How to enable Tomcat Manager on Ubuntu

A package-managed Ubuntu Tomcat host does not become manageable just because tomcat10.service is running. The Manager web application lives in the separate tomcat10-admin package, needs a user with a Manager role, and should be reachable only from trusted client addresses before anyone opens the browser console.

Current Ubuntu packages keep Tomcat configuration under /etc/tomcat10, run the instance from /var/lib/tomcat10, and install the Manager application under /usr/share/tomcat10-admin/manager. The package adds a Manager context descriptor in the Catalina localhost directory, which is the safer place to control that context on a package-managed host.

Use manager-gui for the HTML interface at /manager/html, and keep automation roles such as manager-script and manager-jmx on separate accounts. Tomcat's text and JMX interfaces do not have the same CSRF protection as the HTML Manager, so mixing those roles with a browser account increases the blast radius of one stolen session.

Steps to enable Tomcat Manager on Ubuntu:

Confirm the packaged Tomcat instance is installed.
```
$ dpkg-query -W tomcat10
tomcat10	10.1.40-1ubuntu1.26.04.1
```
The exact package version changes with Ubuntu security updates. The important signal is that the host uses the packaged tomcat10 instance with /etc/tomcat10 and /var/lib/tomcat10.

Related: How to install Tomcat on Ubuntu
Install the Manager web application package.
```
$ sudo apt install tomcat10-admin
```
On current Ubuntu packages, tomcat10-admin installs the /manager and /host-manager web applications and context descriptors without replacing the main tomcat10 service package.

Open the Tomcat users file.

$ sudoedit /etc/tomcat10/tomcat-users.xml

Add a Manager GUI role and a dedicated user before the closing </tomcat-users> line.
```
  <role rolename="manager-gui"/>
  <user username="manager-admin"
        password="CHANGE_THIS_PASSWORD"
        roles="manager-gui"/>
```
Use a unique password and store it in the site's normal secret manager. Do not grant manager-script or manager-jmx to the same account used for browser access.

Related: How to create a Tomcat Manager user

Open the Manager context descriptor.

$ sudoedit /etc/tomcat10/Catalina/localhost/manager.xml

Restrict the Manager application to localhost before adding remote client ranges.
```
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Context path="/manager"
         docBase="/usr/share/tomcat10-admin/manager"
         antiResourceLocking="false"
         privileged="true">
  <Valve className="org.apache.catalina.valves.RemoteCIDRValve"
         allow="127.0.0.0/8,::1/128" />
</Context>
```
Append the public IP address, VPN range, bastion subnet, or reverse-proxy source address that should reach Manager, such as 203.0.113.10/32. Keep 127.0.0.0/8 and ::1/128 so local checks still work.

If Tomcat sits behind Apache or Nginx with forwarded client IP handling, confirm which source address Tomcat sees before tightening this allowlist.
Restart Tomcat to load the Manager package, user file, and context descriptor.
```
$ sudo systemctl restart tomcat10
```
Related: How to start and stop Tomcat with systemd
Confirm the service returned to active state.
```
$ systemctl is-active tomcat10
active
```
If the service does not return active, inspect sudo journalctl -u tomcat10 for XML parsing errors or a failed context startup before retrying the login.

Related: How to check Tomcat service status on Linux

Confirm Manager challenges unauthenticated requests from an allowed address.

$ curl --include --silent http://127.0.0.1:8080/manager/html
HTTP/1.1 401
WWW-Authenticate: Basic realm="Tomcat Manager Application"
##### snipped #####
<title>401 Unauthorized</title>

A 401 from 127.0.0.1 proves the Manager web application is deployed and authentication is required.

$ curl --include --silent \
  --user manager-admin:'PASSWORD' \
  http://127.0.0.1:8080/manager/html
HTTP/1.1 200
##### snipped #####
<title>/manager</title>
##### snipped #####
Tomcat Web Application Manager

For interactive use, open http://tomcat:8080/manager/html in a browser from the same allowed network and sign in with the manager-gui account.

Confirm a client outside the allowlist is blocked.
```
$ curl --include --silent \
  http://tomcat:8080/manager/html
HTTP/1.1 403
##### snipped #####
<title>403 Access Denied</title>
```
A 403 from an untrusted client proves the context allowlist is active. A 401 from that client means it reached the Manager application and only authentication is blocking it.

Author: Mohd Shakir Zakaria
Mohd Shakir Zakaria is a cloud architect with deep roots in software development and open-source advocacy. Certified in AWS, Red Hat, VMware, ITIL, and Linux, he specializes in designing and managing robust cloud and on-premises infrastructures.