Tomcat Web Server

Install Tomcat server

• Download latest zip file of Tomcat Server from its official website http://tomcat.apache.org

• Unzip downloaded apache-tomcat-9.x.zip file into c:\program files\java folder. It will create c:\program files\java\apache-tomcat-9.x folder.

• Unzipped Tomcat directory will have following folder structure. It is important that you should know what each directory does:

It is important that you should know what each directory does:

1. 1. \bin: It contains shell scripts and batch files that used to start and stop the server.

   2. \conf: It contains global and server configuration XML files. It also contains user authentication setting.

   3. \lib: It contains common jar files those are used by all deployed web applications.

   4. \logs: It contains log files. Server errors are recorded in these log files.

   5. \webapps: All web applications are deployed in this folder. Tomcat may have multiple web applications. For each web application \webapps folder contains a separate folder. A web application contains JSP, Servlet, HTML, Images, JavaScript, and other files.

   6. \work: It contains temporary files those are used to execute a JSP file.

• Make sure that JAVA_HOME environment variable point to your JDK home director. Please refer J2EE Environment Setup

• Congratulation now your server is ready to start.

• Go to .\bin folder and run startup.bat ( startup.sh in case of Unix/Linux) file. A command line window will be opened with information messages. It will show port 8080 in a message when the server is started.

• Now time to test your server. Open a browser and enter URL http://localhost:8080. If a page is displayed with a TOMCAT logo then your server is successfully started.

Structure of a Web Application

A web application is deployed in \webapps folder of Tomcat. As per J2EE specifications, when a web application is deployed it will have following standard directory structure.

Steps to Deploy a Web Application

Before you assemble the application components, you must define the directory structure for the application. To do so:

1. Create a root directory with an appropriate name for the application, say \onlineresult

2. In the root directory \onlineresult, create the following directory structure.

   • \onlineresult :

     • Application JSP, HTML, JavaScript, Images, and Applet files

     • \WEB-INF

       • web.xml : application configuration file

       • \classes : contains all compiled servlets and java classes

       • \lib : contains library jars like Database Driver and JAVA Mail API jars.

3. Now start your Tomcat server.

4. Open a browser and enter url http://localhost:8080/onlineresult/index.html. You will see your page.

A special directory exists within the application hierarchy named “WEB-INF”. It is important to note that the WEB-INF directory is not part of the public document tree of the application. A browser can not access any document from URL that exists within WEB-INF directory.

WEB-INF contains

• /WEB-INF/web.xml deployment descriptor, configures application.

• /WEB-INF/classes/* directory for servlet and utility classes. The classes in this directory are used by the application.

• /WEB-INF/lib/* contains library jars like database driver. All such archive files are used by the web application class loader to load classes from.

FAQ

Q: How do you start and stop Tomcat server?

Ans: Using .\bin\startup.bat and .\bin\shutdown.bat.

Q: Where do you deploy your application in Tomcat?

Ans: We deploy web application as war or exploded format in .\webapps folder.

Q: What is WAR file?

Ans: WAR is stands for Web-application ARchive. These files are simply zipped files using the java jar tool. It is used to distribute a collection of JSP, Servlets, classes, XML files, tag libraries, static web pages (HTML and related files) and other resources that together make a web application.

Q: What is the default port number of Tomcat server?

Ans: 8080.

Q: What is the configuration file of Tomcat?

Ans: Configuration file is .\conf\server.xml. You can configure port number, HTTPS protocol and other server optimization parameters in this file.

Q: How can you change the default port of Tomcat server?

Ans: Modify .\conf\server.xml and change port number in

<Connector port="8080" protocol="HTTP/1.1" tag.

Q: What is the deployment folder structure of a web application in Tomcat Server?

Ans: See above 'Structure of Web Application'.

Q: How do you configure data connection pool in Tomcat?

Ans: Using <datasource> tag in web.xml file.