How to Install Apache Tomcat on Raspberry Pi

Apache Tomcat is an open-source web server widely used for creating web applications. The developers use this platform to run the Java code successfully. It includes all those basic features like data persistence, load balancing capabilities and more, making it an ideal web server for creating several Java-based applications.

This article is a detailed guide to install Apache Tomcat on a Raspberry Pi system.

Install Apache Tomcat on Raspberry Pi

You can install Apache Tomcat on Raspberry Pi from the following steps:

Step 1: Install Java on Raspberry Pi

Make sure Java is installed on your Raspberry Pi system and if not, use the following command to install it:

$ sudo apt install default-jdk

Step 2: Create an Apache Tomcat Directory

First, you must create an Apache Tomcat directory inside the unbundled packages directory called opt through the following command:

$ sudo mkdir /opt/tomcat

Step 3: Navigate to Directory

Now move towards the directory through the following command:

$ cd /opt/tomcat

Step 4: Download Apache Tomcat Source File

Next download the Apache Tomcat source file using the following command:

$ sudo wget https://dlcdn.apache.org/tomcat/tomcat-9/v9.0.68/bin/apache-tomcat-9.0.68.tar.gz

You can download the updated version from the website.

Step 5: Extract Apache Tomcat Tar.gz File

To extract the Apache Tomcat files inside the directory, use the following command with the name of the source file.

$ sudo tar -xf apache-tomcat-9.0.68.tar.gz

Step 6: Configure Path and Environment for Apache Tomcat

You must configure the Apache Tomcat and Java path inside the .bashrc directory so that you will be able to run Apache Tomcat on your Raspberry Pi system.

To do this, open the “.bashrc” file through the following command:

$ sudo nano ~/.bashrc

Inside the file, add the following path for Apache Tomcat and Java:

export CATALINA_HOME=/opt/tomcat/apache-tomcat-9.0.68

export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/default-java

Load the changes through the following command:

$ source ~/.bashrc

Step 7: Run Apache Tomcat Server

After successfully configuring the environment, you can run the Apache Tomcat server from the following command:

$ sudo $CATALINA_HOME/bin/startup.sh

Step 8: Access Apache Tomcat Web Server on Browser

Once you get the “Apache Tomcat started” output on your terminal, you can run the web server using your system IP address, which can be found from the command “hostname -I” with the port number “8080”.

At this moment Apache Tomcat web server is successfully running on your browser and you can start creating your web applications.

Conclusion

Apache Tomcat is a web server used for creating web applications and it can be installed on your Raspberry Pi system through a tar.gz file. After extracting the Apache Tomcat files inside the “opt” directory, you must provide the path where Apache Tomcat and Java is installed so that you can run the web server without any issue. Later, you can run the web server and access the web interface using the Raspberry Pi IP address with port 8080 on your browser.