How to Install Apache Tomcat 9 on Ubuntu 18.04 & 16.04 LTS

Apache Tomcat is another product released by the Apache Software Foundation. It is an open-source implementation of the Java Servlet and JavaServer Pages (JSP) technologies. Tomcat is a web server used for hosting the Java-based web application. Apache Tomcat team has announced its latest Tomcat 9 release.

This article helps you to install Tomcat 9 on Ubuntu 19.10, 18.04 LTS & 16.04 LTS systems.

Step 1 – Java Installation

You must have Java installed on the system before installing Apache Tomcat on a Linux VPS. Tomcat 9 required Java 8 or later versions to work. You can check and verify that Java is installed with the right version.

java -version

java version "11.0.2" 2019-01-15 LTS
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment 18.9 (build 11.0.2+9-LTS)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM 18.9 (build 11.0.2+9-LTS, mixed mode)

If you don’t have Java installed on your system or installed a lower version, run the below commands to satisfy requirements.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install default-jdk

Step 2 – Download & Install Tomcat 9

You need to download the Tomcat archive from its official download website or mirrors. Download and Install the Tomcat 9 archive file using the following commands. You can also visit official download page to download latest available version.

wget https://dlcdn.apache.org/tomcat/tomcat-9/v9.0.58/bin/apache-tomcat-9.0.58.tar.gz
tar xzf apache-tomcat-9.0.58.tar.gz
sudo mv apache-tomcat-9.0.58 /usr/local/tomcat9

Step 3 – Configure Environment Variables

Now configure the required environment variables for the Tomcat. Set CATALINA_HOME to the extracted tomcat directory. Also, set Java environment variables as per Java installed on your system.

echo "export CATALINA_HOME="/usr/local/tomcat9"" >> ~/.bashrc
echo "export JAVA_HOME="/usr/lib/jvm/java-11-oracle"" >> ~/.bashrc
echo "export JRE_HOME="/usr/lib/jvm/java-11-oracle"" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Step 4 – Setup Tomcat User Accounts

Finally we need to create user accounts to secure and access admin/manager pages. Edit conf/tomcat-users.xml file in your editor and paste inside <tomcat-users> </tomcat-users> tags.

<!-- user manager can access only manager section -->
<role rolename="manager-gui" />
<user username="manager" password="_SECRET_PASSWORD_" roles="manager-gui" />

<!-- user admin can access manager and admin section both -->
<role rolename="admin-gui" />
<user username="admin" password="_SECRET_PASSWORD_" roles="manager-gui,admin-gui" />

Step 5 – Enable Host/Manager for Remote IP

The default manager and host-manager web pages are enabled to access from localhost only. To access these pages from the remote system, you have to allow your IP or IP range in the application-specific context.xml file.

Manager File: ./webapps/manager/META-INF/context.xml
Host Manager File: ./webapps/host-manager/META-INF/context.xml

Edit the above files and add your IP address like the screenshot. After making changes restart Tomcat service.

Step 6 – Starting Tomcat Service

Tomcat is very easy to use, There is no need to compile its source. You simply extract the archive and start the tomcat server. Tomcat by default start on port 8080, So make sure no other application using the same port.

cd /usr/local/apache-tomcat9
chmod +x ./bin/startup.sh
./bin/startup.sh

[Sample Output]

Using CATALINA_BASE:   /usr/local/tomcat9
Using CATALINA_HOME:   /usr/local/tomcat9
Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: /usr/local/tomcat9/temp
Using JRE_HOME:        /usr/lib/jvm/java-11-oracle
Using CLASSPATH:       /usr/local/tomcat9/bin/bootstrap.jar:/usr/local/tomcat9/bin/tomcat-juli.jar
Tomcat started.

Step 7 – Access Tomcat in Browser

Tomcat server default works on port 8080. Access tomcat in the web browser by connecting your server on port 8080.

Access Tomcat Home- This is default home screen of tomcat 9. There are no authentication required to access this page..

http://localhost:8080 

Access Manager App- Click on Manager App link displayed on home page.This page is allowed for Admin and Manager access both.

http://localhost:8080/manager/html 

Access Host Manager Page:- Click on the Host Manager link on your Tomcat home.This page is allowed for Admin access only.

http://localhost:8080/host-manager/html