This error can happen on Linux and Windows, and the cause could be the same.
On Windows Server 2012R2 I opened a command prompt. To be able to delete a directory from the Tomcat webapps folder, I have issued the shutdown command.
When I started the server with the startup command, and navigated to my local website, my Java Spring MVC web application displayed the error message
org.apache.jasper.JasperException: java.lang.IllegalStateException: No output folder
The problem was, that the Tomcat service runs under root on Linux, and SYSTEM on Windows.
When you issue the startup command, Tomcat will run under the user account you logged in with.
Solution:
Stop and start the TomCat Linux or Windows service instead of issuing the shutdown and startup commands from the terminal or command prompt.
