Training Course: Apache Tomcat Web Application Server - Management & Administration

Introduction

In this Apache Tomcat Web Application Server - Management & Administration course, you will learn how to install and configure Apache Tomcat, as well as learn the key mechanisms of installing, administering, and managing Web Applications. This course emphasizes altering key configuration artifacts for optimum performance, availability, and fault tolerance. You will learn about integration with existing security mechanisms and databases, as well as high-performance scalability, clustering, and fault-tolerant fail-over techniques.

Objectives

• An overview and explanation of how Tomcat relates to Java EE (J2EE) and compares to other application servers

• The Installation and setting up of Tomcat on both Windows and UNIX-type environments

• Deploy, support, and troubleshoot applications on Tomcat

• Navigate Tomcat's directory structure

• Tomcat's architecture and configuration files: server.xml, context.xml, properties, etc.

• Web application structure and configuration: web.xml

• Secure Tomcat and applications running on it and Set up Tomcat for SSL

• Tune Tomcat's performance

• Exploration of different load-balancing and high-availability strategies with Tomcat

Target Audience

This course is intended for:

• Web Server Administrators responsible for deploying and maintaining enterprise web applications
• Java Developers and Java EE/J2EE Developers working with servlet and JSP-based applications
• System Administrators managing Linux or Windows server environments hosting web applications
• DevOps Engineers involved in application deployment, CI/CD pipelines, and automation
• Application Support Engineers responsible for troubleshooting and maintaining Tomcat-based systems
• Database Administrators who integrate web applications with backend databases (e.g., MySQL)
• IT Professionals seeking to build expertise in Apache Tomcat and Java web application hosting
• Technical staff preparing for roles in enterprise application server administration and performance tuning

Outlines

Day 1: Introduction to Apache Tomcat & Java Web Architecture

• Overview of Apache Software Foundation & Jakarta Project
• Tomcat Licensing & Position in Java EE/J2EE Ecosystem
• Servlets & JSP Fundamentals
• Java Web Applications Architecture (MVC Concepts)
• Servlet Lifecycle & JSP Execution Flow
• JavaBeans & JSP Tag Libraries

Day 2: Installation, Setup & Directory Structure

• Installing JVM and Apache Tomcat on Windows & Linux/UNIX
• Tomcat Installation Process
• Tomcat Directory Structure (bin, conf, logs, webapps, work, temp)
• Java Memory Management & JVM Tuning Basics
• Web Application Directory Structure
• Deploying HTML, JSP, and WAR files
• Introduction to Ant Build Tool

Day 3: Configuration & Web Application Deployment

• Tomcat Configuration Overview
• server.xml, context.xml, web.xml Structure & Usage
• Tomcat Component Architecture
• Mapping Servlets to URLs
• Deployment Descriptors
• Deploying and Managing Web Applications
• Tomcat Manager Console (Deploy, Monitor, Admin Tasks)
• Creating and Deploying WAR Files

Day 4: Advanced Features, Integration & Database Connectivity

• Tomcat Advanced Features (Valves, Filters, Logging)
• Access Log Valve & Request Dumper Valve
• JNDI Resources Configuration
• JDBC Overview & Database Connectivity
• MySQL Installation & Integration with Tomcat
• Creating Data Sources & Connection Pools
• Deployment Descriptor Modification for DB Access
• Handling Leaked Database Connections
• Integration with Apache HTTP Server (mod_jk, AJP Connector)

Day 5: Security, Performance, Clustering & Load Testing

• Tomcat Security Architecture
• File System Security & Java Security Manager
• Roles, Users, Authentication & Authorization (Realms)
• FORM-Based Authentication
• SSL Configuration & Secure Communication
• Virtual Hosting & Multi-Instance Setup
• Load Balancing Strategies (Sticky Sessions, Replication)
• Tomcat Clustering & High Availability
• Performance Tuning Techniques
• Load Testing with Apache JMeter (Test Plans, Threads, Reports)