the empty quarter

Here’s how to install Apache Tomcat version 5.5 on an Ubuntu machine (note that there is nothing Ubutu specific in these steps). This will form one of the foundation steps for a series of posts in which we will build a fully open-source business intelligence platform.

1. First, install Java JDK. I am using Sun’s version mainly for stability and to avoid any compatibility issues.
   
   sudo apt-get install sun-java6-jdk

2. Download Apache Tomcat and check for integrity.
   
   wget http://mirrors.sirium.net/pub/apache/tomcat/tomcat-5/v5.5.27/bin/apache-tomcat-5.5.27.tar.gz
   wget http://mirrors.sirium.net/pub/apache/tomcat/tomcat-5/v5.5.27/bin/apache-tomcat-5.5.27.tar.gz.md5
   md5sum -c apache-tomcat-5.5.27.tar.gz.md5

3. Unpack the archive file.
   
   tar xvzf apache-tomcat-5.5.27.tar.gz

4. Move the unpacked directory to its permanent location. I use /opt but this is only a personal preference.
   
   sudo mv apache-tomcat-5.5.27 /opt

5. Create a simple startup and shutdown script. Run sudo vi /etc/init.d/tomcat and save it with the following content:
   
   #!/bin/bash
   # Tomcat startup script

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

   case $1 in
   start)
   sh /opt/apache-tomcat-5.5.27/bin/startup.sh
   ;;
   stop)
   sh /opt/apache-tomcat-5.5.27/bin/shutdown.sh
   ;;
   restart)
   sh /opt/apache-tomcat-5.5.27/bin/shutdown.sh
   sh /opt/apache-tomcat-5.5.27/bin/startup.sh
   ;;
   *)
   echo "Usage: /etc/init.d/tomcat {start|stop|restart}"
   exit 1
   ;;
   esac
   exit 0

6. Don’t forget to make this script executable.
   
   sudo chmod 755 /etc/init.d/tomcat

7. Now we can finally start Tomcat.
   
   /etc/init.d/tomcat start

8. Finally, check that everything worked correctly by opening the Tomcat default page (http://<servername>:8080) in a web browser.