How to setup Apache Tomcat on Windows in Azure/AWS/GCP
To install Tomcat in any of the cloud platforms, the best way is to use the available images in the marketplace that run Apache Tomcat on Windows server with the recommended configuration and the Java JDK. Production ready. Click on the links below to deploy to your preferred cloud platform.
Apache Tomcat Windows
Setup Tomcat on Azure
Setup Tomcat on AWS
Setup Tomcat on GCP
Table of Contents
Apache Tomcat Windows Server Features
Apache Tomcat or Tomcat Server is a Java Server Page container that assist web developers building and maintaining dynamic websites and applications based on the Java software platform.
- Java Servlets container of the Java platform are: JavaServer Pages (JSP), Java Expression Language (Java EL) and WebSocket.
- The software enables a web server to handle dynamic Java-based web content using the HTTP protocol.
- It can handle both static pages and dynamic pages. The static pages are generated using HTML.
- Essentially a web server designed to serve files from the local system, like Apache.
- A Java enterprise application server is a full-blown implementation of the Java EE (now Jakarta EE) specification.
Getting Started with Apache Tomcat Windows
RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) into new server
Once you have deployed Tomcat on Windows server, the first step is to RDP into the new instance once it has fully booted up. The following links explain how to connect the VM once it has finished being deployed:
- How to RDP to AWS Windows Instance
- How to RDP to Google GCP Windows Instance
- How to RDP to Azure Windows Virtual Machine
Once logged in, you’re now ready to start setting up your new server as per the following sections.
Using Tomcat on Windows
The Tomcat installation is in the following directory:
c:\tomcat
The Tomcat management web URL is
http://localhost:8080
You will need to update the login user by updating the following file:
C:\tomcat\apache-tomcat-(version)\conf\tomcat-users.xml
Before making any changes stop the Apache Tomcat service, from services in Administration tools
Towards the bottom of this file remove the quotation comments as highlighted in the following screenshot
Next update the roles and username with the following as per the following screenshot below:
In the example above i’ve used the username ‘admin’ and password ‘admin’ but you can create any username you like.
Make sure to leave </tomcat-users> as the last section as in the screenshot above.
After the changes have been made you can now start the Apache Tomcat service again.
Tomcat Firewall Ports
Tomcat listens on port 8080 for HTTP, port 8443 for https and port 8009 for AJP
If you are using any firewalls, network security groups on any of the cloud platforms you will need to open these ports.
To setup AWS firewall rules refer to – AWS Security Groups
To setup Azure firewall rules refer to – Azure Network Security Groups
To setup Google GCP firewall rules refer to – Creating GCP Firewalls
Tomcat Documentation
Documentation on using Apache Tomcat on Windows can be found on their website :
Tomcat Support
Any issues with installing this solution into any of the cloud platforms, please leave a message below or contact us directly
For any Tomcat support, take a look at the support section on their website:
https://tomcat.apache.org/findhelp.html
Disclaimer: Apache Tomcat® is a registered trademark of Apache Software Foundation and is licensed under Apache License version 2. No warrantee of any kind, express or implied, is included with this software. Use at your risk, responsibility for damages (if any) to anyone resulting from the use of this software rest entirely with the user. The author is not responsible for any damage that its use could cause.
