Apache Tomcat is the world’s most widely deployed open-source Java web application server, providing a robust implementation of the Jakarta Servlet, Jakarta Pages (JSP), Jakarta Expression Language, and Jakarta WebSocket specifications. Powering large-scale, mission-critical applications across every industry, Tomcat gives developers a production-ready runtime that is fast to set up and deeply configurable.Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/apache/tomcat/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
Introduction
Understand Tomcat’s architecture, components, and how it serves Java web applications.
Quickstart
Download, configure, and run your first application in under five minutes.
Installation
Step-by-step installation on Linux, macOS, and Windows with environment setup.
Configuration
Configure server.xml, connectors, context settings, and class loader paths.
Core Areas
Security & Authentication
Configure realms, SSL/TLS, and authentication mechanisms including Basic, Form, and SPNEGO.
Deployment & Operations
Deploy WAR files, manage applications with the Manager app, and configure access logging.
Clustering
Set up session replication and high-availability clusters for production environments.
Embedding Tomcat
Embed Tomcat programmatically in your Java application using the embedded API.
Get Running in Minutes
Download & Extract
Download the latest Tomcat binary from tomcat.apache.org and extract it to your preferred directory (referred to as
CATALINA_HOME).Set Environment Variables
Set
JAVA_HOME to your JDK installation and CATALINA_HOME to the Tomcat directory. Optionally create a setenv.sh (Linux/macOS) or setenv.bat (Windows) script for persistent JVM options.Start the Server
Run
$CATALINA_HOME/bin/startup.sh (Linux/macOS) or %CATALINA_HOME%\bin\startup.bat (Windows). The server starts on port 8080 by default.Apache Tomcat requires Java SE 11 or later. For the latest supported Java version requirements, see the Installation guide.