Manager GUI for Tomcat

Tomcat is an open source web server and servlet container popularly used for deploying Java web applications. The Tomcat Manager GUI is a web application that provides a graphical interface to manage Tomcat instances.

Installing & Configuring Manager GUI

To install Manager GUI, follow these steps:

1. Download the binary distribution of Tomcat from the official website.
2. Extract the downloaded file to a directory on your local system.
3. Configure the /conf/tomcat-users.xml file to include a user with the manager-gui role.

<role rolename="manager-gui"/>
<user username="admin" password="admin" roles="manager-gui"/>

This step is necessary for authentication when accessing the Manager GUI web application.

4. Start Tomcat by running the startup.bat or startup.sh script in the /bin directory.
5. Open a web browser and navigate to http://localhost:8080/manager/html. Log in with the user credentials defined in the tomcat-users.xml file.

Managing Tomcat Instances

Once authenticated, the Manager GUI provides multiple tabs for managing Tomcat instances:

Applications

The Applications tab provides a list of deployed web applications. From here, you can start, stop, reload, and undeploy deployed web applications.

Server Status

The Server Status tab provides an overview of the Tomcat instance's runtime status. This includes server uptime, request processing statistics, and thread pool status.

Sessions

The Sessions tab provides a list of active sessions on the Tomcat instance. From here, you can invalidate or expire individual sessions.

Logs

The Logs tab provides access to the Tomcat instance's log files. This provides diagnostic information for troubleshooting issues with the Tomcat instance or deployed web applications.

Conclusion

The Manager GUI for Tomcat is a valuable tool for managing and monitoring Tomcat instances. With its user-friendly interface and comprehensive features, it provides an excellent way to streamline the management of deployed web applications.