web.xml deployment descriptor examples

The web.xml is a configuration file to describe how a web application should be deployed. Here’re 5 web.xml examples, just for self-reference.

1. Servlet 3.1 deployment descriptor

Java EE 7 XML schema, namespace is http://xmlns.jcp.org/xml/ns/javaee/

web.xml


<web-app xmlns="http://xmlns.jcp.org/xml/ns/javaee"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://xmlns.jcp.org/xml/ns/javaee 
		 http://xmlns.jcp.org/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_3_1.xsd"
         version="3.1">
</web-app>

2. Servlet 3.0 deployment descriptor

Java EE 6 XML schema, namespace is http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee

web.xml


<web-app xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee"
	      xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
	      xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee 
	      http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_3_0.xsd"
	      version="3.0">
</web-app>

3. Servlet 2.5 deployment descriptor

Java EE 5 XML schema, namespace is http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee

web.xml


<web-app xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee"
	      xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
	      xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee 
	      http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_2_5.xsd"
	      version="2.5">
</web-app>

4. Servlet 2.4 deployment descriptor

J2EE 1.4 XML schema, namespace is http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee

web.xml


<web-app xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee"
	      xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
	      xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee 
	      http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee/web-app_2_4.xsd"
	      version="2.4">

  <display-name>Servlet 2.4 Web Application</display-name>
</web-app>

5. Servlet 2.3 deployment descriptor

J2EE 1.3 DTDs schema. This web.xml file is too old, highly recommend you to upgrade it.

web.xml


<!DOCTYPE web-app PUBLIC
 "-//Sun Microsystems, Inc.//DTD Web Application 2.3//EN"
 "http://java.sun.com/dtd/web-app_2_3.dtd" >

<web-app>
  <display-name>Servlet 2.3 Web Application</display-name>
</web-app>

Java Servlet important changes
Visit this Servlet wiki for the summary of important changes from Servlet 2.3 to 3.0

References

Written by mkyong

Software Engineer • Writer • Dad

20+ years hands-on, writing about Java, Spring, and AI. Every code example here is tested.

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13 comments on “web.xml deployment descriptor examples”

Nicola Modugno

April 17, 2021 at 1:50 am

Servlet 4.0 deployment descriptor
<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”UTF-8″?>
<web-app xmlns:xsi=”http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance”
xmlns=”http://xmlns.jcp.org/xml/ns/javaee”
xsi:schemaLocation=”http://xmlns.jcp.org/xml/ns/javaee http://xmlns.jcp.org/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_4_0.xsd”
id=”WebApp_ID” version=”4.0″>
</web-app>

Bhavik Malekar

June 10, 2020 at 1:04 am

I am facing an issue with the deployment descriptor.
So far the url java.sun.com with version 3.1 was working on my servers.
But on the latest tomcat server that I ordered, this doesn’t work.
I had to change url to xmlns.jcp.org to for it to work.

Kindly help with pointers as to where I should check to fix this.

P.S. the old tomcat servers are still working with java.sun.com urls