Change the root context to other folder in tomcat 6

Question

I want to change the context of my deployed web application. Currently it is accessed by the url www.app.mysite.com/dashboard

But i want to change it t

Answer 1

I doubt whether this is possible in tomcat. Best would be to use apache http server or else, create two applications one with context root application (dummy application) with a servlet to route all the request to dashboard.

Let me know if you are able to do this in tomcat in a better way

Answer 2

This is a way to do it (step-by-step):

1. Put your expanded WAR in a directory outside of webapps. My TOMCAT_HOME is /home/nikos/apache-tomcat-6.0.37 and I placed my app in the folder myapp under a new folder: $TOMCAT_HOME/webapps-manual. I.e. the folder structure is:

   $TOMCAT_HOME
   |
   +- ...
   |
   +- webapps (NOT HERE!!!)
   |
   +- webapps-manual
      |
      +- myapp
         |
         +- index.jsp
         |
         +- WEB-INF
            |
            +- web.xml (optional)
   

2. Edit TOMCAT_ROOT/conf/server.xml. Add the following <Context> under the appropriate <Host> element (there is probably only one):

   <Host ...>
       <Context
           path="/application/dashboard"
           docBase="/home/nikos/apache-tomcat-6.0.37/webapps-manual/myapp"
       />
   </Host>
   

3. DONE! Open http://localhost:8080/application/dashboard/index.jsp and see content generated by $TOMCAT_HOME/webapps-manual/myapp/index.jsp.

See relevant documentation here (see attributes path and docBase).