Install Tomcat 6 on CentOS or RHEL

This post will cover installation and configuration of Tomcat 6 on CentOS 5.

We will also show how to run Tomcat as a service, create a start/stop script, and configure Tomcat to run under a non-
root user.

This post has been updated for Tomcat 6.0.32.

This post below will work with any Tomcat 6.x version, but I have been keeping it updated to keep the links consistent
and to make it as "copying-and-paste" as possible.

If you are looking for our tutorial on installing Tomcat 7 on CentOS/RHEL, you can find it here.

This installation of Tomcat 6.0.32 was done on CentOS 5.5, but any CentOS 5.x should work, as well as RHEL and Fedora.

If you do not already have the Java Development Kit (JDK) installed on your machine, you will need to download and
install the required JDK for your platform.

If you do have the JDK installed, you can skip to: Step 2: Download and Install the Tomcat 6.0.32:

Step 1: Install the JDK

You can download the JDK here: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html

I'm using the latest, which is JDK 6, update 24. The JDK is specific to 32 and 64 bit versions.

My CentOS box is 64 bit, so I'll need: jdk-6u24-linux-x64.bin.

If you are on 32 bit, you'll need: jdk-6u24-linux-i586.bin

Download the appropriate JDK and save it to a directory. I'm saving it to /root.

Move (mv) or copy (cp) the file to the /opt directory:

[root@blanche ~]# mv jdk-6u24-linux-x64.bin /opt/jdk-6u24-linux-x64.bin

Create a new directory /usr/java.

[root@blanche ~]# mkdir /usr/java

Change to the /usr/java directory we created and install the JDK using 'sh /opt/jdk-6u24-linux-x64.bin'

[root@blanche ~]# cd /usr/java

[root@blanche java]# sh /opt/jdk-6u24-linux-x64.bin

To set it for your current session, you can issue the following from the CLI:

[root@blanche java]# JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/jdk1.6.0_24

[root@blanche java]# export JAVA_HOME

[root@blanche java]# PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH

[root@blanche java]# export PATH

To set the JAVA_HOME for users, we add below to the user ~/.bashrc or ~/.bash_profile of the user. We can also add it
/etc/profile and then source it to give to all users.

JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/jdk1.6.0_24

export JAVA_HOME

PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH

export PATH

Once you have added the above to ~/.bash_profile or ~/.bashrc, you should log out, then log back in and check that the
JAVA_HOME is set correctly.

[root@blanche ~]# echo $JAVA_HOME

/usr/java/jdk1.6.0_24

Step 2: Download and Install Tomcat 6.0.32:

Download apache-tomcat-6.0.32.tar.gz here

Save the file to a directory. I'm saving it to /root/apache-tomcat-6.0.32.tar.gz

Before proceeding, you should verify the MD5 Checksum for your Tomcat download (or any other download).

Since we saved the Tomcat download to /root/apache-tomcat-6.0.32.tar.gz, we'll go to the /root directory and use the
md5sum command.

[root@blanche ~]# md5sum apache-tomcat-6.0.32.tar.gz

082a0707985b6c029920d4d6d5ec11cd

Compare the output above to the MD5 Checksum provided by the Apache Tomcat MD5 page and insure that they match
exactly. (There is also a link to display the MD5 checksum located just to the right off the download link).
Now, move (mv) or copy (cp) the file to the /usr/share directory:

[root@blanche ~]# mv apache-tomcat-6.0.32.tar.gz /usr/share/apache-tomcat-6.0.32.tar.gz

Change to the /usr/share directory and unpack the file using tar -xzf:

[root@blanche ~]# cd /usr/share

[root@sv2 blanche ]# tar -xzf apache-tomcat-6.0.32.tar.gz

This will create the directory /usr/share/apache-tomcat-6.0.32

At this point, you could start Tomcat via the Tomcat bin directory using the Tomcat startup.sh script located at
/usr/share/apache-tomcat-6.0.32/bin.

[root@blanche share]# cd /usr/share/apache-tomcat-6.0.32/bin

[root@blanche bin]# ./startup.sh

Step 3: How to Run Tomcat as a Service.

