Install Tomcat 6 in Debian

This article outlines a procedure for installing Tomcat 6 in Debian Lenny. Keep in mind that this does not include Apache 2 installation or integration. Apache must be installed separately and integrated to work with Tomcat.

Add following line in sources list-

nano /etc/apt/sources.list

deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ squeeze non-free
 

Update and install java

apt-get update
apt-get install sun-java6-jdk sun-java6-jre libtcnative-1

Ensure installed

java -version

Set JAVA_HOME

nano ~/.bashrc

Add the following at the end of the file:

export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun

Download Tomcat 6 – Note: get the cores tar.gz

cd /tmp
wget http://apache.promopeddler.com/.../bin/apache-tomcat-6.0.20.tar.gz

Unzip package and move to permanant location

tar -zxvf apache-tomcat.....tar.gz
mv apache-tomcat-6.0.20/ /usr/local/tomcat

Create tomcat Group/user

groupadd tomcat
useradd -g tomcat -d /usr/local/tomcat tomcat
usermod -G www-data tomcat

Create the INIT File for Tomcat

nano /etc/init.d/tomcat

Add the following text and save:

# Tomcat auto-start
# description: Auto-starts tomcat
# processname: tomcat
# pidfile: /var/run/tomcat.pid
export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun
case $1 in
start)
  sh /usr/local/tomcat/bin/startup.sh
  ;;
stop)  
  sh /usr/local/tomcat/bin/shutdown.sh
  ;;
restart)
  sh /usr/local/tomcat/bin/shutdown.sh
  sh /usr/local/tomcat/bin/startup.sh
  ;;
esac   
exit 0

Adjust permissions

chmod 755 /etc/init.d/tomcat

Add for auto-start on boot

update-rc.d tomcat defaults

Modify the default users file

nano /usr/local/tomcat/conf/tomcat-users.xml

Change to look like the following:
 

Restart tomcat

/etc/init.d/tomcat restart

Test Admin Interface

http://localhost:8080/manager/html/list

Enter username/password as shown above

admin
YOURTOMCATPASS