Set Up Apache and Tomcat Web Servers in GCP

Introduction

This guide provides step-by-step instructions on how to set up Apache and Tomcat web servers on an Ubuntu instance hosted on Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Apache is a widely used web server, and Tomcat is an application server that runs Java servlets and JSP pages. Integrating these servers allows you to handle both static and dynamic content efficiently.

• Note: The Apache server is an HTTP web server, while the Apache Tomcat server is mainly a Java application server

Prerequisites

• A Google Cloud Platform (GCP) account.

• Basic understanding of Linux command-line interface.

• SSH access to your GCP instance.

Setting Up Your GCP Environment

Creating a VM Instance

1. Log in to your GCP account.

2. Navigate to the Compute Engine section.

3. Click on "Create Instance".

4. Configure your instance:

   • Name: Give your instance a meaningful name.

   • Region and Zone: Choose a region and zone close to your user base.

   • Machine type: Select an appropriate machine type (e.g., e2-medium).

   • Boot disk: Choose Ubuntu as the operating system (e.g., Ubuntu 20.04 LTS).

5. Firewall: Allow HTTP and HTTPS traffic.

6. Click on "Create".

If you need detailed document, please follow my blog post to create VM in GCP:

Google Compute Engine(GCE) - Creating and Managing Virtual Machines

Once your instance is created, note the external IP address, as you will need it to access your server.

Installing Apache Web Server

• To grant root rights, type the following command in your VM

  sudo su

• Update the package list

  apt update

  

  • Install Apache Webserver

    apt install apache2

    

    • Type "y" to install all package and libraries

      

  • Go to index.html file to type anything to display on webpage

  • Type the following command to edit the index.html

    echo "Hello I am Karan Singh Rajawat! from $(hostname) $(hostname -i)" > /var/www/html/index.html

  • Start the Apache2 service on your VM

    systemctl start apache2

  • Now, copy the public IP of your VM from the GCP Console and paste to the web browser.

    

    Installing Tomcat Web Server

  • Update the package list:

    apt-get update

    

  • Install Java (if not already installed):

    apt-get install default-jdk -y

    

  • Download Apache Tomcat:

    wgethttps://downloads.apache.org/tomcat/tomcat-9/v9.0.89/bin/apache-tomcat-9.0.89.tar.gz

    

  • Extract the Tomcat tar.gz file:

    tar -xzvf apache-tomcat-9.0.89.tar.gz

    

  • Move Tomcat to the /opt directory:

    mv apache-tomcat-9.0.89 /opt/tomcat

    Set permissions for the Tomcat scripts:

    chmod +x /opt/tomcat/bin/*.sh

    

  • Configure Tomcat as a Systemd Service:

    vim /etc/systemd/system/tomcat.service

    or

    nano /etc/systemd/system/tomcat.service

  • Add the following content to the file:

    [Unit] Description=Apache Tomcat Web Application Container After=network.target

    [Service] Type=forking

    Environment=JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/default-java Environment=CATALINA_PID=/opt/tomcat/temp/tomcat.pidEnvironment=CATALINA_HOME=/opt/tomcat Environment=CATALINA_BASE=/opt/tomcat Environment='CATALINA_OPTS=-Xms512M -Xmx1024M -server -XX:+UseParallelGC' Environment='JAVA_OPTS=-Djava.awt.headless=true -Djava.security.egd=[file:/dev/./urandom](file:/dev/./urandom)'

    ExecStart=/opt/tomcat/bin/startup.shExecStop=/opt/tomcat/bin/shutdown.sh

    User=tomcat Group=tomcat UMask=0007 RestartSec=10 Restart=always

    [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target

    

    • Create a tomcat group and user:

      groupadd tomcat

      useradd -s /bin/false -g tomcat -d /opt/tomcat tomcat

    • Change ownership of the Tomcat directory:

      chown -R tomcat:tomcat /opt/tomcat

      

  • Reload the systemd daemon to recognize the new Tomcat service:

    systemctl daemon-reload

  • Enable and start the Tomcat service:

    systemctl enable tomcat

    systemctl start tomcat

    

Verify Tomcat Installation

• Check the status of the Tomcat service:

  systemctl status tomcat

  

• Access Tomcat:

  Open a web browser and navigate to http://[YOUR_VM_EXTERNAL_IP]:8080 to see the Tomcat welcome page.

  

By following these steps, you will have Tomcat installed and running on a GCP VM instance.

If you are facing issues launching Tomcat at http://[YOUR_VM_EXTERNAL_IP]:8080 and encountering a "page can't be displayed" error or the page is just spinning. Follow my blog post.