How to change java_opts for tomcat when we run it as a windows service manually?

Question

I'm manually running tomcat 6 as a windows service on the console. I need to change java_opts before starting it. How do I do that? Also, Is there a way I can see the logs dynamically?

Answer 1

I know this is an old thread but needed to correct some assumptions.

Just an FYI, Catalina.bat is not utilized when running tomcat as a service. here is the method to change the JAVA_OPTS for tomcat running as a windows service.

1. Open Services and click on the Tomcat service. Make a note of the service name (most likely Tomcat6).
2. cd to the Tomcat bin directory

3. Run the command

   tomcat6w //ES//Tomcat6 (substitute your service name if different)

4. Click on the Java tab

5. Add the options (each on a new line) to the Java Options box and set the initial and max memory to 1536 and 2048

   -XX:MaxPermSize=256m -Djava.awt.headless=true -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true

6. Click apply

7. Click on the general tab and restart the service

Answer 2

To change the settings, create a file named setenv.bat for windows or setenv.sh for Linux with entry as below:

Windows:

set JAVA_OPTS="-Xms256m -Xmx512m"

Linux:

export JAVA_OPTS="-Xms256m -Xmx512m"

Simply put this(setenv.bat/setenv.sh) file in %CATALINA_HOME%\\bin\\ folder. Your command file (catalina.bat/catalina.sh) already has a statement as below:

Windows:

if exist "%CATALINA_HOME%\bin\setenv.bat" call "%CATALINA_HOME%\bin\setenv.bat"

Linux:

if [ -r "$CATALINA_BASE/bin/setenv.sh" ]; then
 . "$CATALINA_BASE/bin/setenv.sh"

elif [ -r "$CATALINA_HOME/bin/setenv.sh" ]; then . "$CATALINA_HOME/bin/setenv.sh" fi This will take care the rest.

Answer 3

You can set your JAVA_OPTS environment variable either manually via the command line prior to starting Tomcat:

set JAVA_OPTS=youropts

or you can edit catalina.bat with the values you want.

Answer 4

To alter the $JAVA_OPTS , you will probably need to edit the batch file you use to start Tomcat. I don't run Tomcat on Windows, but the $JAVA_OPTS appears in my catalina.sh inside the bin/ directory on my Linux installation.

As far as viewing logs dynamically on Windows, there are a couple of options I'm aware of.

1. Download and install Cygwin, and then on the command-line, use tail -f logfilename like you would in Linux.
2. Get the BearTail program and use that to follow your log files.

Answer 5

In windows, cut the quotes on the set command. Quotes are taken literally.