A package-managed Tomcat upgrade on Ubuntu is safest when the package change, configuration files, and application smoke test are handled as one maintenance window. APT can replace the Tomcat packages without removing local web applications, but the restarted service can still expose config merge mistakes, a Java runtime change, or an application that no longer starts cleanly.

Ubuntu 26.04 packages Apache Tomcat as tomcat10, with tomcat10-common and libtomcat10-java providing the shared files and libraries. Optional packages such as tomcat10-admin should be upgraded in the same change window when they are installed, so the Manager web application and the server package stay on matching revisions.

A package update within the same Tomcat line is different from migrating from Tomcat 9 to Tomcat 10 or from Tomcat 10 to Tomcat 11. Read the Apache migration notes before a major-version move, back up /etc/tomcat10 and deployed web applications before changing packages, and keep the normal application rollback path ready before returning traffic.

Related: How to back up Tomcat configuration and webapps
Related: How to check the Tomcat version on Linux
Related: How to check Tomcat service status on Linux

Steps to upgrade Tomcat on Ubuntu:

  1. List the installed core Tomcat package versions. 
    $ dpkg-query -W tomcat10 tomcat10-common libtomcat10-java
libtomcat10-java	10.1.40-1ubuntu1
tomcat10	10.1.40-1ubuntu1
tomcat10-common	10.1.40-1ubuntu1

    Add optional installed packages, such as tomcat10-admin, to the package checks and upgrade command when the host uses them.

  2. Refresh the APT package metadata. 
    $ sudo apt update
Hit:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu resolute InRelease
Get:2 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu resolute-security InRelease [137 kB]
Get:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu resolute-updates InRelease [137 kB]
##### snipped #####
3 packages can be upgraded. Run 'apt list --upgradable' to see them.
  3. Check the installed and candidate Tomcat package versions. 
    $ apt-cache policy tomcat10
tomcat10:
  Installed: 10.1.40-1ubuntu1
  Candidate: 10.1.40-1ubuntu1.26.04.1
  Version table:
     10.1.40-1ubuntu1.26.04.1 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu resolute-updates/universe arm64 Packages
        500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu resolute-security/universe arm64 Packages
 *** 10.1.40-1ubuntu1 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu resolute/universe arm64 Packages

    Stop and review the Apache migration notes when the candidate changes the major Tomcat line instead of applying an ordinary package update inside the same line.

  4. Back up the Tomcat configuration and deployed web applications. 
    $ sudo tar -C / -czf /root/tomcat-pre-upgrade.tar.gz etc/tomcat10 var/lib/tomcat10/webapps

    Add application data, external content directories, keystores, and reverse-proxy configuration when the deployed application depends on files outside these package-managed paths.

  5. Upgrade the Tomcat package set. 
    $ sudo apt install --only-upgrade tomcat10 tomcat10-common tomcat10-admin libtomcat10-java
Reading package lists...
Building dependency tree...
Reading state information...
Solving dependencies...
The following packages will be upgraded:
  libtomcat10-java tomcat10 tomcat10-admin tomcat10-common
4 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 3 not upgraded.
Need to get 6536 kB of archives.
##### snipped #####
Unpacking tomcat10 (10.1.40-1ubuntu1.26.04.1) over (10.1.40-1ubuntu1) ...
Unpacking tomcat10-admin (10.1.40-1ubuntu1.26.04.1) over (10.1.40-1ubuntu1) ...
Setting up libtomcat10-java (10.1.40-1ubuntu1.26.04.1) ...
Setting up tomcat10-common (10.1.40-1ubuntu1.26.04.1) ...
Setting up tomcat10-admin (10.1.40-1ubuntu1.26.04.1) ...
Setting up tomcat10 (10.1.40-1ubuntu1.26.04.1) ...

    If APT asks about a locally modified file under /etc/tomcat10, compare the package maintainer version before replacing the local file. Replacing /etc/tomcat10/server.xml or /etc/tomcat10/tomcat-users.xml blindly can remove connectors, realms, Manager users, or deployment settings.

  6. Restart the Tomcat service. 
    $ sudo systemctl restart tomcat10
  7. Confirm the upgraded packages are installed. 
    $ dpkg-query -W tomcat10 tomcat10-common libtomcat10-java
libtomcat10-java	10.1.40-1ubuntu1.26.04.1
tomcat10	10.1.40-1ubuntu1.26.04.1
tomcat10-common	10.1.40-1ubuntu1.26.04.1
  8. Check the Tomcat runtime version. 
    $ /usr/share/tomcat10/bin/version.sh
Server version: Apache Tomcat/10.1.40 (Ubuntu)
Server built:   Jun 9 2026 12:08:21 UTC
Server number:  10.1.40.0
OS Name:        Linux
OS Version:     6.12.76-linuxkit
Architecture:   aarch64
JVM Version:    25.0.3+9-2-26.04.2-Ubuntu
JVM Vendor:     Ubuntu
  9. Check that systemd sees the service as active. 
    $ sudo systemctl is-active tomcat10
active

    Use How to check Tomcat service status on Linux when the service does not return active or exits immediately after the restart.

  10. Smoke-test the application through the local connector. 
    $ curl -I http://127.0.0.1:8080/
HTTP/1.1 200
Content-Type: text/html;charset=UTF-8
Date: Wed, 10 Jun 2026 20:31:47 GMT
##### snipped #####

    Replace the root URL with the deployed application context, health endpoint, or login URL that proves the upgraded instance is serving the application normally.