How to Install Tomcat in Ubuntu

This updated guide examines How to Install Tomcat in Ubuntu and organizes the essential facts, background, and practical takeaways in clear American English.

Part 1of 2:

Setting Up Tomcat

1. Open a Terminal window on your Ubuntu machine. Click the Dash icon on the top-left, and click Terminal on the app list to open the Terminal.
   • Alternatively, pressCtrl+Alt+Ton your keyboard to open the Terminal.
2. Typesudo apt-get updatein Terminal. This command will update all your repositories, and make sure you have the latest software versions for new installations.
3. Press?Enteror?Returnon your keyboard. This will run the command, and update your repositories.
4. Runsudo apt-get install default-jdkin Terminal. This will install the latest version of the official Java Development Kit on your computer.
   • Type or paste the command, and press?Enteror?Returnto run it.
   • You'll need Java installed on your computer to install and set up Tomcat.
   • If you already have Java installed, this will update it to the latest version.
   • You can skip this step if you already have the latest Java version installed.
5. Runsudo useradd -r -m -U -d /opt/tomcat -s /bin/false tomcatin Terminal. This will create a new system user, and group with home directoryopt/tomcatto run the Tomcat service.
   • You cannot run the Tomcat service under the root user for your server's security purposes.
6. Open the Tomcat website in your internet browser. Type or paste http://tomcat.apache.org into your browser's address bar, and press?Enteror?Returnon your keyboard.
7. Click the Tomcat version you want under "Download" on the left sidebar. You'll find the available Tomcat version on a navigation menu on the left-hand side of the page. You can select Tomcat 9 or another version here.
   • If you want to see which versions are compatible with your system, click Which version? under the Download heading here.
8. Right-click the bluetar.gzlink under the "Core" heading. This will open your right-click options on a drop-down menu.
9. ClickCopy Link Addressfrom the right-click menu. You can directly install Tomcat with the TAR file's link address here.
10. Typewgetinto the Terminal. This will allow you to download the latest version of Tomcat to your computer from the official download link.
    • Replacewith the link address you copied from the official Apache Tomcat website.
    • If you're located in the US, you can usehttps://www-us.apache.org/dist/tomcat/tomcat-9/v9.0.21/bin/apache-tomcat-9.0.21.tar.gzas the link address.
    • If you're in Europe, you can usehttps://www-eu.apache.org/dist/tomcat/tomcat-9/v9.0.21/bin/apache-tomcat-9.0.21.tar.gzas the link address.
11. Press?Enteror?Return. This will run the download command, and download Tomcat on your computer.
12. Runsudo tar xf /tmp/apache-tomcat-9*.tar.gz -C /opt/tomcat. Once your download is complete, run this command to extract the downloaded TAR file's contents, and move the files to theopt/tomcatdirectory.
    • Make sure to replace the version number in "tomcat-9*.tar.gz" with the Tomcat version you download.
13. Runsudo nano /etc/systemd/system/tomcat.service. This will create a new file named "tomcat.service," and allow you to edit its contents with your default text editor.
14. Paste the following configuration into thetomcat.servicefile.
    • Make sure to set "JAVA_HOME" to your system's Java directory in the following code.

    [Unit]Description=ApacheTomcatWebApplicationContainerAfter=network.target[Service]Type=forkingEnvironment=JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-1.11.0-openjdk-amd64Environment=CATALINA_PID=/opt/tomcat/temp/tomcat.pidEnvironment=CATALINA_HOME=/opt/tomcatEnvironment=CATALINA_BASE=/opt/tomcatEnvironment='CATALINA_OPTS=-Xms512M-Xmx1024M-server-XX:+UseParallelGC'Environment='JAVA_OPTS=-Djava.awt.headless=true-Djava.security.egd=file:/dev/./urandom'ExecStart=/opt/tomcat/bin/startup.shExecStop=/opt/tomcat/bin/shutdown.shUser=tomcatGroup=tomcatUMask=0007RestartSec=10Restart=always[Install]WantedBy=multi-user.target

Part 2of 2:

Starting Tomcat Service

1. Runsudo systemctl daemon-reloadin Terminal. This will reload the SystemD deamon, and find your new service file.
2. Run thesudo ufw allow 8080command (optional). If your server is protected by a firewall, run this command in Terminal to allow traffic on port 8080.
   • This will allow you to access the Tomcat interface from outside of your local network.
3. Run thesystemctl enable tomcatcommand (optional). If you run this command, Tomcat service will automatically start on system boot.
4. Runsudo systemctl start tomcatin Terminal. This will start the Tomcat service on your server.
   • You can use thesudo systemctl status tomcatcommand to verify the service status.
   • You can now test Tomcat in your internet browser at http://ip-address:8080. Just change "ip-address" with your system's default IP address in the link.