title: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardEngine[Catalina].StandardHost[localhost].StandardContext[]]
body: <p>When trying to start tomcat I get this error.  What could be the cause of this? </p>
  
  <p>I've read through a bunch of similar posts and I can't seem to find anything that's a help.  I'm not missing a <code>.jar</code> file as far as I can tell.</p>
  
  <pre><code>SEVERE: A child container failed during start
  java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardEngine[Catalina].StandardHost[localhost].StandardContext[]]
      at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.report(FutureTask.java:122)
      at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.get(FutureTask.java:188)
      at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.startInternal(ContainerBase.java:1123)
      at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHost.startInternal(StandardHost.java:799)
      at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
      at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1559)
      at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1549)
      at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:262)
      at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1145)
      at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:615)
      at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:744)
  Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardEngine[Catalina].StandardHost[localhost].StandardContext[]]
      at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:154)
      ... 6 more
  Caused by: java.lang.NoSuchMethodError: javax.servlet.ServletContext.getClassLoader()Ljava/lang/ClassLoader;
      at org.apache.catalina.startup.WebappServiceLoader.load(WebappServiceLoader.java:90)
      at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.processServletContainerInitializers(ContextConfig.java:1543)
      at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.webConfig(ContextConfig.java:1265)
      at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.configureStart(ContextConfig.java:873)
      at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.lifecycleEvent(ContextConfig.java:371)
      at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleSupport.fireLifecycleEvent(LifecycleSupport.java:117)
      at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.fireLifecycleEvent(LifecycleBase.java:90)
      at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.startInternal(StandardContext.java:5355)
      at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
      ... 6 more
  
  Apr 10, 2014 1:53:30 PM org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase startInternal
  SEVERE: A child container failed during start
  java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardEngine[Catalina].StandardHost[localhost]]
      at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.report(FutureTask.java:122)
      at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.get(FutureTask.java:188)
      at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.startInternal(ContainerBase.java:1123)
      at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngine.startInternal(StandardEngine.java:300)
      at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
      at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardService.startInternal(StandardService.java:443)
      at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
      at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardServer.startInternal(StandardServer.java:731)
      at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
      at org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina.start(Catalina.java:689)
      at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
      at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:57)
      at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
      at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:606)
      at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.start(Bootstrap.java:321)
      at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.main(Bootstrap.java:455)
  Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardEngine[Catalina].StandardHost[localhost]]
      at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:154)
      at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1559)
      at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1549)
      at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:262)
      at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1145)
      at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:615)
      at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:744)
  Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: A child container failed during start
      at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.startInternal(ContainerBase.java:1131)
      at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHost.startInternal(StandardHost.java:799)
      at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
      ... 6 more
  
  Apr 10, 2014 1:53:30 PM org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina start
  SEVERE: The required Server component failed to start so Tomcat is unable to start.
  org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardServer[8005]]
      at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:154)
      at org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina.start(Catalina.java:689)
      at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
      at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:57)
      at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
      at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:606)
      at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.start(Bootstrap.java:321)
      at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.main(Bootstrap.java:455)
  Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardService[Catalina]]
      at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:154)
      at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardServer.startInternal(StandardServer.java:731)
      at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
      ... 7 more
  Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardEngine[Catalina]]
      at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:154)
      at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardService.startInternal(StandardService.java:443)
      at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
      ... 9 more
  Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: A child container failed during start
      at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.startInternal(ContainerBase.java:1131)
      at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngine.startInternal(StandardEngine.java:300)
      at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
      ... 11 more
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Here are the .jar files that are included in my project:</p>
  
  <pre><code>annotations-api.jar     
  el-api.jar          
  robotium-solo-5.0.1.jar
  catalina-ant.jar        
  gson-2.2.4-javadoc.jar      
  servlet-api.jar
  catalina-ha.jar         
  gson-2.2.4-sources.jar      
  slf4j-api-1.7.5.jar
  catalina-tribes.jar     
  gson-2.2.4.jar          
  slf4j-api-1.7.6.jar
  catalina.jar            
  jackson-core-asl-1.9.11.jar 
  slf4j-log4j12-1.4.3.jar
  commons-io-2.4-javadoc.jar  
  jackson-mapper-asl-1.9.11.jar   
  tomcat-api.jar
  commons-io-2.4-sources.jar  
  jasper-el.jar           
  tomcat-coyote.jar
  commons-io-2.4-test-sources.jar 
  jasper-runtime-5.5.12.jar   
  tomcat-dbcp.jar
  commons-io-2.4-tests.jar    
  jasper.jar          
  tomcat-i18n-es.jar
  commons-io-2.4.jar      
  json-path-0.9.0-javadoc.jar 
  tomcat-i18n-fr.jar
  commons-lang3-3.3.1-javadoc.jar 
  json-path-0.9.0-sources.jar 
  tomcat-i18n-ja.jar
  commons-lang3-3.3.1.jar     
  json-path-0.9.0.jar     
  tomcat-jdbc.jar
  commons-logging-1.1.1.jar   
  json-smart-1.2.jar      
  tomcat-util.jar
  commons-logging-api-1.0.4.jar   
  jsp-api.jar         
  tomcat7-websocket.jar
  ecj-4.3.1.jar           
  loremipsum-1.0.jar      
  websocket-api.jar
  </code></pre>
  
  <hr>
  
  <p><strong>Update:</strong></p>
  
  <p>After uninstalling and reinstalling tomcat my problem was fixed. Weird.</p>