RequestDispatcher.forward() to resource under "/WEB-INF" doesn't work in WebSphere

Question

In one of my servlets, I invoke RequestDispatcher.forward() call to a static resource somewhere under WEB-INF folder:

request
    .getRequestDispatcher( "/WEB-INF/some/path/image.gif" )
        .forward( request, response );

Navigating to this servlet works fine under Tomcat, Jetty et al., but does not work in WebSphere 7. The error I get (both in the browser and in the server logs) is

Error 403: SRVE0190E: File not found: /WEB-INF/some/path/image.gif

Initially I assumed that WebSphere may need some specific configuration to allow internal forwarding to resources under WEB-INF, but I failed to google anything useful.

Any ideas why can this happen?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

It appears that one should set exposeWebInfOnDispatch property to true in order to make WEB-INF accessible for servlets in WebSphere. I got this answer from WebSphere forum.

---

In WebSphere 7 administration console,

1. Go to "Servers" => "Server Types" => "WebSphere application servers" on the left
2. Choose proper server on the list on the main part of the page
3. Click on "Container Settings" => "Web Container Settings" => "Web container"
4. Go to "Custom properties" on the right

5. Add new property:

   • Name: exposeWebInfOnDispatch
   • Value: true

Answer 2

You are getting HTTP 403, which means forbidden. Try moving out image.gif out of WEB-INF. That might work