Setting Up Start of Apache Tomcat as a Linux Service

To avoid restarting Apache Tomcat manually at each system restart, Apache Tomcat startup can be set up as a service. The feature is relevant if Apache Tomcat was downloaded as an archive and not installed from repository. Execute the following operations:

Copy the tomcat file located in the folder with the installed Apache Tomcat to the home directory.
Edit tomcat file to specify required environment variables and user name for Tomcat:

nano ~/tomcat

Change values of CATALINA_HOME and CATALINA_BASE parameters to /opt/tomcat7/<Apache Tomcat 7 archive name>, and for TOMCAT_USER parameter specify name of user created for Tomcat. Using data from example results in:

CATALINA_HOME=/opt/tomcat7/<Apache Tomcat 7 archive name>

CATALINA_BASE=/opt/tomcat7/<Apache Tomcat 7 archive name>

TOMCAT_USER=tomcat

Move the tomcat file into the directory /etc/init.d/ by executing the commands in the terminal:

sudo cp tomcat /etc/init.d/

sudo chmod +x /etc/init.d/tomcat

Add Apache Tomcat to the list of system services by executing the command in the terminal:

sudo -u tomcat /opt/tomcat7/<Apache Tomcat 7 archive name>/bin/catalina.sh stop

sudo chkconfig --add tomcat

Enable Tomcat service. To do that, open the list of services by selecting the main menu item System > Administrator > Services. Select Tomcat in the list of services that appears in the dialog box that opens and click the Enable button. Execute the following command in the terminal:

sudo chkconfig tomcat on

Run Apache Tomcat by executing the command in the terminal:

sudo service tomcat start