Modifying XNAT for Tomcat 8

The default XNAT war package is built to work with Tomcat 7, but you can easily modify the application to work with Tomcat 8 if required:

1. Download the latest version of the XNAT application.
   
   

2. Extract the file META-INF/context.xml (this requires having the Java JDK available on your path):
   
   

   $ jar xf xnat-web-1.7.5.3.war META-INF/context.xml

   
   This file should look something like this (edited for clarity):

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
   <Context>
       <Loader className="org.apache.catalina.loader.VirtualWebappLoader" searchVirtualFirst="true" virtualClasspath="${xnat.home}/plugins/*.jar"/>
       <JarScanner scanAllDirectories="true" />
       <Parameter name="xnatHome" value="${xnat.home}"/>
       <Manager pathname="" />
   </Context>

3. EditMETA-INF/context.xml and delete the line with the <Loader> element.
   
   

4. Add the following lines to the file right after the <Context> element:

   <Resources>
       <PostResources className="org.apache.catalina.webresources.DirResourceSet" base="${xnat.home}/plugins" webAppMount="/WEB-INF/lib" />
   </Resources>
   <CookieProcessor className="org.apache.tomcat.util.http.LegacyCookieProcessor" />

5. Save the file and close your editor.
   
   

6. Update the war file with your modified META-INF/context.xml file:

   $ jar uf xnat-web-1.7.5.3.war META-INF/context.xml

7. Continue with your deployment/installation using the updated war file in place of the standard XNAT application.

The final version of your modified configuration file should look something like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Context>
    <Resources>
        <PostResources className="org.apache.catalina.webresources.DirResourceSet" base="${xnat.home}/plugins" webAppMount="/WEB-INF/lib" />
    </Resources>
    <CookieProcessor className="org.apache.tomcat.util.http.LegacyCookieProcessor" />
    <JarScanner scanAllDirectories="true" />
    <Parameter name="xnatHome" value="${xnat.home}"/>
    <Manager pathname="" />
</Context>