Migrating from Open Source (OSS) Apache Tomcat to Tanzu tc Server

Products

• VMware Tanzu Spring Runtime

Issue/Introduction

Customers using Open Source Software (OSS) Apache Tomcat may need to migrate to VMware Tanzu tc Server to gain enterprise-grade management, security hardening, and commercial support. The primary challenge is ensuring a "drop-in" migration that maintains application parity and configuration consistency without significant downtime or architectural changes.

Environment

• Source: OSS Apache Tomcat (Versions 7.0, 8.5, 9.0, 10.1, or 11.0)
• Target: VMware Tanzu tc Server (Versions 4.1, 10.1, or 11.0)
• OS: RHEL, Ubuntu, Windows, or air-gapped environments

Resolution

Tanzu tc Server is designed as a direct commercial replacement for OSS Apache Tomcat. Follow these steps to perform a technical migration:

1. Version Matching

Identify your current OSS Tomcat version and match it to the corresponding tc Runtime.

• Example: If migrating from Tomcat 11.x, use tc Server 11.x to ensure binary and configuration parity.

2. Backup Existing Configuration

Before beginning, stop the OSS Tomcat service and create a full backup of the following:

• Configuration: The /conf directory (including server.xml, web.xml, and context.xml).
• Applications: The /webapps directory and all .war files.

3. Install and Initialize tc Server

Install the Tanzu tc Server package and use the Command Line Interface (CLI) to create a new instance that matches your target version.

tcserver create <my-instance-name> --version <tomcat-version>

4. Migration of Artifacts

• Custom Configs: Move custom settings from the old OSS Tomcat /conf folder into the new tc Server instance folder.
• Deployments: Copy .war files from the old /webapps directory to the new instance's /webapps directory.
• Optimization: Review conf/tc-server.properties to utilize tc Server-specific variables or configuration templates for easier management.

5. Start and Verification

Launch the new instance and monitor the logs to confirm successful deployment:

bash

tcserver start <my-instance-name>tcserver logs <my-instance-name>

 

 

Additional Information

For detailed upgrade best practices and property references, see the official Tanzu tc Server Documentation.

Related Articles:

• What is the support policy for tc Server and tomcat?
• How to configure keystore and truststore properties for Tanzu tc Server 10.1+