To deploy a web application to Apache Tomcat you can copy a WAR file to the application base directory, e.g., /var/lib/tomcat7/webapps. This operation of course presupposes we know the application base directory. We could consult server.xml and look up the Host element to determine the directory name. A more straightforward approach is to use the Tomcat manager web application.

To learn how to deploy a web application using the Apache Tomcat manager web application in Linux, follow these 12 steps:

Tomcat Server: Tomcat is one of the best web servers and an open-source Jave Servlet container developed by Apache Software Foundation (ASF), which is used by many developers for their project works. It has sublimed to such a greater extent just because of its classicality and its speed and implements J2EE specifications which majorly includes. Apache Licenses¶. The Apache Software Foundation uses various licenses to distribute software and documentation, to accept regular contributions from individuals and corporations, and to accept larger grants of existing software products.

1. Stop the Tomcat server.
2. You will need to edit CATALINA_BASE/conf/tomcat-users.xml, e.g., /var/lib/tomcat7/conf/tomcat-users.xml to add credentials to access the Tomcat manager web application.
3. Add the following XML statements immediately before the root end tag,i.e., </tomcat-users>: Replace 'your name' and 'your password' with a user name and password of your choosing (no embedded spaces).
4. Save your changes.
5. You'll need to create a WAR file so that you will have a web application to deploy. The instructions for creating a WAR file were contained in Steps 1 and 2 in How to deploy a WAR file in Apache Tomcat (Linux). Complete only Steps 1 and 2. If you have already completed that project, delete the WAR file (DemoWebsite.war) and the unpacked folder (DemoWebsite) from CATALINA_BASE/webapps , e.g., /var/lib/tomcat7/webapps.
6. Start the Tomcat server.
7. In the address area of your browser, type http://localhost:8080/manager/html and submit that address to the browser.
8. You will be challenged for credentials. Provide the user name and password you specified in tomcat-users.xml (make sure to provide the correct spelling and case):
   Click OK
9. The manager web page is now displayed. Scroll down until you see the Deploy section:
   Note that I have already provided the Context Path (/DemoWebsite) and the WAR URL ((/DemoWebsite/DemoWebsite.war) in the text boxes. Fill in the text boxes as I've done. Then click Deploy.
10. The manager will indicate that the web site has been deployed:
    
11. In a separate tab in your browser, type http://localhost:8080/DemoWebsite/DateJSP.jsp and submit that address to the browser.
12. The web page will be displayed verifying successful deployment:
    

Web server vs. application server: What is the difference?

By strict definition, a web server is a common subset of an application server.

A web server delivers static web content—e.g., HTML pages, files, images, video—primarily in response to hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) requests from a web browser.

An application server typically can deliver web content too, but its primary job is to enable interaction between end-user clients and server-side application code—the code representing what is often called business logic—to generate and deliver dynamic content, such as transaction results, decision support, or real-time analytics. The client for an application server can be the application’s own end-user UI, a web browser, or a mobile app, and the client-server interaction can occur via any number of communication protocols.

In practice, however, the line between web servers and application servers has become fuzzier, particularly as the web browser has emerged as the application client of choice and as user expectations of web applications and web application performance have grown.

Most web servers support plug-ins for scripting languages (e.g., ASP, JSP, PHP, Perl) that enable the web server to generate dynamic content based on server-side logic. And an increasing number of application servers not only incorporate web server capabilities, but use HTTP as their primary protocol and support other protocols (e.g., CGI and CGI variants) for interfacing with web servers. They also allow web applications to leverage services like reverse proxy, clustering, redundancy, and load balancing—services that improve performance and reliability and allow developers to focus less on infrastructure and more on coding.

Apache Web Server And Tomcat Manager

To make matters more confusing, many web servers and some application servers are referred to, or refer to themselves, as web application servers.

The bottom line is that today’s most popular web servers and application servers are hybrids of both. Most of the increasingly rich applications you use today feature a combination of static web content and dynamic application content, delivered via a combination of web server and application server technologies.

Open source web servers and application servers

The market is flooded with web servers and application servers—too many to list here. Instead, we thought it might be more valuable to list the most popular free, open source options available:

Apache Web Server And Tomcat

Nginx

Nginx (Link resides outside IBM) is an open source web server that includes reverse proxy, load balancing, mail proxy, and HTTP cache capabilities. Commercial, supported versions of Nginx are also available, at Nginx, Inc. (Link resides outside IBM). According to the internet research and cybercrime prevention company Netcraft (Link resides outside IBM), Nginx served or proxied nearly 38% of all the world’s websites and over 25% of the million busiest sites as of December, 2019. World-known enterprise Nginx users include Dropbox, Netflix, and Zynga.

Apache HTTP Server

First released in 1995, Apache HTTP Server (also just known as ‘Apache’) is another very popular free, open source web server that, until very recently, powered more websites than any other web server—71% at its peak—before being overtaken by Nginx in April, 2019. As of December 2019, Apache served over 24% of all sites worldwide and 31% of the million busiest sites.

Apache Tomcat

Apache Tomcat (Link resides outside IBM) is an open source application server that executes Java Servlets, renders and delivers web pages that include JavaServer Page code, and serves Java Enterprise Edition (Java EE) applications. Released in 1998, Tomcat is the most widely used open source Java application server.

Glassfish

Glassfish (Link resides outside IBM) is an open source Java EE application server launched by Sun Microsystems in 2006, and it is hosted today by the Eclipse Foundation (Link resides outside IBM). Like most Java application servers, Glassfish supports Java Servlets, Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB), and more, but it can also function as a web server, serving up web content in response to HTTP requests.

Web servers, application servers, and IBM Cloud®

Web servers and application servers will remain part of application modernization as the demand for better customer experiences and more applications impacts business and IT operations. When it comes to meeting such demands, a move toward greater automation will help. Ideally, it would start with small, measurably successful projects, which you can then scale and optimize for other processes and in other parts of your organization. 

Working with IBM, you’ll have access to AI-powered automation capabilities, including prebuilt workflows, to help accelerate innovation by making every process more intelligent. 

Take the next step:

• IBM offers HTTP Server, a web server included with other products such as IBM® WebSphere® Application Server. IBM HTTP Server is based on the Apache HTTP Server and provides all Apache features, plus IBM enhancements. Find out more about IBM HTTP Server Powered by Apache, Version 9.0.
• IBM WebSphere Liberty is a Java EE application server designed for cloud native applications and microservices. WebSphere Liberty is built on the Open Liberty project (Link resides outside IBM) that provides an open source Java EE and MicroProfile core.
• Read about the results of one company’s transition to the IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty Profile on IBM Cloud.
• Register to get the IBM Application Modernization Field Guide (PDF, 2.9 MB) to learn how to accelerate modernization, improve developer productivity and enhance operational efficiency and standardization. 
• Check out a blog post about IBM WebSphere Hybrid Edition, which enables a phased approach to digital transformation.

Get started with an IBM Cloud account today.