Tomcat Instance Manager

Run and Manage multiple Tomcat instances on Windows using a single Tomcat installation.

Download and Installation

We may clone this repository or just Download and extact the zip at desired location.

Set the Environment Variable CATALINA_HOME to point to our Tomcat installation directory (not the Tomcat Instance manager scripts dir) and also set JAVA_HOME to point to Java installation.

Purpose

Tomcat Instance Manager helps us create and manage multiple tomcat instance using same tomcat binaries. Different webapps/ micro-services can be then installed on different instances. All instances are isolated from each other, started on different ports and can be started/stopped/restarted without affecting other instances.

Tomcat can run out of same binaries with different configuration for each instance/environment. With tomcat instance manager, we can easily create multiple instances without having to install tomcat multiple times.

It also lets us create windows services per instance, so that we don't need to start/stop each instance from scripts (we can still do so if we want to). Installing service has its own pros and cons, which need not be discussed here.

Tomcat Instance Manger comes handy when:

• We have two or more apps to run, let's say one REST API and a webapp that consumes the API. With Tomcat Instance Manager we can deploy all apps on different instances of tomcat.
• We have multiple microservices to run locally.
• When keeping one app always on, we need to develop test other apps such that one can be started as a background service whereas other instance can be used for development and restarted as necessary.
• Simulating two different environments for a same app (let's say QA and Dev).
• Just want to create a throwaway tomcat configuration without modifying our existing installation.
• Deploying two different versions of same app and running them side-by-side to see differences.

Usage

> tomcat6
USAGE :
        tomcat6 create-instance {instance-name} {install-path}
                [service-name] [service-display-name] [service-description]
        tomcat6 remove-instance {instance-name} {install-path}
        tomcat6 start | stop | restart | clean
        tomcat6 service start | stop | restart | run-in-console
        tomcat6 service install | remove | edit | monitor
        where {var} - mandatory param  [var] - optional param

Example: once we download the project, we would have tomcat6/tomcat7 .bat files in the directory. Lets say we extract tomcat-instance-manager to D:\scripts\

Now we want to create two instances of tomcat, calling it default instance (for some app to keep running on this instance, e.g. some REST services) and other as dev instance (which can be used to test the apps we are developing)

Creating instances

Creating dev instance

D:\scripts>tomcat6 create-instance tomcat-dev d:\etc\tomcat-profiles tcdev "Tomcat dev Instance"
D:\sdk\tomcat-6.0\conf\catalina.policy
D:\sdk\tomcat-6.0\conf\catalina.properties
D:\sdk\tomcat-6.0\conf\context.xml
D:\sdk\tomcat-6.0\conf\logging.properties
D:\sdk\tomcat-6.0\conf\server.xml
D:\sdk\tomcat-6.0\conf\tomcat-users.xml
D:\sdk\tomcat-6.0\conf\web.xml
        7 file(s) copied.
Instance created successfully : d:\etc\tomcat-profiles\tomcat-dev
Instance handler script created successfully

Creating default instance

D:\scripts>tomcat6 create-instance tomcat-default d:\etc\tomcat-profiles tcdefault "Tomcat default Instance"
D:\sdk\tomcat-6.0\conf\catalina.policy
D:\sdk\tomcat-6.0\conf\catalina.properties
D:\sdk\tomcat-6.0\conf\context.xml
D:\sdk\tomcat-6.0\conf\logging.properties
D:\sdk\tomcat-6.0\conf\server.xml
D:\sdk\tomcat-6.0\conf\tomcat-users.xml
D:\sdk\tomcat-6.0\conf\web.xml
        7 file(s) copied.
Instance created successfully : d:\etc\tomcat-profiles\tomcat-default
Instance handler script created successfully

Starting / Stopping instances

Starting default instance

D:\scripts>tomcat-default start
Using CATALINA_BASE:   d:\etc\tomcat-profiles\tomcat-default
Using CATALINA_HOME:   D:\sdk\tomcat-6.0
Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: d:\etc\tomcat-profiles\tomcat-default\temp
Using JRE_HOME:        D:\sdk\jdk-1.6
Using CLASSPATH:       D:\sdk\tomcat-6.0\bin\bootstrap.jar
SERVER STARTED (IN A SEPERATE WINDOW)

Stopping default instance

D:\scripts>tomcat-default stop
Using CATALINA_BASE:   d:\etc\tomcat-profiles\tomcat-default
Using CATALINA_HOME:   D:\sdk\tomcat-6.0
Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: d:\etc\tomcat-profiles\tomcat-default\temp
Using JRE_HOME:        D:\sdk\jdk-1.6
Using CLASSPATH:       D:\sdk\tomcat-6.0\bin\bootstrap.jar
SERVER STOPPED

Installing as Windows service

Installing default instance as service

D:\scripts>tomcat-default service install
SERVICE 'tcdefault'-'Apache Tomcat 'tomcat-default' instance based at d:\etc\tomcat-profiles\tomcat-default' INSTALLED SUCCESSFULLY

Installing dev instance as service

D:\scripts>tomcat-dev service install
SERVICE 'tcdev'-'Apache Tomcat 'tomcat-dev' instance based at d:\etc\tomcat-profiles\tomcat-dev' INSTALLED SUCCESSFULLY

Starting / Stopping service

Starting dev instance as service

D:\scripts>tomcat-dev service start
The Tomcat Dev Instance service is starting..
The Tomcat Dev Instance service was started successfully.

Stopping the dev instance as service

D:\scripts>tomcat-dev service stop
The Tomcat Dev Instance service was stopped successfully.

Monitor an installed instance service

Monitoring the dev instance service

D:\scripts>tomcat-dev service monitor

Editing a service

Editing the dev instance service

D:\scripts>tomcat-dev service edit