Deploying Applications on Apache Tomcat – Different Ways & Automation

Apache Tomcat is one of the most popular Java application servers used to deploy Java web applications. In this guide, we will explore various ways to deploy WAR (Web Application Archive) files, other file types, and automate the deployment process for efficiency. 🏗️🔥

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✅ Different Types of Files That Can Be Deployed in Tomcat

While WAR files are the most commonly deployed, Tomcat also supports:

1️⃣ WAR (Web Application Archive) Files 📂

• The standard format for deploying Java web applications.
• Contains servlets, JSPs, static resources, and configuration files.

2️⃣ EAR (Enterprise Archive) Files 🏢

• Not natively supported by Tomcat (requires JEE-compliant servers like JBoss or WebLogic).
• Can be used with additional configurations or third-party plugins.

3️⃣ JAR (Java Archive) Files 🏗️

• Used for shared libraries, plugins, and extensions in Tomcat.
• Placed inside lib/ directory to be accessible by applications.

4️⃣ Static Files (HTML, CSS, JS, Images) 🎨

• Tomcat can serve static files placed inside the webapps/ROOT/ directory.
• Used for front-end applications without server-side logic.

5️⃣ XML Configuration Files ⚙️

• Used to define contexts (context.xml), security constraints, and other server settings.

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✅ Different Ways to Deploy Applications on Tomcat

1️⃣ Deploy via Web UI (Manager App) 🌐

Tomcat provides a Manager App for easy deployment through a web interface.

📌 Steps:

1. Start Tomcat and navigate to:http://localhost:8080/manager/html
2. Log in (default credentials: admin / password, change it for security!).
3. Scroll to WAR file to deploy section.
4. Click Choose File, select your myapp.war, and click Deploy.

💡 Pros: Simple, no need for server access. 💡 Cons: Requires manual upload each time.

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2️⃣ Deploy via webapps/ Directory (Auto-Deploy) 📂

Simply place your WAR file inside the webapps/ directory, and Tomcat will deploy it automatically.

📌 Steps:

cp myapp.war /opt/tomcat/webapps/

Tomcat will extract the WAR file into a folder (/opt/tomcat/webapps/myapp) and deploy it.

💡 Pros: Fast and automatic. 💡 Cons: Requires file system access.

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3️⃣ Deploy via server.xml (Context Deployment) ⚙️

Define the application context manually inside server.xml.

📌 Steps:

1. Open conf/server.xml and add:

<Context path="/myapp" docBase="/opt/tomcat/myapp" reloadable="true"/>

2. Place your application files inside /opt/tomcat/myapp/.
3. Restart Tomcat:

./bin/shutdown.sh && ./bin/startup.sh

💡 Pros: Gives more control over deployment. 💡 Cons: Requires a restart for changes to apply.

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4️⃣ Deploy Using context.xml (Per-Application Context) 🔧

Instead of modifying server.xml, you can use context.xml inside META-INF/ of the WAR file.

📌 Steps:

1. Inside your WAR file, create META-INF/context.xml:

<Context reloadable="true"/> 

2. Tomcat will detect and apply configurations when deploying the WAR.

💡 Pros: Cleaner approach without modifying server files. 💡 Cons: Limited to application-level settings.

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5️⃣ Deploy via Tomcat Manager CLI 💻

Tomcat provides a command-line tool to deploy applications remotely.

📌 Steps:

curl -u admin:password -X PUT --upload-file myapp.war "http://localhost:8080/manager/text/deploy?path=/myapp"

💡 Pros: Enables remote deployment. 💡 Cons: Requires authentication setup.

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🤖 Automating Deployment in Tomcat

🏗️ 1. Automate Deployment with CI/CD (Jenkins) ⚡

Automate deployments using Jenkins and Tomcat.

📌 Steps:

1. Install Jenkins and configure the Tomcat Deploy Plugin.
2. Set up a Jenkins job to build and deploy the WAR file.
3. Add the following script in Jenkins:

scp target/myapp.war user@yourserver:/opt/tomcat/webapps/

4. Restart Tomcat for updates:

ssh user@yourserver "sudo systemctl restart tomcat"

💡 Pros: Fully automated. 💡 Cons: Requires Jenkins setup.

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🔄 2. Automate with Ansible 🛠️

Ansible can automate deployments across multiple Tomcat servers.

📌 Sample Playbook (deploy-tomcat.yml):

- hosts: tomcat_servers
  tasks:
    - name: Copy WAR file
      copy:
        src: myapp.war
        dest: /opt/tomcat/webapps/
    - name: Restart Tomcat
      service:
        name: tomcat
        state: restarted

Run it with:

ansible-playbook -i inventory deploy-tomcat.yml

💡 Pros: Ideal for deploying to multiple servers. 💡 Cons: Requires Ansible setup.

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🎯 Summary: Best Deployment Methods ✅

✔️ Web UI Manager → Best for quick manual deployment.
✔️ Auto-Deploy (webapps/) → Best for simple file-based deployment.
✔️ Context Deployment (server.xml) → Best for customized configuration.
✔️ Tomcat Manager CLI → Best for remote deployments.
✔️ CI/CD (Jenkins, Ansible) → Best for fully automated deployments.

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