Windows service HOW-TO

Table of Contents

Tomcat service application

Tomcat8 is a service application for running Tomcat 8 as a Windows service.

Tomcat monitor application

Tomcat8w is a GUI application for monitoring and configuring Tomcat services.

The available command line options are:

//ES// Edit service configuration This is the default operation. It is called if the no option is provided but the executable is renamed to servicenameW.exe
//MS// Monitor service Put the icon in the system tray

Command line arguments

Each command line directive is in the form of //XX//ServiceName

The available command line options are:

//TS// Run the service as console application This is the default operation. It is called if the no option is provided. The ServiceName is the name of the executable without exe suffix, meaning Tomcat8
//RS// Run the service Called only from ServiceManager
//SS// Stop the service
//US// Update service parameters
//IS// Install service
//DS// Delete service Stops the service if running

Command line parameters

Each command parameter is prefixed with --. If the command line is prefixed with ++ then it's value will be appended to the existing option. If the environment variable with the same name as command line parameter but prefixed with PR_ exists it will take precedence. For example:

set PR_CLASSPATH=xx.jar

is equivalent to providing

--Classpath=xx.jar

as command line parameter.

ParameterName Default Description
--Description Service name description (maximum 1024 characters)
--DisplayName ServiceName Service display name
--Install procrun.exe //RS//ServiceName Install image
--Startup manual Service startup mode can be either auto or manual
--DependsOn List of services that this service depend on. Dependent services are separated using either # or ; characters
--Environment List of environment variables that will be provided to the service in the form key=value. They are separated using either # or ; characters. If you need to use either the # or ; character within a value then the entire value must be enclosed inside single quotes.
--User User account used for running executable. It is used only for StartMode java or exe and enables running applications as service under account without LogonAsService privilege.
--Password Password for user account set by --User parameter
--JavaHome JAVA_HOME Set a different JAVA_HOME than defined by JAVA_HOME environment variable
--Jvm auto Use either auto or specify the full path to the jvm.dll. You can use the environment variable expansion here.
--JvmOptions -Xrs List of options in the form of -D or -X that will be passed to the JVM. The options are separated using either # or ; characters.
--Classpath Set the Java classpath
--JvmMs Initial memory pool size in MB
--JvmMx Maximum memory pool size in MB
--JvmSs Thread stack size in KB
--StartImage Executable that will be run.
--StartPath Working path for the start image executable.
--StartClass Class that will be used for startup.
--StartParams List of parameters that will be passed to either StartImage or StartClass. Parameters are separated using either # or ; character.
--StartMethod Main Method name if differs then main
--StartMode executable Can one of jvm java or exe
--StopImage Executable that will be run on Stop service signal.
--StopPath Working path for the stop image executable.
--StopClass Class that will be used on Stop service signal.
--StopParams List of parameters that will be passed to either StopImage or StopClass. Parameters are separated using either # or ; character.
--StopMethod Main Method name if differs then main
--StopMode executable Can one of jvm java or exe
--StopTimeout No Timeout Defines the timeout in seconds that procrun waits for service to exit gracefully.
--LogPath working path Defines the path for logging
--LogPrefix jakarta_service Defines the service log filename
--LogLevel INFO Defines the logging level and can be either error, info, warn or debug
--StdOutput Redirected stdout filename
--StdError Redirected stderr filename

Installing services

The safest way to manually install the service is to use the provided service.bat script. Administrator privileges are required to run this script. If necessary, you can use the /user switch to specify a user to use for the installation of the service.

NOTE: On Windows Vista or any other operating system with User Account Control (UAC) enabled you must right-click on cmd.exe and select "Run as administrator" in order to run this script. On Windows 8 (or later) or Windows Server 2012 (or later), you can open an elevated command prompt for the current directory from the explorer by clicking on the "File" menu bar.
If UAC is enabled, neither being logged on with an Administrator account nor using the /user switch is sufficient. 

Install the service named 'Tomcat8'
C:\> service.bat install

There is a 2nd optional parameter that lets you specify the name of the service, as displayed in Windows services.

Install the service named 'MyService'
C:\> service.bat install MyService

If using tomcat8.exe, you need to use the //IS// parameter.

Install the service named 'Tomcat8'
C:\> tomcat8 //IS//Tomcat8 --DisplayName="Apache Tomcat 8" \
C:\> --Install="C:\Program Files\Tomcat\bin\tomcat8.exe" --Jvm=auto \
C:\> --StartMode=jvm --StopMode=jvm \
C:\> --StartClass=org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap --StartParams=start \
C:\> --StopClass=org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap --StopParams=stop

Updating services

To update the service parameters, you need to use the //US// parameter. 

Update the service named 'Tomcat8'
C:\> tomcat8 //US//Tomcat8 --Description="Apache Tomcat Server - http://tomcat.apache.org/ " \
C:\> --Startup=auto --Classpath=%JAVA_HOME%\lib\tools.jar;%CATALINA_HOME%\bin\bootstrap.jar

If you gave the service an optional name, you need to specify it like this: 

Update the service named 'MyService'
C:\> tomcat8 //US//MyService --Description="Apache Tomcat Server - http://tomcat.apache.org/ " \
C:\> --Startup=auto --Classpath=%JAVA_HOME%\lib\tools.jar;%CATALINA_HOME%\bin\bootstrap.jar

Removing services

To remove the service, you need to use the //DS// parameter.
If the service is running it will be stopped and then deleted.

Remove the service named 'Tomcat8'
C:\> tomcat8 //DS//Tomcat8

If you gave the service an optional name, you need to specify it like this: 

Remove the service named 'MyService'
C:\> tomcat8 //DS//MyService

Debugging services

To run the service in console mode, you need to use the //TS// parameter. The service shutdown can be initiated by pressing CTRL+C or CTRL+BREAK. If you rename the tomcat8.exe to testservice.exe then you can just execute the testservice.exe and this command mode will be executed by default.

Run the service named 'Tomcat8' in console mode
C:\> tomcat8 //TS//Tomcat8 [additional arguments]
Or simply execute:
C:\> tomcat8

Multiple Instances

Tomcat supports installation of multiple instances. You can have a single installation of Tomcat with multiple instances running on different IP/port combinations, or multiple Tomcat versions, each running one or more instances on different IP/ports.

Each instance folder will need the following structure:

  • conf
  • logs
  • temp
  • webapps
  • work

At a minimum, conf should contain a copy of the following files from CATALINA_HOME\conf\. Any files not copied and edited, will be picked up by default from CATALINA_HOME\conf, i.e. CATALINA_BASE\conf files override defaults from CATALINA_HOME\conf.

  • server.xml
  • web.xml

You must edit CATALINA_BASE\conf\server.xml to specify a unique IP/port for the instance to listen on. Find the line that contains <Connector port="8080" ... and add an address attribute and/or update the port number so as to specify a unique IP/port combination.

To install an instance, first set the CATALINA_HOME environment variable to the name of the Tomcat installation directory. Then create a second environment variable CATALINA_BASE and point this to the instance folder. Then run "service install" command specifying a service name.

set CATALINA_HOME=c:\tomcat_8
set CATALINA_BASE=c:\tomcat_8\instances\instance1
service install instance1

To modify the service settings, you can run tomcat8w //ES//instance1.

For additional instances, create additional instance folder, update the CATALINA_BASE environment variable, and run the service install again.

set CATALINA_BASE=c:\tomcat_8\instances\instance2
service install instance2

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