Tomcat installation (2.7)

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Last updated: Apr 19, 2011Version comment
2 min read

(warning) Tomcat 5.5: we recommend Tomcat 5.5.33 in order to avoid certain Tomcat security vulnerabilities present in earlier releases.

(minus) Tomcat 6.0 / 7.0: Sakai 2.7 has not been tested in Tomcat 6.0 or 7.0 and will not run in either version of Tomcat without configuration changes. Adopters are advised to stay with the Tomcat 5.5. series.

(warning) JAVA_OPTS: running Sakai 2.x in Tomcat 5.5.27+ requires JAVA_OPTS modifications (see below).

(info) 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 2.7 works with the Tomcat 5.5 series.

Tomcat can be downloaded as a binary install from http://archive.apache.org/dist/tomcat/tomcat-5/

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.

(thumbs up) Good: C:\opt\tomcat\, C:\sakaistuff\installs\tomcat\
(thumbs down) Bad: C:\program files\tomcat\, C:\opt\apache tomcat 5.5.33\

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.

Tomcat JDK 1.4 Compatibility Package

(minus) Do not download and install the JDK 1.4 Compatibility Package. Sakai 2.7 will not run should you install it.