Overview - Tomcat 6

This Release Note covers all point releases for Tomcat 6 that are offered by eApps. Upgrade instructions are included.

Tomcat 6 is only available for Virtual Servers running CentOS 6 and CentOS 7. If you are on a CentOS 5 (Webmin) or CentOS 4 (VPS) plan and need Tomcat 6, you will need to migrate to a CentOS 6 or CentOS 7 plan. Contact eApps Sales for more information.

Tomcat 6 is a major release of the Tomcat application server. This release has introduced new functionality and significant changes to the existing Tomcat server. If you are upgrading from any prior version of Tomcat to Tomcat 6, there is a HIGH RISK of data loss and downtime if you do not carefully test your existing database and application with this new version.

eApps recommends, as a best practice, to maintain a staging server where you can test software upgrades before moving them into production. This approach will allow you to minimize the risk of data loss and downtime of your production service when performing software upgrades. If necessary, you can rebuild your staging Virtual Server on demand so that you have a fresh installation to test on. If you need more information about setting up a Virtual Server for staging or testing, please contact eApps Sales.

IMPORTANT: Tomcat 6 has an extensive list of new features and changes. See the Official Tomcat 6 Release Notes for a list of changes that may cause issues when upgrading: http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-6.0-doc/RELEASE-NOTES.txt. Please read this document carefully to understand all the changes in the Tomcat 6 release. Upgrading to this version may significantly impact the operation of your database and applications. All Tomcat 6 documentation is located here: http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-6.0-doc/index.html

eApps Release Notes for Tomcat 6.0.44
eApps Release Notes for Tomcat 6.0.43
eApps Release Notes for Tomcat 6.0.41
eApps Release Notes for Tomcat 6.0.37
eApps Release Notes for Tomcat 6.0.36

How to Upgrade
Tomcat 6 to Tomcat 6 (newer version)
Tomcat 6 to Tomcat 7

Highlighted Features and Fixes in Tomcat 6.0.44

Features

Tomcat 6.0.44 is a bug fix and security release, no new features have been added.

Fixes

• Fixed a potential infinite loop in HTTP keep alive requests
• Improvements in Tomcat Manager documentation
• Strings are now correctly quoted in extended access log

The official Release Notes for Tomcat 6.0.44 are available here - http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-6.0-doc/RELEASE-NOTES.txt. The ChangeLog is available here - http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-6.0-doc/changelog.html

Highlighted Features and Fixes in Tomcat 6.0.43

Features

Tomcat 6.0.43 is a bug fix and security release, no new features have been added.

Fixes

• Fixed timestamps to use 24-hour format and UTC
• Added TLS v1.1 and v1.2 support for APR connector
• Disabled SSLv3 by default (for POODLE vulnerability)

The official Release Notes for Tomcat 6.0.43 are no longer available. Please see the ChangeLog, and scroll down to find the relevant information for this specific release: http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-6.0-doc/changelog.html

Highlighted Features and Fixes in Tomcat 6.0.41

Features

Tomcat 6.0.41 is a bug fix release, no features have been added.

Fixes

• Avoid NoSuchElementException while handling attributes with empty string value in custom tags

The official Release Notes for Tomcat 6.0.41 are no longer available. Please see the ChangeLog, and scroll down to find the relevant information for this specific release: http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-6.0-doc/changelog.html

Highlighted Features and Fixes in Tomcat 6.0.37

Tomcat 6.0.37 is a bug fix and security release, no new features have been added.

Fixes

• Reduce log-level for invalid cookies
• Update Apache Commons Daemon
• Add SSL version number INFO to logs

The official Release Notes for Tomcat 6.0.37 are no longer available. Please see the ChangeLog, and scroll down to find the relevant information for this specific release: http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-6.0-doc/changelog.html

Highlighted Features and Fixes in Tomcat 6.0.36

Features

Tomcat 6.0.36 is a bug fix and security release, no new features have been added.

Fixes

• Fixed possible corruption of GZIP'd output
• Add OpenSSL version number INFO log message when initializing
• Change the index page of ROOT webapp to mention "manager-gui" role instead of "manager" one

The official Release Notes for Tomcat 6.0.36 are no longer available. Please see the ChangeLog, and scroll down to find the relevant information for this specific release: http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-6.0-doc/changelog.html

How to Upgrade

It is your responsibility to ensure that your application will work on the newer version of Tomcat. There may be incompatibilities that will affect how your application works. Please make sure that you have read the official Release Notes and Changelog, and have done any necessary testing before upgrading a production application.

Before upgrading Tomcat 6, make a backup of your database. See the MySQL, MariaDB, or PostgreSQL User Guides for more information.

You should also make a backup of your application, your configuration, and any tunings or changes you have made. If you do not have current backups and something goes wrong during the upgrade process, you could have data loss.

To upgrade Tomcat, you will need to work from the command line using SSH, and you will need to be able to work as the root user. You will need to use yum to upgrade the application.

Tomcat 6 to Tomcat 6 (newer version)

Before upgrading, make a backup of your applications (usually in /opt/tomcat6/webapps), any configuration files you have changed, and your data. This way you can redeploy your applications if necessary after the upgrade.

Upgrade Tomcat using the yum update tomcat6 command.

[root@eapps-example ~]# yum update tomcat6

Once the update completes, test your existing applications.

Tomcat 6 to Tomcat 7

If you want to move from Tomcat 6 to Tomcat 7, you will need to uninstall Tomcat 6, and then install Tomcat 7. Please see the Tomcat 7 Release Notes for more information - http://support.eapps.com/vm/release/tomcat7