader.java:336)
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.XmlBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(XmlBeanDefinitionReader.java:304)
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.java:181)
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.java:217)
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.java:188)
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.java:252)
	at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractXmlApplicationContext.loadBeanDefinitions(AbstractXmlApplicationContext.java:127)
	at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractXmlApplicationContext.loadBeanDefinitions(AbstractXmlApplicationContext.java:93)
	at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractRefreshableApplicationContext.refreshBeanFactory(AbstractRefreshableApplicationContext.java:129)
	at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.obtainFreshBeanFactory(AbstractApplicationContext.java:614)
	at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.refresh(AbstractApplicationContext.java:514)
	at org.springframework.data.gemfire.support.SpringContextBootstrappingInitializer.refreshApplicationContext(SpringContextBootstrappingInitializer.java:321)
	at org.springframework.data.gemfire.support.SpringContextBootstrappingInitializer.init(SpringContextBootstrappingInitializer.java:433)
	... 6 more
Caused by: org.xml.sax.SAXParseException; lineNumber: 21; columnNumber: 30; The prefix "context" for element "context:annotation-config" is not bound.
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.util.ErrorHandlerWrapper.createSAXParseException(ErrorHandlerWrapper.java:203)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.util.ErrorHandlerWrapper.fatalError(ErrorHandlerWrapper.java:177)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLErrorReporter.reportError(XMLErrorReporter.java:441)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLErrorReporter.reportError(XMLErrorReporter.java:368)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLErrorReporter.reportError(XMLErrorReporter.java:325)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLNSDocumentScannerImpl.scanStartElement(XMLNSDocumentScannerImpl.java:289)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl$FragmentContentDriver.next(XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl.java:2786)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLDocumentScannerImpl.next(XMLDocumentScannerImpl.java:606)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLNSDocumentScannerImpl.next(XMLNSDocumentScannerImpl.java:117)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl.scanDocument(XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl.java:510)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.XML11Configuration.parse(XML11Configuration.java:848)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.XML11Configuration.parse(XML11Configuration.java:777)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.XMLParser.parse(XMLParser.java:141)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.DOMParser.parse(DOMParser.java:243)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.jaxp.DocumentBuilderImpl.parse(DocumentBuilderImpl.java:348)
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.DefaultDocumentLoader.loadDocument(DefaultDocumentLoader.java:76)
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.XmlBeanDefinitionReader.doLoadDocument(XmlBeanDefinitionReader.java:429)
	at org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.XmlBeanDefinitionReader.doLoadBeanDefinitions(XmlBeanDefinitionReader.java:391)
	... 19 more
Exception in thread "Thread-1" java.lang.IllegalStateException: BeanFactory not initialized or already closed - call 'refresh' before accessing beans via the ApplicationContext
	at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractRefreshableApplicationContext.getBeanFactory(AbstractRefreshableApplicationContext.java:170)
	at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.destroyBeans(AbstractApplicationContext.java:1034)
	at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.doClose(AbstractApplicationContext.java:1009)
	at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext$2.run(AbstractApplicationContext.java:929)

Root Cause
The spring-gemfire-config.xml which you are using is lacking the attribute "xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context" when you are using "<context:annotation-config/>" in spring-gemfire-config.xml.

Resolution
Adding the attribute "xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context" to the xml tag in your spring-gemfire-config.xml should resolve the issue.