Tomcat 7.0: we recommend Tomcat 7
Tomcat 5.5. and earlier is no longer supported
JAVA_OPTS: running Sakai 2.x in Tomcat 5.5.27+ requires JAVA_OPTS modifications (see below).
Sakai installations should always be accompanied by a fresh install of Tomcat. It provides a clean environment that simplifies troubleshooting if problems are encountered during the startup phase.
The Apache Tomcat servlet container provides an ideal environment for running Sakai as a web application. Tomcat implements both the Java Servlet and JavaServer Pages (JSP) specifications and can be run in standalone mode or in conjunction with a web application server such as the Apache HTTP server or JBoss. Sakai 2.8 works with the Tomcat 5.5 series.
Tomcat can be downloaded as a binary install from http://archive.apache.org/dist/tomcat/tomcat-7
Choose the core distribution. Windows users have the option of downloading either a Windows Service Installer .exe or a binary *.zip archive. We recommend the *.zip archive over the installer because configuration and log viewing are easier. You can later convert the .zip install into a service install by running /bin/service.bat (see below for more details).
Unpack the Tomcat archive into your installation directory of choice, e.g. /opt/. Unix/Mac users should create a symbolic link (e.g., ln -s apache-tomcat-5.5.33) while Windows users should simply rename the base Tomcat directory to /tomcat to simplify the path.
Tomcat pathnames
Windows users should ensure that the Tomcat path includes no spaces as this causes errors with JavaServer Faces (JSF) tools in Sakai.
Good: C:\opt\tomcat\, C:\sakaistuff\installs\tomcat\
Bad: C:\program files\tomcat\, C:\opt\apache tomcat 7.0.34\
Tomcat permissions
Unix/Mac users should make sure that they have write permissions to the Tomcat servlet container files and directories before proceeding or startup permission errors may occur.