Can't read/write files under Tomcat 6 installed on AWS EC2
amazon-ec2, amazon-web-services, java, read-write, tomcat
Solution
I am assuming you are using Amazon Linux since you mention the `ec2-user`.
What permissions are set on the parent folder `/usr/share/tomcat6/webapps/` where you try to create the new one? Usually the user running Tomcat (should also be called `tomcat`) does not have write permission there unless you set it explicitly using `chmod u+w`.
In adddition the `tomcat` user is not allowed to write to a different user's home (`/home/ec2-user/` in your case), unless you give the user permissions for this directory. Your example is a little confusing there since you mention trying to write to the `webapps` folder but specify the `ec2-user`'s home directory in the policy file.
Generally, if you want to create temporary data files, I would suggest using `File.createTempFile(..)` to create them, they will automatically be placed in the standard temporary folder. If you would like to create a dedicated folder for data files yourself, `/var/tmp/` may be better suited since it is the standard unix location for temporary files (`/tmp/` may be cleared upon reboot, so please do not put any persistent files there).
Problem
I have a webapp running on Tomcat 6, one class checks for existence of directory and creates it if doesn't exist - ``` // make sure path exists File f = new File(value); if (!f.exists()) { if (!f.mkdirs()) { throw new RuntimeException("Failed creating directory " + value); } } ``` Now, it all works just fine when running on my local machine, but when executed on EC2 instance, I see the following at catalina.out - ``` 2012-05-30 06:57:28 main ConfigService [INFO] Directory path not exists, creating /usr/share/tomcat6/webapps/ROOT/WEB-INF/data/temp/currency 2012-05-30 06:57:28 main DefaultListableBeanFactory [INFO] Destroying singletons in org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory@1b4c1d7: defining beans [fetchAppRankingJob,fetchCurrencyRatesJob,fetchReviewsJob,sendDailyReportJob,importSalesReportJob,fetchSalesReportJob,processSalesReportsJob,org.springframework.context.annotation.internalConfigurationAnnotationProcessor,org.springframework.context.annotation.internalAutowiredAnnotationProcessor,org.springframework.context.annotation.internalRequiredAnnotationProcessor,org.springframework.context.annotation.internalCommonAnnotationProcessor,org.springframework.aop.config.internalAutoProxyCreator,org.springframework.transaction.annotation.AnnotationTransactionAttributeSource#0,org.springframework.transaction.interceptor.TransactionInterceptor#0,org.springframework.transaction.config.internalTransactionAdvisor,org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.method.annotation.RequestMappingHandlerMapping#0,org.springframework.format.support.FormattingConversionServiceFactoryBean#0,org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.method.annotation.RequestMappingHandlerAdapter#0,org.springframework.web.servlet.handler.MappedInterceptor#0,org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.method.annotation.ExceptionHandlerExceptionResolver#0,org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.annotation.ResponseStatusExceptionResolver#0,org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.support.DefaultHandlerExceptionResolver#0,org.springframework.web.servlet.handler.BeanNameUrlHandlerMapping,org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.HttpRequestHandlerAdapter,org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.SimpleControllerHandlerAdapter,org.springframework.scheduling.support.ScheduledMethodRunnable#0,org.springframework.scheduling.support.ScheduledMethodRunnable#1,org.springframework.scheduling.support.ScheduledMethodRunnable#2,org.springframework.scheduling.support.ScheduledMethodRunnable#3,org.springframework.scheduling.support.ScheduledMethodRunnable#4,org.springframework.scheduling.config.ScheduledTaskRegistrar#0,appsales-scheduler,org.springframework.context.annotation.ConfigurationClassPostProcessor$ImportAwareBeanPostProcessor#0]; root of factory hierarchy 2012-05-30 06:57:28 main ContextLoader [ERROR] Context initialization failed org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'fetchCurrencyRatesJob' defined in file [/var/lib/tomcat6/webapps/ROOT/WEB-INF/classes/com/appround/collect/currency/FetchCurrencyRatesJob.class]: Instantiation of bean failed; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.BeanInstantiationException: Could not instantiate bean class [com.appround.collect.currency.FetchCurrencyRatesJob]: Constructor threw exception; nested exception is java.lang.RuntimeException: Failed creating directory /usr/share/tomcat6/webapps/ROOT/WEB-INF/data/temp/currency at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.instantiateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:997) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBeanInstance(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:943) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:485) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:456) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:294) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:225) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:291) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:193) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.preInstantiateSingletons(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:585) at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.finishBeanFactoryInitialization(AbstractApplicationContext.java:913) at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.refresh(AbstractApplicationContext.java:464) at org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoader.configureAndRefreshWebApplicationContext(ContextLoader.java:385) at org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoader.initWebApplicationContext(ContextLoader.java:284) at org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener.contextInitialized(ContextLoaderListener.java:111) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.listenerStart(StandardContext.java:4206) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.start(StandardContext.java:4705) at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.addChildInternal(ContainerBase.java:799) at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.addChild(ContainerBase.java:779) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHost.addChild(StandardHost.java:601) at org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig.deployDirectory(HostConfig.java:1079) at org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig.deployDirectories(HostConfig.java:1002) at org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig.deployApps(HostConfig.java:506) at org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig.start(HostConfig.java:1317) at org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig.lifecycleEvent(HostConfig.java:324) at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleSupport.fireLifecycleEvent(LifecycleSupport.java:142) at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.start(ContainerBase.java:1065) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHost.start(StandardHost.java:840) at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.start(ContainerBase.java:1057) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngine.start(StandardEngine.java:463) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardService.start(StandardService.java:525) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardServer.start(StandardServer.java:754) at org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina.start(Catalina.java:595) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source) at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Unknown Source) at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.start(Bootstrap.java:289) at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.main(Bootstrap.java:414) Caused by: org.springframework.beans.BeanInstantiationException: Could not instantiate bean class [com.appround.collect.currency.FetchCurrencyRatesJob]: Constructor threw exception; nested exception is java.lang.RuntimeException: Failed creating directory /usr/share/tomcat6/webapps/ROOT/WEB-INF/data/temp/currency at org.springframework.beans.BeanUtils.instantiateClass(BeanUtils.java:162) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.SimpleInstantiationStrategy.instantiate(SimpleInstantiationStrategy.java:76) at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.instantiateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:990) ... 37 more Caused by: java.lang.RuntimeException: Failed creating directory /usr/share/tomcat6/webapps/ROOT/WEB-INF/data/temp/currency at com.appround.collect.ConfigService.getPathProperty(ConfigService.java:109) at com.appround.collect.currency.FetchCurrencyRatesJob.<init>(FetchCurrencyRatesJob.java:18) at sun.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance0(Native Method) at sun.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(Unknown Source) at sun.reflect.DelegatingConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(Unknown Source) at java.lang.reflect.Constructor.newInstance(Unknown Source) at org.springframework.beans.BeanUtils.instantiateClass(BeanUtils.java:147) ... 39 more ``` I prefer writing to /home/ec2-user/collect/data, tried writing to my webapp's directory because it should have writing privilege to WEB-INF folder. I've tried granting file permission write/read to that folder at /usr/share/tomcat6/conf/catalina.policy - ``` grant { permission java.io.FilePermission "/home/ec2-user/collect/data", "read, write"; permission java.io.FilePermission "/home/ec2-user/collect/data/*", "read, write"; } ``` Still, no luck. Any clue? Thanks!