Apache Tomcat is a free open source HTTP server designed to server Java web pages. Today, we are going to Install Apache Tomcat on our Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. Because standard way of Installing Tomcat on a Linux system is manual & time consuming. As a result we will use another way which is more fast and automatic.

Environment Setup

You must have Ubuntu 16.04+ system with Systemd service manager. This Ansible installation won’t work for Upstart.

Step 1: Install Ansible

Run the following command to Install Ansible on your system because it is the main dependency.

sudo apt-get install -y  software-properties-common
sudo apt-add-repository --yes --update ppa:ansible/ansible
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y ansible

Step 2: Create Ansible folders

Make a directory for our project.

mkdir -p ~/projects/ansible/roles
cd ~/projects/ansible/roles

Ansible YAML files will be located in this parent directory.

Step 3: Create Ansible playbook files

Now, create ansible roles & tasks as YAML files to orchestrate steps of the manual ordered processes.

cd ~/projects/ansible/roles
mkdir -p tomcat/{tasks,handlers,defaults,vars,templates}

• tasks= contains task files
• handlers= handler files
• defaults= default lower priority variables for this role.
• vars= variables associated with the role
• templates= holds files for use with template resources

You should see the similar

sabi@Ubuntu:~/projects/ansible$ tree
 .
 └── roles
     └── tomcat
         ├── defaults
         ├── handlers
         ├── tasks
         ├── templates
         └── vars

Create Setup tasks

Do the tasks that will complete Tomcat environment.

nano tomcat/tasks/tomcat-setup-Debian.yml

Paste the below data into the file.

 name: Ensure the system can use the HTTPS transport for APT.
 stat:
 path: /usr/lib/apt/methods/https
 register: apt_https_transport
 name: Install APT HTTPS transport.
 apt:
 name: "apt-transport-https"
 state: present
 update_cache: yes
 when: not apt_https_transport.stat.exists
 name: Install basic packages
 package:
 name: ['vim','aptitude','bash-completion','tmux','tree','htop','wget','unzip','curl','git']
 state: present
 update_cache: yes
 name: Install Default Java (Debian/Ubuntu)
 apt:
 name: default-jdk
 state: present
 name: Add tomcat group
 group:
 name: tomcat
 name: Add "tomcat" user
 user:
 name: tomcat
 group: tomcat
 home: /usr/share/tomcat
 createhome: no
 system: yes
 name: Download Tomcat
 get_url:
 url: "{{ tomcat_archive_url }}"
 dest: "{{ tomcat_archive_dest }}"
 name: Create a tomcat directory
 file:
 path: /usr/share/tomcat
 state: directory
 owner: tomcat
 group: tomcat
 name: Extract tomcat archive
 unarchive:
 src: "{{ tomcat_archive_dest }}"
 dest: /usr/share/tomcat
 owner: tomcat
 group: tomcat
 remote_src: yes
 extra_opts: "--strip-components=1"
 creates: /usr/share/tomcat/bin
 name: Copy tomcat service file
 template:
 src: templates/tomcat.service.j2
 dest: /etc/systemd/system/tomcat.service
 when: ansible_service_mgr == "systemd"
 name: Start and enable tomcat
 service:
 daemon_reload: yes
 name: tomcat
 state: started
 enabled: yes
 when: ansible_service_mgr == "systemd" 

Create vars file

nano defaults/main.yml

...
 tomcat_ver: 9.0.21
 tomcat_archive_url: https://archive.apache.org/dist/tomcat/tomcat-9/v{{ tomcat_ver }}/bin/apache-tomcat-{{ tomcat_ver }}.tar.gz
 tomcat_archive_dest: /tmp/apache-tomcat-{{ tomcat_ver }}.tar.gz

Check the latest releases page for latest Tomcat.

Then add OS specific variables.

