Deploying Servlets and JSPs on Tomcat By Abdul Habra

To verify that Tomcat is running, in a browser window go to http://localhost:8080/index.html which will show you a page with Tomcat info and examples.

1.3. Directories

TH has a directory named webapps, this is the default directory for your web applications. Put your .war files in the webapps directory.

2. Deploying Applications Of Servlets Classes

This section will explain how to deploy an application that consists of Servlet classes.

2.1. Creating Classes

Assume that we have:

An application in a package named pack1
The application consists of one Java class C1.java
C1 is a Servlet, i.e. it extends HttpServlet class.
C1 is in the pack1 package.
Compile C1.java to get C1.class

2.2. Deploying In Default Directory

In TH\webapps\ create a directory named ap1
In ap1 create a directory named WEB-INF
In WEB-INF create a directory named classes
In classes create a directory named pack1
By now we have the following path: TH\webapps\ap1\WEB-INF\classes\pack1\
Copy C1.class into pack1 directory.

2.2.1. Running

To test the Servlet, go to this URL in the browser http://localhost:8080/ap1/servlet/pack1.C1

This will run your Servlet. Notice that the use of the word servlet in the URL's path does not correspond to an actual directory.

2.2.2. Note

If the Servlet class did not have a package we would have copied it in TH\webapps\ap1\WEB-INF\classes\ (no pack1 directory), and would run it with the URL http://localhost:8080/ap1/servlet/C1

2.3. Deploying In Any Directory

2.3.1. Preparing Directories

Assume that we want to install the application in a directory named C:\jap1\
In C:\jap1\ create a directory named WEB-INF
In WEB-INF create a directory named classes
In classes create a directory named pack1
By now we have the following path: C:\jap1\WEB-INF\classes\pack1\
Copy C1.class into pack1 directory.

2.3.2. Modifying server.xml

Using a text editor, open the file TH\conf\server.xml
Find the </ContextManager> tag. (Note: this is an end tag)
Directly in the line before it, insert the following:

<Context path="/jap1"
    docBase="c:/jap1"
    crossContext="false"
    debug="0"
    reloadable="true" >
</Context>

Save and close the file.

This tells the server to map requests that start with /jap1 (after the server name and port number) to the directory c:/jap1

2.3.3. Modifying web.xml

Using a text editor, create the file: C:\jap1\WEB-INF\web.xml
Copy the following text into the file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<!DOCTYPE web-app
    PUBLIC "-//Sun Microsystems, Inc.//DTD Web Application 2.2//EN"
    "http://java.sun.com/j2ee/dtds/web-app_2_2.dtd">

<web-app>
  <servlet>
    <servlet-name> localAlias </servlet-name>
    <servlet-class> pack1.C1 </servlet-class>
  </servlet>
  <servlet-mapping>
    <servlet-name> localAlias </servlet-name>
    <url-pattern> /MyServet </url-pattern>
    </servlet-mapping>
</web-app>

Save and close the file.

This tells the server to map requests for /MyServlet to pack1.C1 Servlet class.

Note that the value of the <servlet-name> element, which is localAlias, is arbitrary and is not visible outside the web.xml file.

2.3.4. Running

To test the Servlet, go to this URL in the browser: http://localhost:8080/jap1/MyServlet

This will run your Servlet.

3. References

In addition to Tomcat's documentation, the following links can be helpful:

Sun's Servlets Tutorial: By Cynthia Bloch and Stephanie Bodoff.
Devx.com: A Quick Guide to Installing Tomcat on Windows: By Piroz Mohseni.

Page Last Updated 2001.10.16

Deploying Servlets and JSPs on Tomcat

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