Had to SSL on a test server running Tomcat 5 yesterday. This is how I did it.

  1. cd $CATALINA_HOME

  2. $JAVA_HOME/keytool -genkey -alias tomcat -keyalg RSA -keystore mycert.jks

  3. Enter keystore password:_ changeit_
  4. What is your first and last name? [Unknown]: **Danesh Manoharan
    **
  5. What is the name of your organizational unit? [Unknown]: IT
  6. What is the name of your organization? [Unknown]: My Comp.
  7. What is the name of your City or Locality? [Unknown]: KL
  8. What is the name of your State or Province? [Unknown]: KL
  9. What is the two-letter country code for this unit? [Unknown]: MY
  10. US Is CN=Danesh Manoharan, OU=IT, O=“My Comp.”, L=KL, ST=KL, C=MY correct? [no]: yes
  11. Enter key password for (RETURN if same as keystore password): Hit Enter.

Tomcat will assume the password is “changeit” by default so it’s advised to leave it that way. Now let’s tell Tomcat to use the keystore file.

  1. cd $CATALINA_HOME/conf/
  2. vi server.xml
  3. Look for “<!- Define a SSL HTTP/1.1 Connector on port 8443 ->”. Remove the <!- -> comments indicator and add the keystore info.

<!- Define a SSL HTTP/1.1 Connector on port 8443 ->

Time to restart Tomcat and test.

  1. cd $CATALINA_HOME/bin/
  2. ./shutdown.sh to make sure Tomcat is down.
  3. ./startup.sh to start Tomcat.
  4. Fire up your browser and test your new https site. https://localhost/