Apache Tomcat 9

Windows service HOW-TO

Table of Contents

Tomcat service application

Tomcat9 is a service application for running Tomcat 9 as a Windows service.

Tomcat monitor application

Tomcat9w 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 Tomcat9
//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 line parameter is prefixed with —. If the command line parameter 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:

is equivalent to providing

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 (i.e. find the JVM from the Windows registry) 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. If you need to embed either # or ; characters, put them inside single quotes. (Not used in exe mode.)
—JvmOptions9	List of options in the form of -D or -X that will be passed to the JVM when running on Java 9 or later. The options are separated using either # or ; characters. If you need to embed either # or ; characters, put them inside single quotes. (Not used in exe mode.)
—Classpath	Set the Java classpath. (Not used in exe mode.)
—JvmMs	Initial memory pool size in MB. (Not used in exe mode.)
—JvmMx	Maximum memory pool size in MB. (Not used in exe mode.)
—JvmSs	Thread stack size in KB. (Not used in exe mode.)
—StartMode	One of jvm, Java or exe. The modes are: jvm — start Java in-process. Depends on jvm.dll, see —Jvm. Java — same as exe, but automatically uses the default Java executable, i.e. %JAVA_HOME%\bin\java.exe. Make sure JAVA_HOME is set correctly, or use —JavaHome to provide the correct location. If neither is set, procrun will try to find the default JDK (not JRE) from the Windows registry. exe — run the image as a separate process
—StartImage	Executable that will be run. Only applies to exe mode.
—StartPath	Working path for the start image executable.
—StartClass	Main	Class that contains the startup method. Applies to the jvm and Java modes. (Not used in exe mode.)
—StartMethod	main	Method name if differs then main
—StartParams	List of parameters that will be passed to either StartImage or StartClass. Parameters are separated using either # or ; character.
—StopMode	One of jvm, Java or exe. See —StartMode for further details.
—StopImage	Executable that will be run on Stop service signal. Only applies to exe mode.
—StopPath	Working path for the stop image executable. Does not apply to jvm mode.
—StopClass	Main	Class that will be used on Stop service signal. Applies to the jvm and Java modes.
—StopMethod	main	Method name if differs then main
—StopParams	List of parameters that will be passed to either StopImage or StopClass. Parameters are separated using either # or ; character.
—StopTimeout	No Timeout	Defines the timeout in seconds that procrun waits for service to exit gracefully.
—LogPath	%SystemRoot%\System32\LogFiles\Apache	Defines the path for logging. Creates the directory if necessary.
—LogPrefix	commons-daemon	Defines the service log filename prefix. The log file is created in the LogPath directory with .YEAR-MONTH-DAY.log suffix
—LogLevel	Info	Defines the logging level and can be either Error, Info, Warn or Debug. (Case insensitive).
—StdOutput	Redirected stdout filename. If named auto then file is created inside LogPath with the name service-stdout.YEAR-MONTH-DAY.log.
—StdError	Redirected stderr filename. If named auto then file is created inside LogPath with the name service-stderr.YEAR-MONTH-DAY.log.
—PidFile	Defines the file name for storing the running process id. Actual file is created in the LogPath directory

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 later operating system with User Account Control (UAC) enabled you will be asked for additional privileges when ‘Tomcat9.exe’ is launched by the script.
If you want to pass additional options to service installer as PR_* environment variables, you have to either configure them globally in OS, or launch the program that sets them with elevated privileges (e.g. right-click on cmd.exe and select «Run as administrator»; 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). See issue 56143 for details.

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

If using tomcat9.exe, you need to use the //IS// parameter.

Apache Tomcat 9

Windows Service How-To

Table of Contents

Tomcat service application

Tomcat9 is a service application for running Tomcat 9 as a Windows service.

Tomcat monitor application

Tomcat9w 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 Tomcat9
//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 line parameter is prefixed with —. If the command line parameter 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:

is equivalent to providing

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 (i.e. find the JVM from the Windows registry) 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. If you need to embed either # or ; characters, put them inside single quotes. (Not used in exe mode.)
—JvmOptions9	List of options in the form of -D or -X that will be passed to the JVM when running on Java 9 or later. The options are separated using either # or ; characters. If you need to embed either # or ; characters, put them inside single quotes. (Not used in exe mode.)
—Classpath	Set the Java classpath. (Not used in exe mode.)
—JvmMs	Initial memory pool size in MB. (Not used in exe mode.)
—JvmMx	Maximum memory pool size in MB. (Not used in exe mode.)
—JvmSs	Thread stack size in KB. (Not used in exe mode.)
—StartMode	One of jvm, Java or exe. The modes are: jvm — start Java in-process. Depends on jvm.dll, see —Jvm. Java — same as exe, but automatically uses the default Java executable, i.e. %JAVA_HOME%\bin\java.exe. Make sure JAVA_HOME is set correctly, or use —JavaHome to provide the correct location. If neither is set, procrun will try to find the default JDK (not JRE) from the Windows registry. exe — run the image as a separate process
—StartImage	Executable that will be run. Only applies to exe mode.
—StartPath	Working path for the start image executable.
—StartClass	Main	Class that contains the startup method. Applies to the jvm and Java modes. (Not used in exe mode.)
—StartMethod	main	Method name if differs then main
—StartParams	List of parameters that will be passed to either StartImage or StartClass. Parameters are separated using either # or ; character.
—StopMode	One of jvm, Java or exe. See —StartMode for further details.
—StopImage	Executable that will be run on Stop service signal. Only applies to exe mode.
—StopPath	Working path for the stop image executable. Does not apply to jvm mode.
—StopClass	Main	Class that will be used on Stop service signal. Applies to the jvm and Java modes.
—StopMethod	main	Method name if differs then main
—StopParams	List of parameters that will be passed to either StopImage or StopClass. Parameters are separated using either # or ; character.
—StopTimeout	No Timeout	Defines the timeout in seconds that procrun waits for service to exit gracefully.
—LogPath	%SystemRoot%\System32\LogFiles\Apache	Defines the path for logging. Creates the directory if necessary.
—LogPrefix	commons-daemon	Defines the service log filename prefix. The log file is created in the LogPath directory with .YEAR-MONTH-DAY.log suffix
—LogLevel	Info	Defines the logging level and can be either Error, Info, Warn or Debug. (Case insensitive).
—StdOutput	Redirected stdout filename. If named auto then file is created inside LogPath with the name service-stdout.YEAR-MONTH-DAY.log.
—StdError	Redirected stderr filename. If named auto then file is created inside LogPath with the name service-stderr.YEAR-MONTH-DAY.log.
—PidFile	Defines the file name for storing the running process id. Actual file is created in the LogPath directory

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: If User Account Control (UAC) is enabled you will be asked for additional privileges when ‘Tomcat9.exe’ is launched by the script.
If you want to pass additional options to service installer as PR_* environment variables, you have to either configure them globally in OS, or launch the program that sets them with elevated privileges (e.g. right-click on cmd.exe and select «Run as administrator»; 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). See issue 56143 for details.

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

When installing the service with a non-default name, tomcat9.exe and tomcat9w.exe may be renamed to match the chosen service name. To do this, use the —rename option.

If using tomcat9.exe, you need to use the //IS// parameter.