tomcat-ansible-role

Ansible role to install and configure Apache Tomcat on CentOS/RHEL.

Requirements

• Tomcat supported versions by this role:
  • 7.0
  • 8.0
  • 8.5
  • 9.0 (9.0.1 or later)
• CentOS/RHEL 7
• SELinux disabled

Installation

$ ansible-galaxy install zaxos.tomcat-ansible-role

Example Playbook

- hosts: servers
  become: true
  vars:
    tomcat_version: 8.5.23
    
    tomcat_permissions_production: True
    
    tomcat_users:
      - username: "tomcat"
        password: "t3mpp@ssw0rd"
        roles: "tomcat,admin,manager,manager-gui"
      - username: "exampleuser"
        password: "us3rp@ssw0rd"
        roles: "tomcat"        
  roles:
    - role: zaxos.tomcat-ansible-role

Role Variables

The main variable:

• tomcat_version: tomcat version to install

Some variables that require review:

• tomcat_install_java: True
  By default OpenJDK Java will be installed. Change it to "False" if you don't want OpenJDK Java to be installed by this role.
• tomcat_java_version: 1.8
  OpenJDK Java version to be installed. Default is "1.8". Currently, latest OpenJDK Java version is "11".
• tomcat_install_path: /opt
  Location in which tomcat will be installed. Default is "/opt".
• JVM memory management:
  You can set the minimum and maximum memory heap size with the following JVM -Xms and -Xmx variables as a percentage of the total system memory. For example, for a 2GB RAM system, using the default values: Xms=307m (15% of 2048MB), Xmx=1126m (55% of 2048MB).
  • tomcat_jvm_memory_percentage_xms: 15
  • tomcat_jvm_memory_percentage_xmx: 55
• tomcat_allow_manager_access_only_from_localhost: False
  If set to "True", tomcat manager app will be accessible only from localhost for security reasons. (This behavior is default for Tomcat 8.5 and 9.0)
• tomcat_allow_host_manager_access_only_from_localhost: False
  If set to "True", tomcat host manager app will be accessible only from localhost for security reasons. (This behavior is default for Tomcat 8.5 and 9.0)
• tomcat_users: List of tomcat users to be created. See example for the expected format.
• tomcat_debug_mode: False
  Change it to "True" in order to configure tomcat to allow remote debugging. Default debug port is set to tcp/8000 (you can change it through the corresponding variable).

File permissions:

• tomcat_permissions_production: False
  For production installation, set this variable to "True" for more strict security. For development or low-security/more-ease installation, set this variable to "False". Default is "False".
  • If set to "True", all tomcat files are owned by root with group tomcat. Owner has read/write privileges, group only has read and world has no permissions. The exceptions are the logs, temp and work directory that are owned by the tomcat user rather than root.
  • If set to "False", all tomcat files are owned by tomcat with group tomcat. Owner and group has read/write privileges and world only has read permissions.
• tomcat_webapps_auto_deployment: True
  For better security, auto-deployment should be disabled and web applications should be deployed as exploded directories. If auto-deployment is disabled, set this to "False". This variable makes sense only for production installation (if tomcat_permissions_production is "True"). Default is "True".
  • If set to "True", webapps subdirectory is owned by tomcat with group tomcat.
  • If set to "False", webapps subdirectory is owned by root with group tomcat.
• tomcat_permissions_ensure_on_every_run: True
  If set to "True", file permissions are ensured on every playbook run. If set to "False", file permissions are set only when tomcat is installed (on first playbook run).

Tomcat ports:

• tomcat_port_connector: 8080
• tomcat_port_shutdown: 8005
• tomcat_port_redirect: 8443
• tomcat_port_ajp: 8009
• tomcat_port_debug: 8000

Some defaults (probably not requiring tampering):

• tomcat_service_name: tomcat
• tomcat_service_enabled_on_startup: True
• tomcat_java_home: /usr/lib/jvm/jre
• tomcat_downloadURL: https://archive.apache.org/dist
• tomcat_user: tomcat
• tomcat_group: tomcat
• tomcat_listen_address: 0.0.0.0
• tomcat_temp_download_path: /tmp/ansibletomcattempdir

Custom templates for server.xml, users.xml, systemd service file, etc.:

• In case the default templates don't suit your needs, you can use your own custom templates by changing the following variables:
  • tomcat_template_server
  • tomcat_template_users
  • tomcat_template_systemd_service
  • tomcat_template_manager_context
  • tomcat_template_host_manager_context

Optional variables (by default undefined):

• You can set custom user uid and group gid for homogeneity across multiple servers. For example:
  • tomcat_user_uid: 500
  • tomcat_group_gid: 500

In case of uninstallation:

• tomcat_state: absent
  • To uninstall tomcat that was installed using this role, set this variable to "absent". Default value is "present".
• tomcat_uninstall_create_backup: True
  By default, in a better safe than sorry basis, a backup tar archive will be created at "tomcat_install_path" before deletion.
• tomcat_uninstall_remove_java: False
  Change it to "True" to uninstall Java after tomcat is uninstalled.
• By default, tomcat user and group will be removed. Change to "False" to preserve them after tomcat is uninstalled.
  • tomcat_uninstall_remove_user: True
  • tomcat_uninstall_remove_group: True
• tomcat_uninstall_remove_all: False
  In order to override the above values and uninstall everything, set it to "True".

Variables for Disconnected remote environment:

• tomcat_remote_is_disconnected: False Change it to "True" if your remote host (managed host) is offline and cannot access internet.