We will now see how to run Tomcat as a service and create a simple Start/Stop/Restart script, as well as to start Tomcat
at boot.

Change to the /etc/init.d directory and create a script called 'tomcat' as shown below.

[root@blanche share]# cd /etc/init.d

[root@blanche init.d]# vi tomcat

view plaincopy to clipboardprint?

#!/bin/bash
# description: Tomcat Start Stop Restart
# processname: tomcat
# chkconfig: 234 20 80
JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/jdk1.6.0_24
export JAVA_HOME
PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH
export PATH
CATALINA_HOME=/usr/share/apache-tomcat-6.0.32
case $1 in
start)
sh $CATALINA_HOME/bin/startup.sh
;;
stop)
sh $CATALINA_HOME/bin/shutdown.sh
;;
restart)

sh $CATALINA_HOME/bin/shutdown.sh
sh $CATALINA_HOME/bin/startup.sh
;;
esac
exit 0
The above script is simple and contains all of the basic elements you will need to get going.

As you can see, we are simply calling the startup.sh and shutdown.sh scripts located in the Tomcat bin directory
(/usr/share/apache-tomcat-6.0.32/bin).

You can adjust your script according to your needs and, in subsequent posts, we'll look at additional examples.

CATALINA_HOME is the Tomcat home directory (/usr/share/apache-tomcat-6.0.32)

Now, set the permissions for your script to make it executable:

[root@blanche init.d]# chmod 755 tomcat

We now use the chkconfig utility to have Tomcat start at boot time. In my script above, I am using chkconfig: 244 20 80.
2445 are the run levels and 20 and 80 are the stop and start priorities respectively. You can adjust as needed.

[root@blanche init.d]# chkconfig --add tomcat

[root@blanche init.d]# chkconfig --level 234 tomcat on

Verify it:

[root@blanche init.d]# chkconfig --list tomcat

tomcat 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:off 6:off

Now, let's test our script.

Start Tomcat:

[root@blanche ~]# service tomcat start

Using CATALINA_BASE: /usr/share/apache-tomcat-6.0.32

Using CATALINA_HOME: /usr/share/apache-tomcat-6.0.32

Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: /usr/share/apache-tomcat-6.0.32/temp

Using JRE_HOME: /usr/java/jdk1.6.0_24

Using CLASSPATH: /usr/share/apache-tomcat-6.0.32/bin/bootstrap.jar

Stop Tomcat:

[root@blanche ~]# service tomcat stop

Using CATALINA_BASE: /usr/share/apache-tomcat-6.0.32

Using CATALINA_HOME: /usr/share/apache-tomcat-6.0.32

Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: /usr/share/apache-tomcat-6.0.32/temp

Using JRE_HOME: /usr/java/jdk1.6.0_24

Using CLASSPATH: /usr/share/apache-tomcat-6.0.32/bin/bootstrap.jar

[root@blanche ~]# service tomcat restart

Using CATALINA_BASE: /usr/share/apache-tomcat-6.0.32

Using CATALINA_HOME: /usr/share/apache-tomcat-6.0.32

Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: /usr/share/apache-tomcat-6.0.32/temp

Using JRE_HOME: /usr/java/jdk1.6.0_24

Using CLASSPATH: /usr/share/apache-tomcat-6.0.32/bin/bootstrap.jar

Using CATALINA_BASE: /usr/share/apache-tomcat-6.0.32

Using CATALINA_HOME: /usr/share/apache-tomcat-6.0.32

Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: /usr/share/apache-tomcat-6.0.32/temp

Using JRE_HOME: /usr/java/jdk1.6.0_24

Using CLASSPATH: /usr/share/apache-tomcat-6.0.32/bin/bootstrap.jar

We should review the Catalina.out log located at /usr/share/apache-tomcat-6.0.32/logs/catalina.out and check for any
errors.

[root@blanche init.d]# less /usr/share/apache-tomcat-6.0.32/logs/catalina.out

We can now access the Tomcat Manager page at:

http://yourdomain.com:8080 or http://yourIPaddress:8080 and we should see the Tomcat home page.