WebSphere: j_security_check Page Not Found Error

Recently we’ve installed a 6.1.0.0 version of WebSphere and patched it with fix pack 25 which is the current version at that time. We have developed an application using the AppFuse jump-start project to generate our project skeleton.

Previously when using WebSphere without the fix pack I mentioned above (a plain 6.1.0.0) everything work just as expected. But after a fix pack upgrade to 25 the spring security login service is broken, it returned a 404 page not found error.

A quick Google give a hint that this is happening due to some implementation changes on some of the servlet filter behavior in the WebSphere. To make the j_security_check recognized we have to add a custom properties the the Web Container. The custom properties is:

com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.invokefilterscompatibility = true

To set this custom properties do the following steps:

1. In the WebSphere administration console click: Servers > Application Servers > server_name > Web Container Settings > Web Container.
2. On the Additional Properties section click Custom Properties.
3. On the Custom Properties page click the New button.
4. On the setting page enter the property name com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.invokefilterscompatibility in the Name field and assign the value to true in the Value field.
5. Click the Apply or OK button.
6. Save the configuration by clicking the Save link on the console task bar.
7. Restart the WebSphere server.

After the server is up and running we found that the j_security_check login filter functional as it should be and now handling the login service of our application.