[FIXED] Servlet initialized multiple times

Issue

We are deploying a IIS site including several folders, a few virtual directories, and a Tomcat host.
When running Tomcat 8 (8.0.46) on Java 8, everything is fine. After upgrading to JDK 9 (OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 9.0.4+11, mixed mode)), we notice that each servlet is initialized several times (i.e. the method init(ServletConfig) is executed several times), the first time on the host context (as expected), and alter once for each folder in the site.
The undesired side-effect is that temporary files/logs created by the servlets are duplicated inside each folder in the site.

Tomcat server.xml contains the Host definition:

      <Host name="localhost" appBase="C:/Program Files (x86)/b4/Controller/bin/webserver/ebsc_web"
            unpackWARs="true" autoDeploy="true">

        <Context path="/servlets" docBase="C:/Program Files (x86)/b4/Controller/bin/webserver\ebsc_web\"  xmlValidation="false" xmlNamespaceAware="false">
            <WatchedResource>WEB-INF/web.xml</WatchedResource>
        </Context>

        <!--
        <Valve className="org.apache.catalina.authenticator.SingleSignOn" />
        -->

        <!-- Access log processes all example.
             Documentation at: /docs/config/valve.html
             Note: The pattern used is equivalent to using pattern="common" -->
        <Valve className="org.apache.catalina.valves.AccessLogValve" directory="logs"
               prefix="localhost_access_log" suffix=".txt"
               pattern="%h %l %u %t &quot;%r&quot; %s %b" />
      </Host>

The same location (C:\Program Files (x86)\b4\Controller\bin\webserver\ebsc_web) is the physical path of the Web site, and includes subfolders, e.g.: applets, images, etc. When starting Tomcat logs are created at the default location (ebsc_web) and duplicated inside each subfolder.

We noticed that when the servlet is initialized on the correct servlet context, the stack is:

Daemon Thread [localhost-startStop-1] (Suspended (breakpoint at line 49 in UpdateSchedulerLoader))  
    owns: StandardWrapper  (id=63)  
    owns: StandardContext  (id=64)  
    UpdateSchedulerLoader.init(ServletConfig) line: 49  
    StandardWrapper.initServlet(Servlet) line: 1227 
    StandardWrapper.loadServlet() line: 1140    
    StandardWrapper.load() line: 1027   
    StandardContext.loadOnStartup(Container[]) line: 5038   
    StandardContext.startInternal() line: 5348  
    StandardContext(LifecycleBase).start() line: 145    
    ContainerBase$StartChild.call() line: 1408  
    ContainerBase$StartChild.call() line: 1398  
    FutureTask<V>.run() line: 264   
    ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker) line: 1167  
    ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run() line: 641   
    Thread.run() line: 844  

but any following time when it is initialized with a servlet context pointing to a subfolder, the stack is:

Daemon Thread [localhost-startStop-1] (Suspended (breakpoint at line 42 in UpdateSchedulerLoader))  
    owns: StandardWrapper  (id=154) 
    owns: StandardContext  (id=144) 
    UpdateSchedulerLoader.init(ServletConfig) line: 42  
    StandardWrapper.initServlet(Servlet) line: 1227 
    StandardWrapper.loadServlet() line: 1140    
    StandardWrapper.load() line: 1027   
    StandardContext.loadOnStartup(Container[]) line: 5038   
    StandardContext.startInternal() line: 5348  
    StandardContext(LifecycleBase).start() line: 145    
    StandardHost(ContainerBase).addChildInternal(Container) line: 753   
    StandardHost(ContainerBase).addChild(Container) line: 729   
    StandardHost.addChild(Container) line: 717  
    HostConfig.deployDirectory(ContextName, File) line: 1129    
    HostConfig$DeployDirectory.run() line: 1871 
    Executors$RunnableAdapter<T>.call() line: 514   
    FutureTask<V>.run() line: 264   
    ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker) line: 1167  
    ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run() line: 641   
    Thread.run() line: 844  

So the first time the servlet is initialized by ContainerBase$StartChild.call(), later by HostConfig.deployDirectory(ContextName, File)...

Can you explain/fix this behavior?

Solution

The issue is solved, according to indication by @PiotrP.Karwasz, by setting both autoDeploy="false" deployOnStartup="false" in Host configuration in server.xml.

Answered By - Marco Roda