Run/Debug Configuration: Tomcat Server

Use the Tomcat Server run/debug configuration to deploy and debug your applications on Tomcat . For more information, see Application server run configurations .

Use a Local configuration to run a local instance of the application server and deploy the artifacts to it.
Use a Remote configuration to deploy artifacts to a running application server instance.

Even if you are connecting to a remote application server, you still need a local installation of this server configured under Build, Execution, Deployment | Application Servers as described in Integration with application servers .

Enable the Tomcat and TomEE plugin

This functionality relies on the Tomcat and TomEE plugin, which is bundled and enabled in IntelliJ IDEA by default. If the relevant features aren't available, make sure that you didn't disable the plugin.

Press Ctrl+Alt+S to open the IDE settings and select Plugins .
Open the Installed tab, find the Tomcat and TomEE plugin, and select the checkbox next to the plugin name.

Server tab for a local configuration

Item	Description
Application server	Select the server configuration to be used. Click Configure to create a new server configuration or edit an existing one. (The Application Servers dialog will open.)
After launch	Select this checkbox to start a web browser after starting the server and deploying the artifacts. Select the browser from the list. Click `Shift+Enter` to configure your web browsers.
With JavaScript debugger	If this checkbox is selected, the web browser is started with the JavaScript debugger enabled. Note that JavaScript debugging is available only for Firefox and Google Chrome. When you debug your JavaScript in Firefox for the first time, the JetBrains Firefox extension is installed.
The field underneath After launch	Specify the URL the browser should go to when started. In most typical cases, this URL corresponds to the root of your Web application or its starting page.
VM options	Specify the options to be passed to the Java virtual machine when launching the application, for example, `-mx` , `-verbose` , and so on. When specifying JVM options, follow these rules: Use spaces to separate individual options. If the value of an option includes spaces, enclose either the value or the actual spaces with double quotes. If an option includes double quotes as part of the value, escape the double quotes using backslashes. You can pass environment variable values to custom Java properties. -Xmx1024m -Dspaces="some arg" -Dmy.prop=\"quoted_value\" -Dfoo=${MY_ENV_VAR}