Tomcat doesn't stop. How can I debug this?

Question

I have a Tomcat 7 running in Linux that I start via $CATALINA_HOME/bin/startup.sh and shutdown via $CATALINA_HOME/bin/shutdown.sh

Answer 1

If you're using a Scheduler or some other entity in your web app, you need to shut it down. Typically you have to use a ServletContextListener to provide the hook to make your shutdown call. A shutdown hook won't work in this case because the JVM is not shutting down (yet). Believe me, I've tried. If your code is in agent code or something outside the container/webapp, then a shutdown hook SHOULD work, though often it's a hair pulling experience to figure out why it's STILL not working. Note, I'm bald.