Introduction

Apache Tomcat is the Java web server that runs the PhixFlow web application. This page explains how to install Tomcat on Windows and Windows Server.

Prerequisites

The following instructions assume that:

Download
1. To find the latest version, go to the Tomcat downloads page: https://tomcat.apache.org/download-90.cgi
2. Find the latest Binary Distributions section, then the Core sub-heading, and click on 32-bit/64-bit Windows Service Installer.
Install
1. Run the installer.
2. When prompted to Choose Install Location, set Destination Folder to a short folder name with no spaces. We recommend: c:/app/tomcat9.
  
  Do not accept the default Destination Folder as this will result in path names that are too long and/or contain spaces. This will prevent the PhixFlow webapp from starting.
3. Accept all other recommended defaults.

You must configure the service wrapper before using it to start Tomcat.

Java 8

-Djava.awt.headless=true
-XX:+PrintGCDetails
-XX:+PrintGCDateStamps
-Xloggc:C:\tomcat\logs\gc-%t.log

Java 11

-Djava.awt.headless=true
-Xlog:gc=debug:file=C:\tomcat\logs\gc-%t.log:time,uptimemillis,tid

Add the required memory sizes to Initial Memory Pool and Maximum Memory Pool.
Switch to the General tab to set the Startup Type. If you want to start/stop Tomcat:
- manually, set Manual
- automatically when Windows starts, set Automatic.

You do not need to run Tomcat under a service account for temporary or ad-hoc systems. In this case you can use the default Local System account.

To ensure Tomcat remains running for long periods, we recommend running it under a service account.

From this point on, you can use Monitor Tomcat to start or stop Tomcat.