jetty · sbordet · Oct 1, 2025 · Sep 19, 2025 · Sep 29, 2025
diff --git a/documentation/jetty/modules/operations-guide/pages/deploy/index.adoc b/documentation/jetty/modules/operations-guide/pages/deploy/index.adoc
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ However, you can configure the `deployment-scanner` module to deploy web applica
 [[monitored-directories]]
 == Monitored Directories
 
-The `deployment-scanner` module scans the web applications deploy directory specified by the `jetty.deploy.webappsDir` property, by default `$JETTY_BASE/webapps`, for web applications to deploy.
+The `deployment-scanner` module scans the web applications deploy directory (or directories) specified by the `jetty.deploy.webappsDir` property, by default `$JETTY_BASE/webapps`, for web applications to deploy.
 
 The directory specified by the `jetty.deploy.environmentsDir` property, by default `$JETTY_BASE/environments`, is also scanned for configuration files that apply to each environment, and therefore to all web applications deployed to that environment.
 
@@ -811,4 +811,4 @@ The format of the additional `web.xml` is exactly the same as a standard `web.xm
 </web-app>
 ----
 
-In the example above, you configured the `my-servlet` Servlet (defined in the web application `web.xml`), adding a host-specific `init-param` with the IP address of the host.
+In the example above, you configured the `my-servlet` Servlet (defined in the web application `web.xml`), adding a host-specific `init-param` with the IP address of the host.
diff --git a/documentation/jetty/modules/operations-guide/pages/modules/standard.adoc b/documentation/jetty/modules/operations-guide/pages/modules/standard.adoc
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ include::{jetty-home}/modules/deployment-scanner.mod[tags=documentation]
 Among the configurable properties, the most relevant are:
 
 `jetty.deploy.webappsDir`::
-The name of the directory to deploy web applications.
+The name of the directory, or a comma-separated list of directories, that is scanned to deploy web applications.
 `jetty.deploy.scanInterval`::
 The scan period in seconds, that is how frequently the `DeploymentScanner` wakes up to scan the monitored directories for changes.
 By default, `jetty.deploy.scanInterval=0` so that _hot_ deployment is disabled and only _cold_ deployment is possible (see also xref:deploy/index.adoc#hot-cold[here] for more information).

diff --git a/jetty-core/jetty-deploy/src/main/config/etc/jetty-deployment-scanner.xml b/jetty-core/jetty-deploy/src/main/config/etc/jetty-deployment-scanner.xml
@@ -15,18 +15,16 @@
       <New id="deploymentScanner" class="org.eclipse.jetty.deploy.DeploymentScanner">
         <Arg name="server"><Ref refid="Server"/></Arg>
         <Arg name="deployer"><Ref refid="Deployer"/></Arg>
-        <Call name="addWebappsDirectory">
-          <Arg>
-            <Call name="resolvedPath" class="org.eclipse.jetty.xml.XmlConfiguration">
-              <Arg>
-                <Property name="jetty.base" />
-              </Arg>
-              <Arg>
-                <Property name="jetty.deploy.webappsDir" default="webapps" />
-              </Arg>
-            </Call>
-          </Arg>
-        </Call>
+        <Set name="webappsDirectories">
+          <Call name="csvSplitAndResolvePaths" class="org.eclipse.jetty.xml.XmlConfiguration">
+            <Arg>
+              <Property name="jetty.base" />
+            </Arg>
+            <Arg>
+              <Property name="jetty.deploy.webappsDir" default="webapps" />
+            </Arg>
+          </Call>
+        </Set>
         <Set name="environmentsDirectory">
           <Call name="resolvedPath" class="org.eclipse.jetty.xml.XmlConfiguration">
             <Arg>

diff --git a/jetty-core/jetty-deploy/src/main/config/modules/deployment-scanner.mod b/jetty-core/jetty-deploy/src/main/config/modules/deployment-scanner.mod
@@ -20,15 +20,16 @@ etc/jetty-deployment-scanner.xml
 
 [ini-template]
 #tag::documentation[]
-## The web application deploy directory name (relative to $JETTY_BASE)
+## The web application deploy directory name, or a comma-separated
+## list of directories (absolute paths, or relative to $JETTY_BASE).
 # jetty.deploy.webappsDir=webapps
 
-## The environments directory name (relative to $JETTY_BASE).
+## The environments directory name (absolute path, or relative to $JETTY_BASE).
 ## This is where environment specific configuration files are stored.
 # jetty.deploy.environmentsDir=environments
 
