how to create a temporary file in /tmp from a servlet?

Question

I am using File.createTempFile from within a Servlet (the createTempFile version with only prefix and suffix but without a File argument).

According to the javadoc this should create a file in the system's default temporary directory (in my case /tmp ). Instead, the file gets created in /tmp/tomcat7-tomcat7-tmp/ .

Why the strange temporary file location and how can I change it to the "normal" temporary file location for my system?

Answer 1

Java uses system property java.io.tmpdir to get current temporary directory. As far as I remember one of the scripts that run tomcat sets this variable to what you mentioned. If it is imprtant for you you should re-write this variable. Try to grep tomcat scripts, find this place and override it. Probably you can set JAVA_OPTS=$JAVA_OPTS java.io.tmpdir=/tmp or something like this when running tomcat. (Obviously the syntax depends on your OS).