Section 7.1 Understanding Contexts
Tomcat refers to Context as a web application.
You can configure a Context using a Context Descriptor. A Context Descriptor is an XML file containing Tomcat related configuration for a web application.
Context Descriptors help Tomcat on Context configuration. Tomcat Manager and TDC take advantage in using Context Descriptors for maximum functional performance.
The following lists the Context Descriptors location:
$CATALINA_HOME/conf/[enginename]/[hostname]/context.xml
$CATALINA_HOME/webapps/[webappname]/META-INF/context.xml