tomcat - "Update Resources" in IntelliJ deletes updated files from target directory -

short version

when change resources in app, attempt hot-deploy them, files deleted instead of updated target/ directory , don't understand why.

long version

i have java 8 + tomcat 8 + spring boot + thymeleaf project i'm running out of intellij. when change files, such css files src/main/resources/static/css directory, , run update resources or update classes , resources, file deleted target/classes/static/css instead of updated. nothing printed in tomcat logs file, nothing printed in intellij logs (in ~/library/logs/intellijidea13/idea.log) deleting file... disappears.

tomcat 8 set external application server (not built-in spring boot embedded server) following config. thing i've customized in intellij run configuration setup have specified catalina_base same value "tomcat base", so:

tomcat home: /usr/local/tomcat8 tomcat base: /path/to/my/catalina/base java env vars: catalina_base=/path/to/my/catalina/base 

... if don't, catalina_base set /users/me/library/caches/intellijidea13/tomcat/unnamed_demo_app, seems non-working clone of real catalina base , 404's everywhere. may red herring here, or key mystery.

extra, useless info

here's relevant (but uninteresting) output in idea.log:

info - ij.compiler.impl.compiledriver - compilation started (build process) info - j.compiler.server.buildmanager - builder_process [stdout]: build process started. classpath: /applications/intellij idea 13.app/lib/jps-launcher.jar:/library/java/javavirtualmachines/jdk1.8.0_31.jdk/contents/home/lib/tools.jar:/applications/intellij idea 13.app/lib/optimizedfilemanager.jar:/applications/intellij idea 13.app/lib/ecj-4.3.2.jar info - lij.compiler.impl.compilerutil -   compilation finished (build process); errors: 0; warnings: 0 took 3709 ms: 0 min 3sec 

the app configured war deployments, custom catalina base containing stock conf/server.xml , conf/web.xml, , various 3rd party libraries provided in lib.

here's pom:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/pom/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/xmlschema-instance"     xsi:schemalocation="http://maven.apache.org/pom/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">     <modelversion>4.0.0</modelversion>      <groupid>com.example</groupid>     <artifactid>myapp</artifactid>     <version>0.1-beta</version>     <packaging>war</packaging>      <properties>         <spring-boot-version>1.2.1.release</spring-boot-version>         <spring-version>4.1.4.release</spring-version>     </properties>      <parent>         <groupid>org.springframework.boot</groupid>         <artifactid>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactid>         <version>1.2.1.release</version>     </parent>      <dependencies>         <dependency>             <groupid>org.springframework.boot</groupid>             <artifactid>spring-boot-starter-thymeleaf</artifactid>             <version>${spring-boot-version}</version>             <scope>provided</scope>         </dependency>         <dependency>             <groupid>org.springframework.boot</groupid>             <artifactid>spring-boot-starter-security</artifactid>             <version>${spring-boot-version}</version>             <scope>provided</scope>         </dependency>         <dependency>             <groupid>org.springframework.boot</groupid>             <artifactid>spring-boot-starter-data-jpa</artifactid>             <version>${spring-boot-version}</version>             <scope>provided</scope>         </dependency>          <dependency>             <groupid>mysql</groupid>             <artifactid>mysql-connector-java</artifactid>             <version>5.1.34</version>             <scope>provided</scope>         </dependency>         <dependency>             <groupid>org.webjars</groupid>             <artifactid>dojo</artifactid>             <version>1.10.0</version>             <scope>provided</scope>         </dependency>         <dependency>             <!-- equals/hash/tostring builder -->             <groupid>org.apache.commons</groupid>             <artifactid>commons-lang3</artifactid>             <version>3.0.1</version>             <scope>provided</scope>         </dependency>         <dependency>             <!-- spring/mail integration -->             <groupid>javax.mail</groupid>             <artifactid>mail</artifactid>             <version>1.4.7</version>             <scope>provided</scope>         </dependency>         <dependency>             <!-- spring/mail integration -->             <groupid>org.springframework</groupid>             <artifactid>spring-context-support</artifactid>             <version>${spring-version}</version>             <scope>provided</scope>         </dependency>         <dependency>             <!-- connection pooling -->             <groupid>com.zaxxer</groupid>             <artifactid>hikaricp</artifactid>             <version>2.3.5</version>             <scope>provided</scope>         </dependency>     </dependencies>  </project> 

i'm not sure worth telling issue otherwise, though doesn't feel i've provided useful. add comment if there's info should add.

i guessing using maven plugin.

by default, src/main/resources folder added application classpath when run application , duplicate found in target/classes removed. allows hot refreshing of resources can useful when developing web applications. example, can work on html, css or javascipt files , see changes without recompiling application. helpful way of allowing front end developers work without needing download , install java ide.

if can start application right idea (just run main class) that. otherwise, disable feature configuring plugin:

<build>   ...   <plugins>     ...     <plugin>       <groupid>org.springframework.boot</groupid>       <artifactid>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactid>       <version>1.2.3.release</version>       <configuration>         <addresources>false</addresources>       </configuration>     </plugin>     ...   </plugins>   ... </build> 

http://docs.spring.io/spring-boot/docs/current/maven-plugin/usage.html