 ## Monitored directories scan period (seconds).
-## This applies to both the webappsDir and environmentsDir
+## This applies to both the webappsDir and environmentsDir.
 ## The value of 0 (default) disables hot deploy/redeploy/undeploy.
 ## Positive values enable hot deploy/redeploy/undeploy.
 # jetty.deploy.scanInterval=0
@@ -38,4 +39,4 @@ etc/jetty-deployment-scanner.xml
 ## In this way, deploy failures do not fail the Server startup.
 ## Set it to false (default) to have initial scan occur during Server startup.
 # jetty.deploy.deferInitialScan=false
-#end::documentation[]
+#end::documentation[]
diff --git a/jetty-core/jetty-deploy/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/deploy/DeploymentScanner.java b/jetty-core/jetty-deploy/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/deploy/DeploymentScanner.java
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ public class DeploymentScanner extends ContainerLifeCycle implements Scanner.Bul
 
     private final Server server;
     private final FilenameFilter filenameFilter;
-    private final List<Path> webappDirs = new CopyOnWriteArrayList<>();
+    private final List<Path> webappsDirs = new CopyOnWriteArrayList<>();
     private final ContextHandlerFactory contextHandlerFactory;
     private final Map<String, PathsApp> scannedApps = new HashMap<>();
     private final Map<String, Attributes> environmentAttributesMap = new HashMap<>();
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ public void addWebappsDirectory(Path dir)
             LOG.debug("Adding webapps directory: {}", dir);
         if (isStarted())
             throw new IllegalStateException("Unable to add webapps directory while running");
-        webappDirs.add(Objects.requireNonNull(dir));
+        webappsDirs.add(Objects.requireNonNull(dir));
     }
 
     /**
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ public EnvironmentConfig configureEnvironment(String name)
     public void dump(Appendable out, String indent) throws IOException
     {
         Dumpable.dumpObjects(out, indent, this,
-            new DumpableCollection("webappDirs", webappDirs),
+            new DumpableCollection("webappDirs", webappsDirs),
             Dumpable.named("environmentsDir", environmentsDir),
             Dumpable.named("scanInterval", this.scanInterval),
             new DumpableCollection("enabledEnvironments", this.enabledEnvironments),
@@ -376,18 +376,41 @@ public void setEnvironmentsDirectory(Path dir)
 
     /**
      * @return The {@link List} of {@link Path}s scanned for files to deploy.
+     * @deprecated use {@link #getWebappsDirectories()} instead
      */
+    @Deprecated(since = "12.1.2", forRemoval = true)
     public List<Path> getWebappDirectories()
     {
-        return webappDirs;
+        return getWebappsDirectories();
     }
 
+    /**
+     * @return the {@link List} of {@link Path}s that are scanned to deploy web applications
+     */
+    public List<Path> getWebappsDirectories()
+    {
+        return webappsDirs;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @param directories The {@link List} of {@link Path}s scanned for files to deploy.
+     * @deprecated use {@link #setWebappsDirectories(Collection)} instead
+     */
+    @Deprecated(since = "12.1.2", forRemoval = true)
     public void setWebappDirectories(Collection<Path> directories)
+    {
+        setWebappsDirectories(directories);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @param directories the {@link List} of {@link Path}s that are scanned to deploy web applications
+     */
+    public void setWebappsDirectories(Collection<Path> directories)
     {
         if (isStarted())
             throw new IllegalStateException("Unable to add webapp directories while running");
 
-        webappDirs.clear();
+        webappsDirs.clear();
 
         for (Path dir : directories)
         {
@@ -601,7 +624,7 @@ void resetAppState(String name)
     public void scan()
     {
         LOG.info("Performing scan of webapps directories: {}",
-            webappDirs.stream()
+            webappsDirs.stream()
                 .map(Path::toUri)
                 .map(URI::toASCIIString)
                 .collect(Collectors.joining(", ", "[", "]"))
@@ -665,10 +688,10 @@ protected void doStart() throws Exception
                 throw new IllegalStateException("No deployer available");
         }
 
-        if (webappDirs.isEmpty())
+        if (webappsDirs.isEmpty())
             throw new IllegalStateException("No webapps dir specified");
 
-        LOG.info("Deployment monitoring of {} at intervals {}s {}", webappDirs, getScanInterval(), getScanInterval() <= 0 ? "(hot-redeploy disabled)" : "");
+        LOG.info("Deployment monitoring of {} at intervals {}s {}", webappsDirs, getScanInterval(), getScanInterval() <= 0 ? "(hot-redeploy disabled)" : "");
 
         Predicate<Path> validDir = (path) ->
         {
@@ -688,7 +711,7 @@ protected void doStart() throws Exception
         };
 
         List<Path> dirs = new ArrayList<>();
-        for (Path dir : webappDirs)
+        for (Path dir : webappsDirs)
         {
             if (validDir.test(dir))
                 dirs.add(dir);
@@ -767,7 +790,7 @@ private boolean isEnvironmentConfigPath(Path path)
     private boolean isWebappsPath(Path path)
     {
         Path parentDir = path.getParent();
-        for (Path dir : webappDirs)
+        for (Path dir : webappsDirs)
         {
             if (isSameDir(dir, parentDir))
                 return true;
@@ -1052,7 +1075,7 @@ private void stopTracking(PathsApp app)
     @Override
     public String toString()
     {
-        return String.format("%s@%x[webappsDirs=%s]", this.getClass(), hashCode(), webappDirs);
+        return String.format("%s@%x[webappsDirs=%s]", TypeUtil.toShortName(getClass()), hashCode(), webappsDirs);
     }
 
     public record DeployAction(DeployAction.Type type, String name)

diff --git a/jetty-core/jetty-server/src/main/config/modules/debuglog.mod b/jetty-core/jetty-server/src/main/config/modules/debuglog.mod
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ etc/jetty-debuglog.xml
 
