Upgrade Tomcat Version

This documentation is intended to cover the process of upgrading Tomcat "by hand". As of Railo 3.3, the Railo Installers contain an automatic update process that will trigger if you run the installer and attempt to install to a directory already containing a copy of Railo. The automatic update process is recommended unless you experience problems with it, in which case these instructions will show you how to perform a manual update so you can obtain access to the latest security and performance enhancements even without the automatic upgrade process.

Upgrading the Core Libraries

The core libraries are the easiest part of Tomcat to update, and generally this is all that's needed to take advantage of the latest bug fixes, new features, and security updates. Occasionally, more than just the libraries will need to be updated, but this varies by update, so watch the release notes to see if anything outside the core libraries was updated (e.g. web applications, windows service, controls, etc.).

To update the Tomcat libraries, simply take the following steps:

STEP 1 - Shut Down Railo/Tomcat

It could be problematic to copy over libraries while the server that utilizes them is still running, so stop the Railo/Tomcat server before proceeding with the Tomcat Upgrade.

STEP 2 - Download and Unzip Tomcat

Go to the Tomcat 7.x Download page, and download the tomcat core zip file.  The screenshot below shows the location of the file you need to download.

Once you download and unzip it, you should see a "lib" directory in the unzipped files:

STEP 3 - Create a Backup

By default, Railo is installed to C:\railo\, which means that the tomcat libraries are going to be located in C:\railo\tomcat\lib.

We need to copy the files from the core lib directory that we just downloaded, to the lib directory inside the installed tomcat. Before we do that, it would be wise to copy the C:\railo\tomcat\lib directory to use as a backup in case anything goes wrong. You can do that by running the following command from the shell:

  cp C:\railo\tomcat\lib\ C:\railo\tomcat\lib-bakup\

STEP 4 - Copy Libraries Over

Notice that our current install of Tomcat has additional files to the jars we will be copying over. You won't want to delete these drivers unless you are upgrading them as well.

STEP 5 - Start Tomcat and Check Version

Start up the Tomcat/Railo service in the services screen the same way we shut it down., From a command prompt, navigate to the main tomcat folder.  By default, this is C:\railo\tomcat.  Run the following command to determine which version is running:

Java.exe cp lib\catalina.jar org.apache.catalina.util.ServerInfo

The output should be similar to the below screenshot:

To upgrade Tomcat when you're running Lucee (i.e. Version 13.5 +), please see the Lucee article 'Manually Upgrading Tomcat'.