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Example of using Tomcat in Windows for CGI without web server
Tomcat, CGI, and no web server
HOW-TO Setup Windows XP and Tomcat for CGI using DOS Batch Files
by Sean aka Time Traveler![[rockband]](/data/assets/smilies/rockband.gif "[rockband] [rockband]")
If you're someone who wants to dabble in how to setup some CGI in Tomcat and don't want to install a lot of other software, it's possible to do a fairly quick experiment this way usiing just Tomcat and some batch files.
This "FAQ" is really a tutorial on understanding directory relationships in Tomcat as far as CGI is concerned and mostly default settings.
Software Stack:
Assuming no Apache nor any type of perl is available (or desired)...
[ul]
[li]Windows XP Home (proabably for other versions of Windows, too)[/li]
[li]Tomcat 5.5 (maybe other versions of Tomcat)[/li]
[/ul]
Setup:
[ol]
[li]Install Tomcat from binary in .zip file[/li]
[li]Under Control Panel > System > Advanced > Environment Variables add the variable CATALINA_HOME and Tomcat's install path as a value[/li]
[li]If just using Tomcat and no webserver, edit port in %CATALINA_HOME%\conf\server.xml to port 80.[/li]
[li]In [tt]%CATALINA_HOME%\server\lib[/tt] rename [tt]servlets-cgi.renametojar[/tt] to [tt]servlets-cgi.jar[/tt][/li]
[li]In [tt]%CATALINA_HOME%\conf\web.xml[/tt] uncomment cgi servlet and cgi mapping block[/li]
[li]In [tt]%CATALINA_HOME%\conf\web.xml[/tt] in the cgi servlet block insert the parameter for [tt]executable[/tt] and set it to [tt]cmd /q /c[/tt][/li]
[li]GOTCHA-ALERT SSI servlet and SSI mapping code blocks must also be uncommented to use any other [tt]webapps\*\WEB-INF\cgi\[/tt] directories, otherwise only [tt]webapps\ROOT\WEB-INF\cgi[/tt] will be active.[/li]
[li]In [tt]%CATALINA_HOME%\webapps[/tt] create following files and directory scheme:[/li]
[ul square]
[li]webapps[/li]
[ul square]
[li]ROOT\[/li]
[ul square]
[li]WEB-INF\[/li]
[ul square]
[li]cgi\[/li]
[ul square]
[li]foo.bat[/li]
[/ul]
[/ul]
[/ul]
[li]foo\[/li]
[ul square]
[li]index.jsp[/li]
[li]WEB-INF\[/li]
[ul square]
[li]web.xml[/li]
[/ul]
[/ul]
[/ul]
[/ul]
[li]Edit [tt]webapps\ROOT\WEB-INF\cgi\foo.bat[/tt], [tt]foo\index.jsp[/tt] and [tt]foo\WEB-INF\web.xml[/tt] above per code examples below[/li]
[li]Start Tomcat and load '/foo' web app per Tomcat instructions [/li]
[li]Load [tt]http://localhost/foo[/tt] into your browser and you should see the title 'Foo', plus current time and location of CGI directory.[/li]
[/ol]
Code Examples:
Good luck. -S
by Sean aka Time Traveler
If you're someone who wants to dabble in how to setup some CGI in Tomcat and don't want to install a lot of other software, it's possible to do a fairly quick experiment this way usiing just Tomcat and some batch files.
This "FAQ" is really a tutorial on understanding directory relationships in Tomcat as far as CGI is concerned and mostly default settings.
Software Stack:
Assuming no Apache nor any type of perl is available (or desired)...