 [ini-template]
 #tag::documentation[]
-## Logging directory (relative to $JETTY_BASE)
+## Logging directory (absolute path, or relative to $JETTY_BASE)
 # jetty.debuglog.dir=logs
 
 ## Whether to append to existing file

diff --git a/jetty-core/jetty-server/src/main/config/modules/jaas.mod b/jetty-core/jetty-server/src/main/config/modules/jaas.mod
@@ -13,6 +13,6 @@ deployment-scanner
 etc/jetty-jaas.xml
 
 [ini-template]
-## The file location (relative to $JETTY_BASE) for the
-## JAAS "java.security.auth.login.config" system property
+## The file location (absolute path, or relative to $JETTY_BASE)
+## for the JAAS "java.security.auth.login.config" system property.
 # jetty.jaas.login.conf=etc/login.conf
diff --git a/jetty-core/jetty-server/src/main/config/modules/requestlog.mod b/jetty-core/jetty-server/src/main/config/modules/requestlog.mod
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ jetty.requestlog.dir?=logs
 ## Format string
 # jetty.requestlog.formatString=%{client}a - %u %{dd/MMM/yyyy:HH:mm:ss ZZZ|GMT}t "%r" %s %O "%{Referer}i" "%{User-Agent}i"
 
-## Logging directory (relative to $JETTY_BASE)
+## Logging directory (absolute path, or relative to $JETTY_BASE).
 # jetty.requestlog.dir=logs
 
 ## File path

diff --git a/jetty-core/jetty-server/src/main/config/modules/well-known.mod b/jetty-core/jetty-server/src/main/config/modules/well-known.mod
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ etc/well-known.xml
 
 [ini-template]
 # tag::documentation[]
-## Well Known Directory (relative to $JETTY_BASE if relative path, otherwise it is an absolute path).
+## Well Known Directory (absolute path, or relative to $JETTY_BASE).
 # jetty.wellknown.dir=.well-known
 
 ## Allow contents of the well-known directory to be listed.

diff --git a/jetty-core/jetty-util/src/main/config/modules/console-capture.mod b/jetty-core/jetty-util/src/main/config/modules/console-capture.mod
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ logs/
 
 [ini-template]
 # tag::documentation[]
-## Logging directory (relative to $JETTY_BASE).
+## Logging directory (absolute path, or relative to $JETTY_BASE).
 # jetty.console-capture.dir=./logs
 
 ## Whether to append to existing file.

diff --git a/jetty-core/jetty-xml/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/xml/XmlConfiguration.java b/jetty-core/jetty-xml/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/xml/XmlConfiguration.java
@@ -458,6 +458,22 @@ public static Path resolvedPath(String dir, String destPath)
         return Paths.get(dir).resolve(destPath).normalize();
     }
 
+    /**
+     * <p>Utility method to split a comma-separated list of paths
+     * and resolve them against a directory.</p>
+     *
+     * @param dir the directory (should be a directory reference, does not have to exist)
+     * @param csvList a CSV list of paths (can be relative or absolute, syntax depends
+     * on OS + FileSystem in use, and does not need to exist)
+     * @return a list of resolved and normalized paths
+     */
+    public static List<Path> csvSplitAndResolvePaths(String dir, String csvList)
+    {
+        return Arrays.stream(StringUtil.csvSplit(csvList))
+            .map(s -> resolvedPath(dir, s))
+            .toList();
+    }
+
     private static class JettyXmlConfiguration implements ConfigurationProcessor
     {
         XmlParser.Node _root;

diff --git a/jetty-core/jetty-xml/src/test/java/org/eclipse/jetty/xml/ExampleConfiguration.java b/jetty-core/jetty-xml/src/test/java/org/eclipse/jetty/xml/ExampleConfiguration.java
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 
 import java.net.URL;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.LinkedList;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@ public class ExampleConfiguration extends HashMap<String, Object>
     public int testField1;
     public int testField2;
     public int propValue;
+    private Collection<?> collection;
     @SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
     private List list;
     @SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
@@ -166,6 +168,16 @@ public void call(int[] ia)
         this.ia = ia;
     }
 
+    public Collection<?> getCollection()
+    {
+        return collection;
+    }
+
+    public void setCollection(Collection<?> collection)
+    {
+        this.collection = collection;
+    }
+
     @SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
     public List getList()
     {