diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 27f4e688f..b01953a3a 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -37,14 +37,15 @@ RUN ./gradlew clean -x rat -x test war
 
 # =========================================
 
-FROM bitnami/tomcat:7.0.94 as fineract
+FROM bitnami/tomcat:9.0 as fineract
 
-ENV JAVA_HOME /usr/lib/jvm/java-8-openjdk-amd64/jre
+ENV JAVA_HOME /usr/local/openjdk-8/jre
 
 USER root
 RUN apt-get update -qq && apt-get install -y wget
 
 COPY --from=builder /fineract/build/libs/fineract-provider.war /opt/bitnami/tomcat/webapps
+COPY --from=builder /usr/local/openjdk-8/jre /usr/local/openjdk-8/jre
 
 RUN keytool -genkey -keyalg RSA -alias tomcat -keystore /opt/bitnami/tomcat/tomcat.keystore -keypass xyz123 -storepass xyz123 -noprompt -dname "CN=Fineract, OU=Fineract, O=Fineract, L=Unknown, ST=Unknown, C=Unknown"
 COPY ./docker/server.xml /opt/bitnami/tomcat/conf
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0618a0fa5..cbc630e48 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ Requirements
 ============
 * Java >= 1.8 (Oracle JVMs have been tested)
 * MySQL 5.5
+* Tomcat 9, if deploying to a separate servlet container. Until FINERACT-730, Tomcat 7/8 were also supported, but now Tomcat 9 is required. 
 
 You can run the required version of the database server in a container, instead of having to install it, like this:
 
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ Instructions how to run for local development
 Run the following commands:
 1. `./gradlew createDB -PdbName=fineract_tenants`
 1. `./gradlew createDB -PdbName=fineract_default`
-1. `./gradlew tomcatRunWAR`
+1. `./gradlew bootRun`
 
 
 Instructions to download gradle wrapper
@@ -63,7 +64,7 @@ Instructions to run Apache RAT (Release Audit Tool)
 Instructions to build a WAR file
 ============
 1. Extract the archive file to your local directory.
-2. Run `./gradlew clean war` or `./gradlew build` to build a deployable war file which will be created at build/libs directory.
+2. Run `./gradlew clean bootWar` or `./gradlew build` to build a deployable war file which will be created at build/libs directory.
 
 
 Instructions to execute Integration tests
diff --git a/docker/server.xml b/docker/server.xml
index 58887b59f..3968e887e 100644
--- a/docker/server.xml
+++ b/docker/server.xml
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@
          Either JSSE or OpenSSL style configuration may be used regardless of
          the SSLImplementation selected. JSSE style configuration is used below.
     -->
-	<Connector protocol="org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Protocol"
+	<Connector protocol="org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11NioProtocol"
     port="8443" maxThreads="200" scheme="https"
     secure="true" SSLEnabled="true"
     keystoreFile="/opt/bitnami/tomcat/tomcat.keystore"
@@ -108,8 +108,9 @@
     -->
 
     <!-- Define an AJP 1.3 Connector on port 8009 -->
-    <Connector port="8009" protocol="AJP/1.3" redirectPort="8443" />
-
+    <!--
+    <Connector port="8009" protocol="AJP/1.3" redirectPort="8443" secret="xyz123" />
+    -->
 
     <!-- An Engine represents the entry point (within Catalina) that processes
          every request.  The Engine implementation for Tomcat stand alone
diff --git a/fineract-provider/build.gradle b/fineract-provider/build.gradle
index 0111241a7..d3cb3ee90 100644
--- a/fineract-provider/build.gradle
+++ b/fineract-provider/build.gradle
@@ -18,8 +18,7 @@
  */
 description = '''\
 Run as:
-gradle clean tomcatrunwar
-'''
+gradle clean bootRun'''
 
 project.ext.jerseyVersion = '1.19.4'
 
@@ -35,7 +34,7 @@ buildscript {
 
     dependencies {
         classpath 'io.spring.gradle:dependency-management-plugin:1.0.9.RELEASE'
-        classpath 'com.bmuschko:gradle-tomcat-plugin:2.5',
+        classpath 'com.bmuschko:gradle-cargo-plugin:2.7.1',
             'nl.javadude.gradle.plugins:license-gradle-plugin:0.11.0',
             'org.zeroturnaround:gradle-jrebel-plugin:1.1.2',
             'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-gradle-plugin:2.2.4.RELEASE'
@@ -60,7 +59,7 @@ apply plugin: 'war'
 apply plugin: 'org.springframework.boot'
 apply plugin: 'eclipse'
 apply plugin: 'idea'
-apply plugin: 'com.bmuschko.tomcat'
+apply plugin: 'com.bmuschko.cargo'
 apply plugin: 'project-report'
 apply plugin: 'java-library'
 apply plugin: 'openjpa'
@@ -88,6 +87,7 @@ dependencyManagement {
         dependency 'com.google.code.gson:gson:+'
         dependency 'com.google.guava:guava:28.1-jre'
         dependency 'org.apache.commons:commons-email:1.5'
+        dependency 'org.apache.commons:commons-io:+'
         dependency 'org.drizzle.jdbc:drizzle-jdbc:1.4'
         dependency 'com.lowagie:itext:2.1.7'
         dependency 'com.lowagie:itext-rtf:2.1.7'
@@ -124,13 +124,7 @@ dependencyManagement {
             entry 'poi'
             entry 'poi-ooxml'
             entry 'poi-ooxml-schemas'
-        }
-        dependencySet(group: 'org.apache.tomcat.embed', version: '7.0.94') {
-            entry 'tomcat-embed-core'
-            entry 'tomcat-embed-jasper'
-            entry 'tomcat-embed-logging-log4j'
-        }
-
+        }             
     }
 }
 
