Using Eclipse as a development environment with

Jakarta Tomcat
A quick approach to integrating Eclipse and Tomcat

Level: Introductory
Geoffrey Duck, Software Developer, IBM
20 May 2004
Updated 26 Jun 2006

Using Eclipse as a development environment for Java™ technology is great. Using an Eclipse
Tomcat plug-in can help to better organize and integrate your Java and Web development projects.
This article will guide you step by step through the installation of Eclipse, Jakarta Tomcat, and an
Eclipse Tomcat launcher plug-in that will integrate them.

Why Eclipse and Tomcat?

Editor's note: New versions of Eclipse, Tomcat, and Java technology make some information in this article
obsolete. See "Developing Web applications with Tomcat and Eclipse," written by Nathan Good in May 2007 for
an update of this article.
I have been developing with Eclipse since its early days, and have found that it is one of the best things that ever
happened to me for my Java development. Coming from a background of Java programming on Linux® using
nothing but vi and a JDK, Java programming and debugging was a tedious task. Now, thanks to Eclipse, I can
throw together quick Java-based prototypes easily. My next thought was why not integrate my JSP development
into my Eclipse environment as well? Then I would be able to work more easily with my Java code and JSPs. The
goal of this article is to save JSP developers time setting up Eclipse to work with Tomcat.

Download the components

There are several components involved when setting up Eclipse to work with Tomcat. These components are
shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Components and versions used in this article

Component Version
Eclipse IDE 2.1.2
Java SDK 1.4.1 1.4.1_06
Tomcat 5.0.16
Eclipse Tomcat launcher plug-in by Sysdeo Sysdeo Tomcat plug-in 2.2.1

Download each of the components that you require. The sites where the files are available at the time this article
was published are listed below in the Resources section.

Eclipse IDE: The Eclipse IDE is used as the development environment for your JSP pages and Java files. Eclipse
is an easy IDE to use, with many features that make for quick and painless Java programming and debugging.
With the addition of the Tomcat plug-in, this IDE becomes a great tool for managing entire Web projects,
including HTML and JSP pages, icons, and servlets.

Java SDK: An SDK is required for the Tomcat Eclipse plug-in to function correctly. It does not necessarily have
to be the Sun SDK, but it has to be an SDK, (you cannot use just a JRE as it will not work). There must be a Java
compiler present in the SDK in order for Tomcat to function with Eclipse.

Tomcat: Tomcat is needed to drive your JSP pages. The Tomcat engine is a very good servlet engine that is free
and easy to install.

Eclipse Tomcat Launcher plug-in by Sysdeo: This is just one of the many Eclipse plug-ins for Jakarta Tomcat.
This is a good plug-in that saved me lots of time and integrated my Web projects with my Java code that I would
usually use Eclipse to program.

Installation
Unzip all of the components
Once you have downloaded what you need, the next step is to unzip each file. Unzip them and put them all in the
same directory to keep track of what you are unzipping.

Copy the Tomcat plug-in into your Eclipse/plug-ins directory

Once all of the files are unzipped, copy the Tomcat plug-in directory into the plug-ins directory in your Eclipse
directory. The name of the directory that I unzipped from the Sysdeo zip file was com.sysdeo.eclipse.tomcat_2.2.1.
I copied this entire directory into my Eclipse/plug-ins directory.

Install the SDK

Next, install the SDK you downloaded. The Tomcat Eclipse plug-in requires that the default JRE that you set up in
your Eclipse workspace is actually an SDK with a Java compiler. This is a requirement to use the Sysdeo Tomcat
plug-in. Once the SDK is installed, you can start the Eclipse workbench.

The Eclipse default JRE must be from

an SDK
It is a requirement that the JRE that
Configuration Eclipse has set as its default is an SDK. If
not, the Tomcat plug-in will not work.
Set the SDK JRE as the default JRE for Eclipse
Begin by starting Eclipse. You will have to configure several options from the workbench preferences pages. Open
the preferences dialog by selecting Window > Preferences, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Eclipse preferences

Select the Java option from the left-hand tree view. Expand the Java element and select Installed JRE's, as shown
in Figure 2.

Figure 2. JRE preference settings

Click Add and navigate to the JRE directory of the SDK you installed during the installation phase of the
configuration above, as shown in Figure 3. Click OK.

Figure 3. Adding a JRE to the Eclipse preference settings

Check the check box beside the JRE you just added from the SDK you installed, as shown in Figure 4. This sets
this JRE as the default JRE to be used by Eclipse. You must do this for the Tomcat plug-in to work. The Tomcat
plug-in requires that an SDK be the default JRE selected in these Eclipse preferences.
Figure 4. Setting the default JRE for Eclipse and Tomcat

Set the Tomcat Home variable in the Tomcat preferences

Next, we will set the Tomcat plug-in preferences. With the Preferences dialog still open, select Tomcat from the
left tree menu, as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Setting the Tomcat plug-in preferences

Select the version of Tomcat that you installed from the top radio buttons. I used Tomcat V5.0.16 so I have
selected the last radio button option available, Version 5.x.

