Guide for Installing Apache Tomcat 11.0.7 Alongside Nginx on Ubuntu 24.04 Operating System
In this article, we will guide you through the process of setting up a reverse-proxy architecture for running a Java web application with Apache Tomcat 11.0.7 and Nginx on Ubuntu 24.04. This architecture improves security, scalability, and performance by using Nginx as the front-end web server handling incoming HTTP(S) requests, load balancing, SSL termination, and static content delivery, while Tomcat runs the Java application backend serving dynamic content.
Key Steps
- Install Java and Tomcat 11.0.7
- Install a compatible JDK (e.g., OpenJDK 17 or later) on Ubuntu 24.04.
- Download and install Tomcat 11.0.7, configure the environment variable, and deploy your Java web application ( file) to Tomcat’s directory.
- Configure Tomcat
- Set Tomcat to listen on a non-standard port (e.g., 8080) and secure the Manager and Host Manager apps if used.
- Tune Tomcat memory and connector settings appropriate for your workload.
- Install and configure Nginx
- Install Nginx from Ubuntu repositories.
- Configure Nginx as a reverse proxy to forward requests to Tomcat’s port (e.g., 127.0.0.1:8080).
- Set up SSL/TLS certificates in Nginx for HTTPS termination (using Certbot/LetsEncrypt or other CA).
- Serve static assets like images, CSS, and JavaScript directly from Nginx for better performance.
- Security and optimization
- Use Nginx to implement security headers, rate limiting, and request filtering.
- Optionally configure HTTP/2 and gzip compression in Nginx.
- Configure firewall rules restricting direct access to the Tomcat port.
- Testing and deployment
- Test the full chain by accessing the app through Nginx’s domain and port 80/443.
- Monitor logs from both Nginx and Tomcat for errors and performance metrics.
- Set up systemd services to manage Tomcat and Nginx startup on reboot.
This architecture is standard and widely adopted for Java web apps on Linux servers like Ubuntu 24.04, leveraging Nginx’s efficiency and Tomcat’s robust Java servlets and JSP support. Although no detailed tutorial specifically for Tomcat 11 and Ubuntu 24.04 was found in the search results, the steps align with common best practices for deploying Java web applications with Nginx reverse proxy on Ubuntu systems.
For those seeking precise installation commands or configuration file examples, additional information is available upon request. Ubuntu 24.04 LTS provides an ideal platform for Tomcat and Nginx due to long-term security updates, native OpenJDK 17+ availability, up-to-date system libraries, TLS support, and efficient integration of Tomcat (Java-based) with Nginx (C-based).
With Tomcat 11.0.7, you benefit from updates to Jakarta EE 11, full HTTP/1.1 and HTTP/2 support, improved memory and thread management, better WebSocket and annotation processing, enhanced security configuration, and default hardening. Let's Encrypt SSL is available for site security. Nginx, a high-performance, event-driven web server and reverse proxy, benefits in this setup with TLS/SSL offloading, static content delivery, protection features, GZIP compression and caching, and a better concurrency model for high-traffic apps.
By combining Tomcat and Nginx, you bring together Java's backend capabilities with Nginx's efficiency and frontend versatility. Firewall settings are adjusted to allow traffic to the Tomcat web interface on port 8080.
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