# Tomcat 9 cannot load project in Eclipse – "Tomcat version 9.0 only supports J2EE 1.2–1.4 and Java EE 5–8 Web modules" error #2377

**URL:** <https://talk.openelis-global.org/t/tomcat-9-cannot-load-project-in-eclipse-tomcat-version-9-0-only-supports-j2ee-1-2-1-4-and-java-ee-5-8-web-modules-error-2377/1729>\
**Category:** Development\
**Tags:** dev\_setup\
**Created:** [December 3, 2025, 8:22am UTC](https://talk.openelis-global.org/t/tomcat-9-cannot-load-project-in-eclipse-tomcat-version-9-0-only-supports-j2ee-1-2-1-4-and-java-ee-5-8-web-modules-error-2377/1729 "2025-12-03T08:22:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![sagar.khandagre998](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/talk.openelis-global.org/sagar.khandagre998/32/1018_2.png) [@sagar.khandagre998](https://talk.openelis-global.org/u/sagar.khandagre998)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 8:22am UTC](https://talk.openelis-global.org/t/tomcat-9-cannot-load-project-in-eclipse-tomcat-version-9-0-only-supports-j2ee-1-2-1-4-and-java-ee-5-8-web-modules-error-2377/1729/1 "2025-12-03T08:22:00Z")

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![Screenshot from 2025-12-03 10-57-52](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/openelisci/original/2X/0/0aa87af32d18f74432e0451901c7703ff8d6dcf7.png)

When setting up the OpenELIS Global 2 backend project in Eclipse IDE, Tomcat 9 cannot recognize the web module and shows the following error when adding the project to the server: Tomcat version 9.0 only supports J2EE 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, and Java EE 5, 6, 7, and 8 Web modules

Steps to Reproduce

1. Import OpenELIS-Global-2 project into Eclipse as mention in the docs.

2. Install Tomcat 9 and configure it as a Server inside Eclipse

3. Try to add the OpenELIS-Global-2 project to Tomcat

4. Error appears and project is not added

Observed Behavior :-  
Eclipse blocks adding the project to Tomcat 9 because it detects an incompatible Dynamic Web Module / servlet version.

Expected Behavior :-  
The project should be deployable on Tomcat 9, as the documentation recommends using Tomcat 9 for local development.

Possible Cause

❗Tomcat 9 only supports Java EE / javax.\* (Servlet 4.0 or earlier).

So Eclipse blocks adding the project to Tomcat and shows:

“Tomcat version 9.0 only supports J2EE 1.2–1.4 and Java EE 5–8 web modules”

Suggested Fix -

Since the project uses Jakarta EE namespaces (jakarta.servlet.\*) and a web.xml version 5.0 or higher, Tomcat 9 cannot run the application.  
Tomcat 9 only supports Java EE / javax.servlet (Servlet 4.0), while this project requires Jakarta EE / jakarta.servlet (Servlet 5.0+).

Therefore, the development environment should be updated to use Tomcat 10.1, which fully supports Jakarta EE .

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Agaba\_Derrick\_Junior](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/talk.openelis-global.org/agaba_derrick_junior/32/503_2.png) [@Agaba\_Derrick\_Junior](https://talk.openelis-global.org/u/Agaba_Derrick_Junior)\
**Post date:** [December 5, 2025, 10:05am UTC](https://talk.openelis-global.org/t/tomcat-9-cannot-load-project-in-eclipse-tomcat-version-9-0-only-supports-j2ee-1-2-1-4-and-java-ee-5-8-web-modules-error-2377/1729/2 "2025-12-05T10:05:06Z")

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@sagar.khandagre998  
We already use `jakarta.*` namespaces in OpenELIS

So for you to solve this issue you need to

- Download and install **Tomcat 10.1**.
- In Eclipse, add a **Tomcat 10.1 runtime**.
- Keep your `web.xml` at **6.0**
- Make sure your facets are:  
Dynamic Web Module: 6.0  
Java: 21
- Deploy Tomcat 10.1 which fully supports `jakarta.*` and Servlet 6.0.

The misguide comes from the developer documentation which has instructions of downloading version 9.0 of tomcat  
We are updating this Asap