[ul]
[li]Windows XP Home (proabably for other versions of Windows, too)[/li]
[li]Tomcat 5.5 (maybe other versions of Tomcat)[/li]
[/ul]
Setup:
[ol]
[li]Install Tomcat from binary in .zip file[/li]
[li]Under Control Panel > System > Advanced > Environment Variables add the variable CATALINA_HOME and Tomcat's install path as a value[/li]
[li]If just using Tomcat and no webserver, edit port in %CATALINA_HOME%\conf\server.xml to port 80.[/li]
[li]In [tt]%CATALINA_HOME%\server\lib[/tt] rename [tt]servlets-cgi.renametojar[/tt] to [tt]servlets-cgi.jar[/tt][/li]
[li]In [tt]%CATALINA_HOME%\conf\web.xml[/tt] uncomment cgi servlet and cgi mapping block[/li]
[li]In [tt]%CATALINA_HOME%\conf\web.xml[/tt] in the cgi servlet block insert the parameter for [tt]executable[/tt] and set it to [tt]cmd /q /c[/tt][/li]
[li]GOTCHA-ALERT SSI servlet and SSI mapping code blocks must also be uncommented to use any other [tt]webapps\*\WEB-INF\cgi\[/tt] directories, otherwise only [tt]webapps\ROOT\WEB-INF\cgi[/tt] will be active.[/li]
[li]In [tt]%CATALINA_HOME%\webapps[/tt] create following files and directory scheme:[/li]
[ul square]
[li]webapps[/li]
[ul square]
[li]ROOT\[/li]
[ul square]
[li]WEB-INF\[/li]
[ul square]
[li]cgi\[/li]
[ul square]
[li]foo.bat[/li]
[/ul]
[/ul]
[/ul]
[li]foo\[/li]
[ul square]
[li]index.jsp[/li]
[li]WEB-INF\[/li]
[ul square]
[li]web.xml[/li]
[/ul]
[/ul]
[/ul]
[/ul]
[li]Edit [tt]webapps\ROOT\WEB-INF\cgi\foo.bat[/tt], [tt]foo\index.jsp[/tt] and [tt]foo\WEB-INF\web.xml[/tt] above per code examples below[/li]
[li]Start Tomcat and load '/foo' web app per Tomcat instructions [/li]
[li]Load [tt]http://localhost/foo[/tt] into your browser and you should see the title 'Foo', plus current time and location of CGI directory.[/li]
[/ol]
Code Examples:
Code:
<!-- Filename %CATALINA_HOME%\conf\web.xml -->
...
<!-- uncomment the cgi servlet in ...\conf\web.xml -->
<servlet>
<servlet-name>cgi</servlet-name>
...
<!-- add this block here so it knows to use 'cmd' instead of 'perl' -->
<init-param>
<param-name>executable</param-name>
<param-value>cmd /q /c</param-value>
</init-param>
...
</servlet>
<!-- uncomment the cgi mapping block as well -->
Code:
<!-- filename: %CATALINA_HOME%\conf\server.xml -->
<!-- If not using a webserver, change line ~77 <Connector port"8080" to... -->
...
<Connector port "80"
...
Code:
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<!--
filename: %CATALINA_HOME%\webapps\foo\index.jsp
purpose: Test CGI batch file output on WinXP, Tomcat 5.5, no webserver
input: User clicks link(s) to test CGI
output: HTML generated by foo.bat
comments: Probably the ugliest HTML page, but useful...
-->
<% String title = "Foo JSP" %>
<%!
static final String[] foo = {
"/cgi-bin/foo.bat",
"./WEB-INF/cgi/foo.bat",
"foo.bat"
};
%>
<title><%= title %></title>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<H1><%= title %></H1>
<hr>
<%
for (int bar = 0; bar < foo.length; bar++) {
String bat = foo[bar];
%>
<A HREF="<%= bat %>" TARGET="_self"><%= bat %></A>
<FORM METHOD="POST" ACTION="<%= bat %>"><INPUT TYPE="submit" VALUE="<%= bat %> POST"></FORM>
<HR>
<% } %>
<HR>
</BODY>
</HTML>
Code:
:: filename: %CATALINA_HOME%\foo\WEB-INF\cgi\foo.bat
:: purpose: Output HTML via CGI
:: input: None
:: output: Via HTML current time and directory on system
:: comments: No echo off needed if executable includes switch /q
:: Remember to escape special characters with a carot(^)
echo Content-type: text/html
echo.
echo.
echo ^<HTML^>
echo ^<BODY^>
echo ^<H1^>Foo^</H1^>
echo ^<P^>Time is:
time /t
echo ^</P^>
echo ^<P^>Location is:
chdir
echo ^</P^>
echo ^</BODY^>
echo ^</HTML^>
Code:
:: filename: %CATALINA_HOME%\foo\WEB-INF\cgi\drag_bat_here.bat
:: purpose: Test .bat file output before using in Tomcat
:: input: Drag foo.bat icon over this file's icon in Windows to test, user
:: must press any key for cmd window to terminate
:: output: What will go into the CGI servlet, but only to a cmd screen for viewing
cmd.exe /q /c "%1"
pause
Code:
<?xml versioin="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<!--
filename: %CATALINA_HOME%\webapps\foo\WEB-INF\web.xml
purpose: Put a viewable title in http://localhost/manager/html
input: None
output: Per xml web-app usage
-->
<web-app>
<display-name>Foo</display-name>
<description>Welcome to Foo</description>
</web-app>Good luck. -S