Tomcat - CATALINA_BASE and CATALINA_HOME variables

If you are running multiple instances of Tomcat on a single host you should set CATALINA_BASE to be equal to the .../tomcat_instance1 or .../tomcat_instance2 directory as appropriate for each instance and the CATALINA_HOME environment variable to the common Tomcat installation whose files will be shared between the two instances.

The CATALINA_BASE environment is optional if you are running a single Tomcat instance on the host and will default to CATALINA_HOME in that case. If you are running multiple instances as you are it should be provided.

There is a pretty good description of this setup in the RUNNING.txt file in the root of the Apache Tomcat distribution under the heading Advanced Configuration - Multiple Tomcat Instances

CATALINA_HOME vs CATALINA_BASE

If you're running multiple instances, then you need both variables, otherwise only CATALINA_HOME.

In other words: CATALINA_HOME is required and CATALINA_BASE is optional.

CATALINA_HOME represents the root of your Tomcat installation.

Optionally, Tomcat may be configured for multiple instances by defining $CATALINA_BASE for each instance. If multiple instances are not configured, $CATALINA_BASE is the same as $CATALINA_HOME.

See: Apache Tomcat 7 - Introduction

Running with separate CATALINA_HOME and CATALINA_BASE is documented in RUNNING.txt which say:

The CATALINA_HOME and CATALINA_BASE environment variables are used to specify the location of Apache Tomcat and the location of its active configuration, respectively.

You cannot configure CATALINA_HOME and CATALINA_BASE variables in the setenv script, because they are used to find that file.

For example:

(4.1) Tomcat can be started by executing one of the following commands:

  %CATALINA_HOME%\bin\startup.bat         (Windows)

  $CATALINA_HOME/bin/startup.sh           (Unix)

or

  %CATALINA_HOME%\bin\catalina.bat start  (Windows)

  $CATALINA_HOME/bin/catalina.sh start    (Unix)

Multiple Tomcat Instances

In many circumstances, it is desirable to have a single copy of a Tomcat binary distribution shared among multiple users on the same server. To make this possible, you can set the CATALINA_BASE environment variable to the directory that contains the files for your 'personal' Tomcat instance.

When running with a separate CATALINA_HOME and CATALINA_BASE, the files and directories are split as following:

In CATALINA_BASE:

• bin - Only: setenv.sh (*nix) or setenv.bat (Windows), tomcat-juli.jar
• conf - Server configuration files (including server.xml)
• lib - Libraries and classes, as explained below
• logs - Log and output files
• webapps - Automatically loaded web applications
• work - Temporary working directories for web applications
• temp - Directory used by the JVM for temporary files>

In CATALINA_HOME:

• bin - Startup and shutdown scripts
• lib - Libraries and classes, as explained below
• endorsed - Libraries that override standard "Endorsed Standards". By default it's absent.

How to check

The easiest way to check what's your CATALINA_BASE and CATALINA_HOME is by running startup.sh, for example:

$ /usr/share/tomcat7/bin/startup.sh
Using CATALINA_BASE:   /usr/share/tomcat7
Using CATALINA_HOME:   /usr/share/tomcat7

You may also check where the Tomcat files are installed, by dpkg tool as below (Debian/Ubuntu):

dpkg -L tomcat7-common

Pointing CATALINA_BASE to a different directory from CATALINA_HOME allows you to separate the configuration directory from the binaries directory.

By default, CATALINA_BASE (configurations) and CATALINA_HOME (binaries) point to the same folder, but separating the configurations from the binaries can help you to run multiple instances of Tomcat side by side without duplicating the binaries.

It is also useful when you want to update the binaries, without modifying, or needing to backup/restore your configuration files for Tomcat.

Update 2018

There is an easier way to set CATALINA_BASE now with the makebase utility. I have posted a tutorial that covers this subject at http://blog.rasia.io/blog/how-to-easily-setup-lucee-in-tomcat.html along with a video tutorial at https://youtu.be/nuugoG5c-7M

Original answer continued below

To take advantage of this feature, simply create the config directory and point to it with the CATALINA_BASE environment variable. You will have to put some files in that directory:

• Copy the conf directory from the original Tomcat installation directory, including its contents, and ensure that Tomcat has read permissions to it. Edit the configuration files according to your needs.
• Create a logs directory if conf/logging.properties points to ${catalina.base}/logs, and ensure that Tomcat has read/write permissions to it.
• Create a temp directory if you are not overriding the default of $CATALINA_TMPDIR which points to ${CATALINA_BASE}/temp, and ensure that Tomcat has write permissions to it.
• Create a work directory which defaults to ${CATALINA_BASE}/work, and ensure that Tomcat has write permissions to it.

I can't say I know the best practice, but here's my perspective.

Are you using these variables for anything?

Personally, I haven't needed to change neither, on Linux nor Windows, in environments varying from development to production. Unless you are doing something particular that relies on them, chances are you could leave them alone.

catalina.sh sets the variables that Tomcat needs to work out of the box. It also says that CATALINA_BASE is optional:

#   CATALINA_HOME   May point at your Catalina "build" directory.
#
#   CATALINA_BASE   (Optional) Base directory for resolving dynamic portions
#                   of a Catalina installation.  If not present, resolves to
#                   the same directory that CATALINA_HOME points to.

I'm pretty sure you'll find out whether or not your setup works when you start your server.

CATALINA_BASE is optional.

However, in the following scenarios it helps to setup CATALINA_BASE that is separate from CATALINA_HOME.

1. When more than 1 instances of tomcat are running on same host

   • This helps have only 1 runtime of tomcat installation, with multiple CATALINA_BASE server configurations running on separate ports.
   • If any patching, or version upgrade needs be, only 1 installation changes required, or need to be tested/verified/signed-off.

2. Separation of concern (Single responsibility)

   • Tomcat runtime is standard and does not change during every release process. i.e. Tomcat binaries
   • Release process may add more stuff as webapplication (webapps folder), environment configuration (conf directory), logs/temp/work directory