Apache Tomcat Installation

This chapter provides a step-by-step guide on how to correctly install Apache Tomcat on a web server.

 

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•If you have not installed Java Development Kit 11 (64bit) at this point, cancel Apache Tomcat installation and first install Java. Consider chapter Java for detailed information.

•VertiGIS recommends not to use the local system account for security reasons for the Tomcat Windows service, but an account with much less system rights.

 

Start the Apache Tomcat setup by double-clicking the *.exe file downloaded before. After accepting the License Agreement the components to be installed with the setup have to be selected. Be sure to check Service Startup under the node Tomcat.

 

Apache Tomcat setup - select Service Startup

Apache Tomcat setup - select Service Startup

 

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On productive machines, the Apache Tomcat Manager should only be installed after consultation with the customer, because it is often considered as a security risk.

 

Optional (if the Manager item was selected in the previous installation step):

Define a Tomcat Administrator account to log-in to the Tomcat Manager.

 

Apache Tomcat setup - set Tomcat Administrator account

Apache Tomcat setup - set Tomcat Administrator account

 

Apache Tomcat MUST point to the Java JDK directory installed before!

 

Apache Tomcat - set Java path to installed JDK

Apache Tomcat - set Java path to installed JDK

 

It is recommended to install Tomcat in a directory directly under your drive root and without any version information in the directory name (Choose C:\Tomcat instead of C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat 9.0). This way you will not have to change any directory names if Tomcat gets upgraded to another higher version.

 

Apache Tomcat setup - recommended installation directory

Apache Tomcat setup - recommended installation directory

 

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The reason for not installing it to the Program Files folder is based on the user profile and rights management of operating systems (especially Windows Server 2008 R2). Because of security guidelines some OS will restrict write access to the Program Files folder and redirect to the user profile directory (even for local administrators!). This way a project configuration saved by WebOffice author will not be published in projects folder.

 

If you want to install Apache Tomcat in your Program Files folder by any reason, you have to ensure that WebOffice author is installed for every user (see chapter WebOffice author (Administrative Computer) for details) and that ArcMap is always executed as administrator. Problems concerning read and write access on the WebOffice 10.9 R4 web application if Tomcat is installed in Program Files folder are not in reach of VertiGIS GmbH.

 

Optional (if Apache Tomcat Manager is installed):

After the Apache Tomcat installation please test the installation by entering https://<server name>[:<port>]/manager/html/ (e.g. http://localhost:8080/manager/html) into your browser and log-in with your user name and password.

 

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Tomcat Manager may only be reached via Localhost by default, but not via the server name. To also access Tomcat Manager via the server name (http://<myserver>:8080/manager/html) the privileges in the file <Tomcat>\webapps\manager\META-INF\context.xml have to be adopted by specifying the IP address of the machine which should be able to access Tomcat Manager:

<Context antiResourceLocking='false privileged='true' >

 <Valve className='org.apache.catalina.valves.RemoteAddrValve'

        allow='<IP address>/>

</Context>

 

Testing the Apache Tomcat installation

Testing the Apache Tomcat installation