Tomcat not running on Amazon EC2, Redhat Instance

Question

I'm a java application developer, and don't know much about linux configuration.

I'm trying to install Java and Tomcat to a fresh Redhat instance on Amazon EC2, and executed the below script.

mkdir /usr/local/java
cd /usr/local/java
curl http://download.oracle.com/otn-pub/java/jdk/7u2-b13/jdk-7u2-linux-i586.rpm > jdk.rpm
rpm -iv jdk.rpm

updatedb; locate javac | grep bin  # this step merely serves to verify the installation
/usr/sbin/alternatives --install /usr/bin/java java /usr/java/jdk1.7.0_02/bin/java 100
/usr/sbin/alternatives --install /usr/bin/jar jar /usr/java/jdk1.7.0_02/bin/jar 100
/usr/sbin/alternatives --install /usr/bin/javac javac /usr/java/jdk1.7.0_02/bin/javac 100
/usr/sbin/alternatives --config java
updatedb

mkdir /env
mkdir /env/tomcat
cd /env/tomcat
curl http://www.gtlib.gatech.edu/pub/apache/tomcat/tomcat-7/v7.0.23/bin/apache-tomcat-7.0.23.tar.gz > apache-tomcat-7.0.23.tar.gz
tar zxvf apache-tomcat-7.0.23.tar.gz
cd apache-tomcat-7.0.23
bin/startup.sh # 

At this point, http://ec2-23-20-24-96.compute-1.amazonaws.com:8080/ was expected to return Tomcat homepage, but it didn't :(

cd /etc/rc.d/init.d/
vi tomcat

I pasted the below content to the file:

#!/bin/sh
# Tomcat init script for Linux.
#
# chkconfig: 2345 96 14
# description: The Apache Tomcat servlet/JSP container.

JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/jdk1.7.0_02
CATALINA_HOME=/env/tomcat/apache-tomcat-7.0.23
export JAVA_HOME CATALINA_HOME

exec $CATALINA_HOME/bin/catalina.sh $*

Then executed:

chmod 755 /etc/rc.d/init.d/tomcat
chkconfig --level 2345 tomcat on

export JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/jdk1.7.0_02
export PATH=$PATH:/usr/java/jdk1.7.0_02
export CATALINA_HOME=/env/tomcat/apache-tomcat-7.0.23

/env/tomcat/apache-tomcat-7.0.23/bin/shutdown.sh
/env/tomcat/apache-tomcat-7.0.23/bin/startup.sh

Nowhere did I get any error, but I also couldn't get the Tomcat homepage to display. Can you guide where where I went wrong.

Thanks
James

EDIT:

Tomcat log (on stopping and starting server)

Jan 18, 2012 2:06:48 AM org.apache.catalina.core.StandardServer await
INFO: A valid shutdown command was received via the shutdown port. Stopping the Server instance.
Jan 18, 2012 2:06:48 AM org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol pause
INFO: Pausing ProtocolHandler ["http-bio-8080"]
Jan 18, 2012 2:06:48 AM org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol pause
INFO: Pausing ProtocolHandler ["ajp-bio-8009"]
Jan 18, 2012 2:06:48 AM org.apache.catalina.core.StandardService stopInternal
INFO: Stopping service Catalina
Jan 18, 2012 2:06:48 AM org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol stop
INFO: Stopping ProtocolHandler ["http-bio-8080"]
Jan 18, 2012 2:06:48 AM org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol stop
INFO: Stopping ProtocolHandler ["ajp-bio-8009"]
Jan 18, 2012 2:06:48 AM org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol destroy
INFO: Destroying ProtocolHandler ["http-bio-8080"]
Jan 18, 2012 2:06:48 AM org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol destroy
INFO: Destroying ProtocolHandler ["ajp-bio-8009"]
Jan 18, 2012 2:08:46 AM org.apache.catalina.core.AprLifecycleListener init
INFO: The APR based Apache Tomcat Native library which allows optimal performance in production environments was not found on the java.library.path: /usr/java/packages/lib/i386:/lib:/usr/lib
Jan 18, 2012 2:08:46 AM org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol init
INFO: Initializing ProtocolHandler ["http-bio-8080"]
Jan 18, 2012 2:08:46 AM org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol init
INFO: Initializing ProtocolHandler ["ajp-bio-8009"]
Jan 18, 2012 2:08:46 AM org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina load
INFO: Initialization processed in 530 ms
Jan 18, 2012 2:08:46 AM org.apache.catalina.core.StandardService startInternal
INFO: Starting service Catalina
Jan 18, 2012 2:08:46 AM org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngine startInternal
INFO: Starting Servlet Engine: Apache Tomcat/7.0.23
Jan 18, 2012 2:08:46 AM org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig deployDirectory
INFO: Deploying web application directory /env/tomcat/apache-tomcat-7.0.23/webapps/examples
Jan 18, 2012 2:08:47 AM org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig deployDirectory
INFO: Deploying web application directory /env/tomcat/apache-tomcat-7.0.23/webapps/host-manager
Jan 18, 2012 2:08:47 AM org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig deployDirectory
INFO: Deploying web application directory /env/tomcat/apache-tomcat-7.0.23/webapps/manager
Jan 18, 2012 2:08:47 AM org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig deployDirectory
INFO: Deploying web application directory /env/tomcat/apache-tomcat-7.0.23/webapps/docs
Jan 18, 2012 2:08:47 AM org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig deployDirectory
INFO: Deploying web application directory /env/tomcat/apache-tomcat-7.0.23/webapps/ROOT
Jan 18, 2012 2:08:47 AM org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol start
INFO: Starting ProtocolHandler ["http-bio-8080"]
Jan 18, 2012 2:08:47 AM org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol start
INFO: Starting ProtocolHandler ["ajp-bio-8009"]
Jan 18, 2012 2:08:47 AM org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina start
INFO: Server startup in 583 ms

EDIT2:

My problem looks similar to the one on https://forums.aws.amazon.com/thread.jspa?threadID=59937, but that provides no solution.

I performed a wget, and I received a proper index.html with Tomcat homepage html.
wget http://ec2-23-20-24-96.compute-1.amazonaws.com:8080

I have two security groups - default and quick-start-1, and I've added ports 80 and 8080 to the list.

Answer 1

Solved it with help from AWS Support:

Hello

It initially looks like iptables is running on your instance, my checks show filtered ports, you will need to add a rule to allow port 8080, or disable the firewall on the instance itself.

You can verify this by running as root "service iptables stop" and then see if you can connect on port 8080.

Kind Regards
AndyC

Link: https://forums.aws.amazon.com/thread.jspa?messageID=312167&#312167