Next, we have to set the Tomcat Home variable. Next to the Tomcat Home dialog box, click Browse. Browse to
the base directory of the Tomcat version that you unzipped and click OK. The Configuration file will be
automatically selected and filled in for you. If you wish to select another configuration file for Tomcat instead of
this one, you can browse to that file now. Otherwise the default value will work fine.
We have now completed the minimal requirements to start and run Tomcat using Eclipse and the Sysdeo Tomcat
Launcher plug-in. Browse through the remaining preferences for Tomcat in the Eclipse preference dialog. You will
notice that there are many other options available to you in the Tomcat preferences. For example, adding
parameters to the JVM used by the Tomcat server, selecting Java projects from your workspace to add to the
Tomcat classpath, as well as settings to allow the use of the Tomcat management application.
Testing Tomcat and Eclipse together
Create a new Tomcat Project
To test the integration of Tomcat and Eclipse, we will start by creating a new project. Select File > New > Project
and examine the new project wizards contents. There is a new entry available in the Java section of this project
wizard. Tomcat Project is a new option available (see Figure 6). Select it and click Next.

Figure 6. Creating a new Tomcat project

Give your new Tomcat project a name. For example, TomcatProject, as shown in Figure 7. Click Next.

Figure 7. Setting the Tomcat project name

Here you see that you may specify the name of the Context for your Web project and also that you may specify a
subdirectory as the webapplication root. We will keep the defaults for now (see Figure 8). Click Finish.

Figure 8. Setting the Tomcat webapplication root directory

A new project with a WAR structure is created in your workspace, as shown in Figure 9.

Figure 9. Tomcat project created

Create a JSP file to test

The easiest way to test your installation is to create a new file in the root folder of your WAR project. Create a new
file, call it "index.jsp". To do this, select your project in the workspace and right click on it. Select New > File.
Name it "index.jsp" as shown in Figure 10 and click Finish.

Figure 10. Create an index.jsp file to test your configuration

Add the content shown in Listing 1 to your index.jsp file and save it.

Listing 1. Sample index.jsp

<html>
<body>
<%java.util.Date d = new java.util.Date();%>

Todays date is <%= d.getDate()%> and this jsp page worked!

</body>
</html>
Start Tomcat using the Sysdeo plug-in
Now for the big moment. To start the Tomcat server, simply press on the Start Tomcat button that was added to
your toolbar, as shown in Figure 11. You can also select the Tomcat menu from the main menu bar and select
Start Tomcat.

Figure 11. Start the Tomcat server using the Sysdeo Tomcat plug-in

The Tomcat server will start and its startup text will appear in the Eclipse workbench's Console view, as shown in
Figure 12. Examine the startup log and watch for any errors.

Figure 12. Tomcat's startup information is displayed in the Eclipse Console view

Launch a browser and view your index.jsp file

When the server has started, launch a Web browser. Go to http://localhost:8080/TomcatProject. A page should
load and you should get a message similar to this one:
Todays date is 30 and this jsp page worked! (The 30 appears on my screen because
today is the 30th)

Summary
You should now have Eclipse set up and configured to work with Jakarta Tomcat. You now have the power to
develop and test quick JSP's with integrated Java code, using a great IDE that will help improve your productivity.
Using Eclipse to program Java code and having it integrated with Jakarta Tomcat will make JSP development fun
and easy.

Resources
Learn
z New versions of Eclipse, Tomcat, and Java technology make some information in this article obsolete. See
"Developing Web applications with Tomcat and Eclipse," by Nathan Good in May 2007 for an update of
this article.

z "What is Eclipse and how do I use it?" provides a lot of information for users new to Eclipse.

z "The Tomcat story" contains a great background look at Jakarta Tomcat.

z The Jakarta Tomcat Web site contains a plethora of information about Tomcat.

z Expand your Eclipse skills by visiting IBM developerWorks' Eclipse project resources.

z Browse all of the Eclipse content on developerWorks.

z Visit the developerWorks Open source zone for extensive how-to information, tools, and project updates to
help you develop with open source technologies and use them with IBM's products.
 z Stay current with developerWorks technical events and webcasts.

Get products and technologies

z Download Eclipse from Eclipse.org.

z Download Tomcat from the Jakarta download page.

z Download the Java SDK V1.4.1 from the Sun Web site.

z Download the Sysdeo Tomcat plug-in from the Sysdeo Web site.

z See the latest Eclipse technology downloads at IBM alphaWorks.

z Innovate your next open source development project with IBM trial software, available for download or on
DVD.

Discuss
z Get involved in the developerWorks community by participating in developerWorks blogs.

About the author

Geoff Duck is a software developer for IBM Canada Ltd and works in the IBM center for e-business innovation in
Burnaby, BC, Canada. Geoff specializes in Java programming and design, as well as Web-based applications.