Tomcat failing to deploy my servlet on Tomcat within Eclipse (NoClassDefFoundError) - eclipse

Question

I have a Hello Wolrd Servlet in a Maven project created with Java EE Eclipse (Juno). The pom.xml specifies the following dependancies:
junit
tomcat-servlet-api
"Run As > Maven install" seems to run fine and outputs a .war file in /target/.
This .war deploys (Apache app manager) and runs fine on an other machine using tomcat 7.0.26-1ubuntu1.2 (installed via apt-get).
I configured Eclipse (using the server view) to use an apache-tomcat-7.0.40 install that I extracted from a tar.gz archive. It also runs fine using "Run As > Run on Server".
Now, if I add this to the Hello World servlet:
PropertiesConfiguration config = new
PropertiesConfiguration("config.properties");
and
import org.apache.commons.configuration.ConfigurationException;
import org.apache.commons.configuration.PropertiesConfiguration;
and add the following dependency to my pom.xml:
<dependency>
<groupId>commons-configuration</groupId>
<artifactId>commons-configuration</artifactId>
<version>1.9</version>
</dependency>
It keeps running fine on the distant server, but when using "Run As > Run on Server" in Eclipse, it fails, which is not cool for efficient dev & debug:
May 30, 2013 6:42:28 PM org.apache.catalina.core.AprLifecycleListener init
INFO: The APR based Apache Tomcat Native library which allows optimal performance in production environments was not found on the java.library.path: /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/jre/lib/amd64/server:/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/jre/lib/amd64:/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/jre/../lib/amd64:/usr/java/packages/lib/amd64:/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/jni:/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu:/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu:/usr/lib/jni:/lib:/usr/lib
May 30, 2013 6:42:28 PM org.apache.tomcat.util.digester.SetPropertiesRule begin
WARNING: [SetPropertiesRule]{Server/Service/Engine/Host/Context} Setting property 'source' to 'org.eclipse.jst.jee.server:proxy' did not find a matching property.
May 30, 2013 6:42:28 PM org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol init
INFO: Initializing ProtocolHandler ["http-bio-8080"]
May 30, 2013 6:42:28 PM org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol init
INFO: Initializing ProtocolHandler ["http-bio-5443"]
May 30, 2013 6:42:28 PM org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol init
INFO: Initializing ProtocolHandler ["ajp-bio-8009"]
May 30, 2013 6:42:28 PM org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina load
INFO: Initialization processed in 561 ms
May 30, 2013 6:42:28 PM org.apache.catalina.core.StandardService startInternal
INFO: Starting service Catalina
May 30, 2013 6:42:28 PM org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngine startInternal
INFO: Starting Servlet Engine: Apache Tomcat/7.0.40
May 30, 2013 6:42:28 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].StandardContext[/proxy]]
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync.innerGet(FutureTask.java:252)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.get(FutureTask.java:111)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.startInternal(ContainerBase.java:1123)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHost.startInternal(StandardHost.java:800)
at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1559)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1549)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync.innerRun(FutureTask.java:334)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:166)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1146)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:615)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:679)
Caused by: org.apache.catalina.LifecycleException: Failed to start component [StandardEngine[Catalina].StandardHost[localhost].StandardContext[/proxy]]
at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:154)
... 7 more
Caused by: java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/apache/commons/configuration/ConfigurationException
at java.lang.Class.getDeclaredFields0(Native Method)
at java.lang.Class.privateGetDeclaredFields(Class.java:2318)
at java.lang.Class.getDeclaredFields(Class.java:1762)
at org.apache.catalina.util.Introspection.getDeclaredFields(Introspection.java:106)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.WebAnnotationSet.loadFieldsAnnotation(WebAnnotationSet.java:261)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.WebAnnotationSet.loadApplicationServletAnnotations(WebAnnotationSet.java:140)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.WebAnnotationSet.loadApplicationAnnotations(WebAnnotationSet.java:67)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.applicationAnnotationsConfig(ContextConfig.java:405)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.configureStart(ContextConfig.java:881)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.lifecycleEvent(ContextConfig.java:369)
at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleSupport.fireLifecycleEvent(LifecycleSupport.java:119)
at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.fireLifecycleEvent(LifecycleBase.java:90)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.startInternal(StandardContext.java:5269)
at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
... 7 more
Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.apache.commons.configuration.ConfigurationException
at org.apache.catalina.loader.WebappClassLoader.loadClass(WebappClassLoader.java:1714)
at org.apache.catalina.loader.WebappClassLoader.loadClass(WebappClassLoader.java:1559)
... 21 more
May 30, 2013 6:42:28 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$Sync.innerGet(FutureTask.java:252)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.get(FutureTask.java:111)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.startInternal(ContainerBase.java:1123)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngine.startInternal(StandardEngine.java:302)
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:732)
at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina.start(Catalina.java:684)
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:616)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.start(Bootstrap.java:322)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.main(Bootstrap.java:456)
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$Sync.innerRun(FutureTask.java:334)
at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:166)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1146)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:615)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:679)
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:800)
at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
... 7 more
May 30, 2013 6:42:28 PM org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina start
SEVERE: Catalina.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:684)
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:616)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.start(Bootstrap.java:322)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.main(Bootstrap.java:456)
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:732)
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:302)
at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
... 11 more
May 30, 2013 6:42:28 PM org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina start
INFO: Server startup in 239 ms
Reading a bunch of posts, I found a way to make it work doing "Properties > Deployment Assembly > Add > Java Build Path Entries > Maven Dependencies", but Maven resets this setting on a "Maven > Update Project".
Is it possible to define an appropriate setting within the pom.xml to avoid this issue ?
Extra info: I'm using maven-compiler-plugin and maven-war-plugin. (may be the wrong way!)

Answer 1

Use m2e-wtp to integrate seamlessly with wtp : https://www.eclipse.org/m2e-wtp/

Answer 2

Probably,
You need to set the maven dependencies as a part of deployment assembly.
Eclipse -> Project->properties->Deployment Assembly ->Add -> Java Build path entries-> Choose maven dependencies.
This will make your pom dependencies to get bundle as a part of your web archive ( web-inf/lib).