Setting up Apache Tomcat Russell Bateman Spring 2010 last update:

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This is a very short treatment of how to set up Apache Tomcat, a web server container for use with Eclipse.

Just as I do not consume the Java runtime environment (JRE) that is set up on my computer from Eclipse, I do not use any formal Tomcat installation I may have on my box either. I install Tomcat separately (not under Program Files on Windows or outside of /home/russ on Linux).

If you like, read a few words on what Eclipse-Tomcat integration gives you here.

Download Tomcat from http://tomcat.apache.org/. There you can choose between several versions. I'm using version 6.x here.

1. Click the version you like to reach its download page.
 
2. Scroll down until you find the download appropriate for your computer, under "Core." This would be a tarball (tar.gz) if you're downloading for Linux or Macintosh, or a zip for Windows of which there are a number of separate options including 32-bit, 64-bit, Itanium, for Windows service, etc. Since you really want a private one of these for use only with Eclipse, just use the 32- or 64-bit appropriate to your box.

   If downloading to Linux, you need only explode the tarball and copy it to where you want it to be.

   If downloading to Windows, you need only extract the contents which produces a subdirectory you can copy to where you would like to consume it from in Eclipse. I copy mine to the same place I put my JDK, my downloaded third-party libraries, etc., to wit:
   
   C:\Users\russ\dev\downloads\apache-tomcat-6.0.26
   
   or, on Linux:
   
   /home/russ/dev/downloads/apache-tomcat-6.0.26

While not super-relevant to this discussion, you need to be aware of another package option, "Deployer," which is not what you want now. However, it's a tiny download and, once extracted, you should read deployer-howto.html for information on what this is.

If you've accomplished this installation correctly, you're now ready to install Eclipse if you also have downloaded and installed a Sun JDK. If not, see Setting up the Sun JDK.

Note: As of January, 2011, there was still a bug in the interaction between Tomcat 7 and Eclipse. If you wish to use this version of Tomcat, you will want to peruse this discussion thread in the Eclipse web tools platform forum. However, I've never seen nor had this trouble myself.

It is useful to consume Tomcat 7 for it's the only way (well, you could also use another server like GlassFish or JBoss), to gain access to Eclipse Dynamic web module version 3.0 and the JavaServer Faces v2.0 Project configuration when creating a new Dynamic Web Project. If you use Tomcat 6, you can only get 2.5/1.2.

(Note: for want of a better place to put this, I include the following:

javax.servlet.annotation.WebServlet exists only in Apache Tomcat 7.x, not in 6.x. The Seam Catch example at https://github.com/seam/catch/tree/master/examples makes use of this.)