$ nano tomcat/vars/Debian.yml
---
 JAVA_HOME: /usr/lib/jvm/default-java
 $ vim tomcat/vars/RedHat.yml
 JAVA_HOME: /usr/lib/jvm/jre

Create Service systemd templates

Now, add Tomcat systemd service as a template.

cd templates
nano templates/tomcat.service.j2
[Unit]
 Description=Tomcat
 After=syslog.target network.target
 [Service]
 Type=forking
 User=tomcat
 Group=tomcat
 Environment=JAVA_HOME={{ JAVA_HOME }}
 Environment='JAVA_OPTS=-Djava.awt.headless=true'
 Environment=CATALINA_HOME=/usr/share/tomcat
 Environment=CATALINA_BASE=/usr/share/tomcat
 Environment=CATALINA_PID=/usr/share/tomcat/temp/tomcat.pid
 ExecStart=/usr/share/tomcat/bin/catalina.sh start
 ExecStop=/usr/share/tomcat/bin/catalina.sh stop
 [Install]
 WantedBy=multi-user.target

Add the same data to file & save it.

Add Handler

nano handlers/main.yml
##Add the data into file 
 name: restart tomcat
 service:
 name: tomcat
 state: restarted 

Define Playbook execution file

Playbook file defines roles to be executed & on which instances.

cd ~/ansible/
nano tomcat-setup.yml

 name: Tomcat deployment playbook hosts: app-servers become: yes become_method: sudo remote_user: vagrant roles: tomcat 

Replace app-servers with the server IP address or hostname or server group defined in the inventory file. This can be a custom file such as hosts in the project directory, or global inventory file -/etc/ansible/hosts.

sudo nano /etc/ansible/hosts

cat /etc/ansible/hosts

See the example

See the final structure of folder.

Step 4: Execute Playbook

Now it’s time to execute our Playbook.

cd ~/projects/ansible
ansible-playbook setup-tomcat.yml

PLAY [Tomcat deployment playbook] *
 TASK [Gathering Facts] 
 ok: [server1]
 ok: [server2]
 TASK [tomcat : include_tasks] *
 included: /home/jmutai/projects/ansible/roles/tomcat/tasks/tomcat-RedHat.yml for server1
 included: /home/jmutai/projects/ansible/roles/tomcat/tasks/tomcat-Debian.yml for server2
 TASK [tomcat : Set Server timezone] *
 changed: [server1]
 TASK [tomcat : Add EPEL repository to CentOS] ***
 changed: [server1]
 TASK [tomcat : Install basic packages] **
 changed: [server1]
 TASK [tomcat : Install Java 8 CentOS] ***
 changed: [server1]
 TASK [tomcat : Add tomcat group] **
 changed: [server1]
 TASK [tomcat : Add "tomcat" user] *
 changed: [server1]
 TASK [tomcat : Download Tomcat] ***
 changed: [server1]
 TASK [tomcat : Create a tomcat directory] *
 changed: [server1]
 TASK [tomcat : Extract tomcat archive] **
 changed: [server1]
 TASK [tomcat : Copy tomcat service file] 
 changed: [server1]
 TASK [tomcat : Start and enable tomcat] *
 changed: [server1]
 TASK [tomcat : Start and enable firewalld] 
 changed: [server1]
 TASK [tomcat : Open tomcat port on the firewall] 
 changed: [server1]
 TASK [tomcat : Set Server timezone] *
 changed: [server2]
 TASK [tomcat : Ensure the system can use the HTTPS transport for APT.] 
 ok: [server2]
 TASK [tomcat : Install APT HTTPS transport.] ****
 skipping: [server2]
 TASK [tomcat : Install basic packages] **
  [WARNING]: Could not find aptitude. Using apt-get instead
 changed: [server2]
 TASK [tomcat : Install Default Java (Debian/Ubuntu)] **
 changed: [server2]
 TASK [tomcat : Add tomcat group] **
 changed: [server2]
 TASK [tomcat : Add "tomcat" user] *
 changed: [server2]
 TASK [tomcat : Download Tomcat] ***
 changed: [server2]
 TASK [tomcat : Create a tomcat directory] *
 changed: [server2]
 TASK [tomcat : Extract tomcat archive] **
 changed: [server2]
 TASK [tomcat : Copy tomcat service file] 
 changed: [server2]
 TASK [tomcat : Start and enable tomcat] *
 changed: [server2]
 PLAY RECAP **
 server1                    : ok=14   changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=1    rescued=0    ignored=0   
 server2                    : ok=13   changed=5    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=1    rescued=0    ignored=0   

Test your Installation & configuration by visiting URL on port 8080

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