Deploy to Tomcat Server

This guide outlines the steps to deploy a project to a Tomcat server using Jenkins automation.

Step 1: Setup Jenkins Server

• Launch an EC2 instance with Amazon Linux 2 AMI.
• Open TCP ports 8080 (Jenkins UI) and 22 (SSH) in the Security Group.
• Install Java:

  sudo amazon-linux-extras install java-openjdk11

• Install Jenkins:

  sudo yum install jenkins

• Start and enable Jenkins service:

  sudo systemctl start jenkins
  sudo systemctl enable jenkins

• (Optional) Set a hostname for the server:

  sudo vi /etc/hostname

  Enter jenkins-server in the file.

Step 2: Integrate Git with Jenkins

• Install Git on Jenkins server:

  sudo yum install git

• Install GitHub plugin on Jenkins UI.

Step 3: Integrate Maven with Jenkins

• Navigate to the /opt directory:

  cd /opt

• Download and extract Apache Maven:

  wget <Maven tar file link>
  tar -xvzf <Maven tar file>
  mv <extracted directory> maven

• Set up environment variables for Java and Maven:

  vi ~/.bash_profile

  Add the following lines:

  M2=/opt/maven/bin
  M2_HOME=/opt/maven
  JAVA_HOME=<path to Java>
  PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin:$JAVA_HOME:$M2:$M2_HOME

  • Use the following command to find the path to Java:

    find /usr/lib/jvm -name java

• Apply changes:

  source ~/.bash_profile

• Verify Maven installation:

  mvn -v

• Install Maven Integration plugin on Jenkins UI.
• Configure Maven in Jenkins:
  • Manage Jenkins > Global Tool Configuration
  • Add Maven: Name - maven, MAVEN_HOME - /opt/maven, untick "Install automatically"
  • Add Java: Name - java, JAVA_HOME - <path to Java>, untick "Install automatically"
  • Use the following command to find the path to Java:

    find /usr/lib/jvm -name java

Step 4: Setup Tomcat Server

• Launch another EC2 instance with the same Security Group and AMI.
• Download and extract Apache Tomcat.
• Install Java:

  sudo amazon-linux-extras install java-openjdk11

• Create symbolic links for starting and stopping Tomcat:

  ln -s /opt/tomcat/bin/startup.sh /usr/local/bin/tomcatup
  ln -s /opt/tomcat/bin/shutdown.sh /usr/local/bin/tomcatdown

• Update context.xml file to access the Manager page:

  find /opt/tomcat -name context.xml

  Edit the context.xml files in the webapps/host-manager/META-INF and webapps/manager/META-INF directories. Comment out the following lines in these files:

  <!--
  <Valve className= .......
          ...........::1|0:0:0:1" />
  -->

• Update tomcat-users.xml file for Manager access:

  sudo vi /opt/tomcat/conf/tomcat-users.xml

  Add the following lines to the end of the file:

  <role rolename="manager-gui"/>
  <role rolename="manager-script"/>
  <role rolename="manager-jmx"/>
  <role rolename="manager-status"/>
  <user username="admin" password="admin" roles="manager-gui, manager-script, manager-jmx, manager-status"/>
  <user username="deployer" password="deployer" roles="manager-script"/>
  <user username="tomcat" password="s3cret" roles="manager-gui"/>

• Restart Tomcat service:

  tomcatdown
  tomcatup

Step 5: Integrate Tomcat with Jenkins

• Install "Deploy to container" plugin on Jenkins UI.
• Add Tomcat credentials in Jenkins:
  • Manage Jenkins > Credentials > Global
  • Add new credentials of type Username and Password.

Step 6: Configure the Jenkins Job

• Create a new Jenkins job (e.g., "deployToTomcat") as a Maven project.
• Configure Git repository URL in SCM section. That is: https://github.com/HarshGupta-coder/hello-world.git
• Set Maven build goals and options to clean install.
• Add a post-build action "Deploy war/ear to a container":
  • WAR/EAR files: **/*.war
  • Add container: Tomcat 8.x Remote
  • Credentials: Use previously added credentials
  • Tomcat URL: http://<instance_ip>:8080/

Speacial Thanks to AR Shankar | Valaxy Technologies (AWS, DevOps Specialist)