Check apache-tomcat-version

Overview

Checks the installed Apache Tomcat version against the endoflife.date API and alerts if the version is end-of-life or if newer major, minor, or patch releases are available. By default, alerts 30 days before the official EOL date. The offset is configurable.

Important Notes:

  • Must run on the Tomcat server itself to detect the installed version

  • Point --catalina-home at the Tomcat installation directory (CATALINA_HOME). The location depends on how Tomcat was installed:

    • /usr/share/tomcat on Red Hat family packages (default)

    • /usr/share/tomcat10, /usr/share/tomcat9 and similar on Debian/Ubuntu packages (the path carries the major version)

    • the unpacked directory (often /opt/tomcat) for the upstream binary distribution

Data Collection:

  • Detects the installed Apache Tomcat version by running bin/version.sh, which ships with the upstream distribution and the official container images

  • Falls back to reading the version from lib/catalina.jar when bin/version.sh is absent, which is the case for Red Hat family packages

  • Queries the endoflife.date API to determine EOL status and available releases

  • Caches the API response in a local SQLite database to reduce network calls

Fact Sheet

Fact

Value

Check Plugin Download

https://github.com/Linuxfabrik/monitoring-plugins/tree/main/check-plugins/apache-tomcat-version

Nagios/Icinga Check Name

check_apache_tomcat_version

Check Interval Recommendation

Every day

Can be called without parameters

Yes

Runs on

Linux

Compiled for Windows

No

Uses State File

$TEMP/linuxfabrik-lib-version.db

Help

usage: apache-tomcat-version [-h] [-V] [--always-ok]
                             [--catalina-home CATALINA_HOME] [--check-major]
                             [--check-minor] [--check-patch] [--insecure]
                             [--no-proxy] [--offset-eol OFFSET_EOL]
                             [--timeout TIMEOUT]

Checks the installed Apache Tomcat version against the endoflife.date API and
alerts if the version is end-of-life or if newer major, minor, or patch
releases are available. By default, alerts 30 days before the official EOL
date. The offset is configurable.

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -V, --version         show program's version number and exit
  --always-ok           Always returns OK.
  --catalina-home CATALINA_HOME
                        Tomcat installation directory (CATALINA_HOME)
                        containing `bin/version.sh`. Default:
                        /usr/share/tomcat
  --check-major         Alert when a new major release is available, even if
                        the current version is not yet EOL. Example: running
                        v26 (not yet EOL) and v27 is available.
  --check-minor         Alert when a new major.minor release is available,
                        even if the current version is not yet EOL. Example:
                        running v26.2 (not yet EOL) and v26.3 is available.
  --check-patch         Alert when a new major.minor.patch release is
                        available, even if the current version is not yet EOL.
                        Example: running v26.2.7 (not yet EOL) and v26.2.8 is
                        available.
  --insecure            This option explicitly allows insecure SSL
                        connections.
  --no-proxy            Do not use a proxy.
  --offset-eol OFFSET_EOL
                        Alert n days before ("-30") or after an EOL date ("30"
                        or "+30"). Default: -30 days
  --timeout TIMEOUT     Network timeout in seconds. Default: 8 (seconds)

Usage Examples

./apache-tomcat-version --catalina-home=/usr/share/tomcat --offset-eol=-30

Output:

Apache Tomcat v10.1.49 (EOL unknown, major 11.0.23 available)

States

  • OK if the installed version is not EOL and no newer releases are flagged.

  • WARN if the installed version is EOL (or will be within --offset-eol days, default: -30).

  • WARN if --check-major is set and a newer major version is available.

  • WARN if --check-minor is set and a newer minor version is available.

  • WARN if --check-patch is set and a newer patch version is available.

  • UNKNOWN if Apache Tomcat is not found.

  • --always-ok suppresses all alerts and always returns OK.

Perfdata / Metrics

Name

Type

Description

apache-tomcat-version

Number

Installed Apache Tomcat version as float, e.g. „10.1.49“ becomes „10.149“.

Credits, License