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Apache TomEE

Apache TomEE is an open-source Java application server that integrates the Apache Tomcat servlet container with Jakarta EE / Java EE web profile technologies for enterprise Java workloads (application server / runtime platform).

  • Java application server built on Apache Tomcat (application server)
  • Implements Jakarta EE / Java EE Web Profile APIs such as CDI, JAX-RS, JPA, and EJB (enterprise application platform)
  • Provides multiple distributions including web profile and microprofile-oriented variants (runtime distribution)
  • Supports deployment of WAR and EAR-based enterprise applications (application deployment)
  • Integrates with standard Java tooling and Maven-based build pipelines (build and Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) integration)

More About Apache TomEE

Apache TomEE is an open-source Java application server (application server) that combines the Apache Tomcat servlet container with a set of Jakarta EE and Java EE Web Profile technologies (enterprise application platform). It is designed for organizations that standardize on Tomcat and want to add enterprise APIs such as CDI, JPA, JAX-RS, and EJB without moving to a separate application server architecture. TomEE aligns with the Java EE Web Profile specification and its Jakarta EE evolution, providing a compatible stack for web and enterprise applications.

At its core, Apache TomEE embeds Apache Tomcat (web container) and layers on containers and services for enterprise components including Contexts and Dependency Injection (CDI) (dependency injection / inversion of control), Java Persistence Application Programming Interface (API) (JPA) (data persistence), Java API for RESTful Web Services (JAX-RS) (REST services), Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) (business component model), Java Transaction API (JTA) (transaction management), JavaMail (messaging), and Bean Validation (validation). It exposes the standard servlet and JSP capabilities from Tomcat alongside these additional APIs, enabling a single runtime to host both simple web applications and more complex enterprise workloads.

The project distributes several flavors of the server (runtime distribution). TomEE WebProfile focuses on the Jakarta EE / Java EE Web Profile feature set, suitable for typical web and Representational State Transfer (REST) applications. Other distributions, such as TomEE Plus, extend the stack with additional Java EE technologies where applicable. These distributions are packaged in ways that are compatible with common deployment models, including drop-in replacement zip files, archives that can be integrated into existing Tomcat-based environments, and ready-to-use server bundles.

In enterprise environments, Apache TomEE is used to deploy standard WAR and Export Administration Regulations (EAR) archives (application deployment) built with Maven or other Java build systems. It integrates with Java tooling such as Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) and build plugins, and supports typical DevOps practices around configuration, logging, and clustering through Tomcat’s ecosystem (operations and management). Organizations use TomEE when they want to retain Tomcat’s deployment and operations model while adopting standard Jakarta EE / Java EE programming models.

From a technical taxonomy perspective, Apache TomEE is positioned as a Java application server and Jakarta EE / Java EE Web Profile implementation (application server / enterprise platform). It interoperates with standard Java databases and messaging systems via JPA, JTA, and related APIs (data access and integration). The project is developed under The Apache Software Foundation governance model (open-source foundation), with a focus on compatibility with the relevant Java EE and Jakarta EE specifications as reflected in its documented releases and distributions.