To start the Tomcat server, in the Tomcat installation directory, execute:

Windows

.\bin\startup.bat

Mac and Linux

./bin/startup.sh

You will see an output similar to:

Using CATALINA_BASE:   $TomcatInstall
Using CATALINA_HOME:   $TomcatInstall
Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: $TomcatInstall/temp
Using JRE_HOME:        $JRE_HOME
Using CLASSPATH:      $TomcatInstall/bin/bootstrap.jar:$TomcatInstall/bin/
tomcat-juli.jar
Tomcat started.

To verify the Tomcat server is running, open a web browser and submit “localhost:8080”. If Tomcat has been set up correctly, a page similar to the following one appears:

Common possible issues

Firewall is blocking requests to Tomcat

Tomcat, by default, runs on port 8080. Ensure that the port is open to accept tcp packets on the system running the Tomcat server.

Tomcat cannot locate Java’s installation directory

If you downloaded Java from Oracle’s website, the Tomcat server may not be able to find the Java installation. In such a case, set the system variable JAVA_HOME to Java’s installation directory.

Note: Restart your Command Prompt or Terminal after setting system environment variables.

Windows

Open Command Prompt as administrator and execute the following if your Java was installed in C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_xxx :

setx -m JAVA_HOME "C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_xxx"

1. Open the Control Panel and search for “System”.

   

2. Click “Edit the system environment variables”. The System Properties dialog appears.

   

3. Click the Environment Variables button.

   

4. Click the New button under System Variables. The New System Variable window appears.

   

5. Enter “JAVA_HOME” as “Variable name” and the installation location of the Java JDK as “Variable value”.

   

6. Click the OK button in either window to confirm and close the windows.

Mac

Execute the following on a bash command line or by adding these lines to .bashrc if your Java was installed in /Applications/jdk1.8.0 :

JAVA_HOME=/Applications/jdk1.8.0
export JAVA_HOME

Linux

Execute the following on a bash command line or by adding these lines to .bashrc if your Java was installed in /usr/local/jdk1.8.0 :

JAVA_HOME=/usr/local/jdk1.8.0
export JAVA_HOME