@@ -274,7 +268,6 @@ configurations {
 		exclude module: 'classworlds'
 	}
 	runtime
-	all*.exclude group: 'commons-logging'
 	all*.exclude module: 'jul-to-slf4j' // see FINERACT-700 re. ClassCircularityError: java/util/logging/LogRecord
 }
 /* Pick up dependencies based on the environemnt, defaults to production */
@@ -419,52 +412,51 @@ task licenseFormatBuildScripts (type:nl.javadude.gradle.plugins.license.License)
 }
 licenseFormat.dependsOn licenseFormatBuildScripts
 
-tomcatRun {
-    httpPort = 8080
-    httpsPort = 8443
-    stopPort = 8081
-    stopKey=   'stopKey'
-    enableSSL = true
+configurations 
+{
+  tomcat
 }
 
-tomcatRunWar {
-    httpPort = 8080
-    httpsPort = 8443
-    stopPort = 8081
-    stopKey=   'stopKey'
-    enableSSL = true
-    keystoreFile = file('src/main/resources/keystore.jks')
-    keystorePass = 'openmf'
+dependencies {
+  tomcat "org.apache.tomcat:tomcat:9.0.34@zip"
 }
 
-task tomcatRunWarAsDaemonForIntegrationTest(type: com.bmuschko.gradle.tomcat.tasks.TomcatRunWar) {
-    httpPort = 8080
-    httpsPort = 8443
-    stopPort = 8081
-    stopKey=   'stopKey'
-    enableSSL = true
-    keystoreFile = file('src/main/resources/keystore.jks')
-    keystorePass = 'openmf'
-    daemon = true
+cargo {
+  containerId "tomcat9x"
+  
+  local {
+    installer {
+      installConfiguration = configurations.tomcat
+      downloadDir = file("$buildDir/download")
+      extractDir = file("$buildDir/tomcat")
+    }
+    
+    containerProperties {
+      property 'cargo.tomcat.connector.keystoreFile', file('src/main/resources/keystore.jks')
+      property 'cargo.tomcat.connector.keystorePass', 'openmf'       	
+      property 'cargo.tomcat.httpSecure', true
+      property 'cargo.tomcat.connector.sslProtocol', 'TLS'
+      property 'cargo.tomcat.connector.clientAuth', false
+      property 'cargo.protocol', 'https'
+      property 'cargo.servlet.port', 8443
+    }
+  }
 }
 
-task tomcatStopAfterIntegrationTest(type: com.bmuschko.gradle.tomcat.tasks.TomcatStop) {
-    stopPort = 8081
-    stopKey = 'stopKey'
-}
+cargoRunLocal.dependsOn bootWar
+cargoStartLocal.dependsOn bootWar
 
 /* http://stackoverflow.com/questions/19653311/jpa-repository-works-in-idea-and-production-but-not-in-gradle */
 sourceSets.main.output.resourcesDir = sourceSets.main.java.outputDir
 sourceSets.test.output.resourcesDir = sourceSets.test.java.outputDir
 
-/* Exclude maria db and embedded tomcat related files for non dev builds */
+/* Exclude maria db related files for non dev builds */
 if (!(project.hasProperty('env') && project.getProperty('env') == 'dev')) {
     sourceSets {
         main {
             java {
-                exclude '**/Server*'
+                exclude '**/ServerWithMariaDB*'
                 exclude '**/MariaDB4j*'
-                exclude '**/EmbeddedTomcatWithSSLConfiguration.java'
             }
         }
         test {
@@ -489,10 +481,8 @@ configurations {
 
 task integrationTest(type:Test) {
     description = "Run integration tests (located in src/integrationTest/java). Starts Tomcat in daemon mode before executing the tests (and stops it after)."
-    dependsOn war
-    dependsOn tomcatRunWarAsDaemonForIntegrationTest
-    tasks.findByName('tomcatRunWarAsDaemonForIntegrationTest').mustRunAfter 'war'
-    finalizedBy tomcatStopAfterIntegrationTest
+    dependsOn cargoStartLocal
+    finalizedBy cargoStopLocal
 
     testClassesDirs = project.sourceSets.integrationTest.output.classesDirs
     classpath = project.sourceSets.integrationTest.runtimeClasspath
@@ -576,11 +566,11 @@ def qualifyVersionIfNecessary(version) {
 }
 
 springBoot {
-    mainClassName = 'org.apache.fineract.ServerWithMariaDB4jApplication'
+    mainClassName = 'org.apache.fineract.ServerApplication'
 }
 
 bootWar {
-    mainClassName = 'org.apache.fineract.ServerWithMariaDB4jApplication'
+    mainClassName = 'org.apache.fineract.ServerApplication'
 }
 
 // To generate an HTML report instead of XML
diff --git a/fineract-provider/dependencies.gradle b/fineract-provider/dependencies.gradle
index 664e6911b..ea2596f1d 100644
--- a/fineract-provider/dependencies.gradle
+++ b/fineract-provider/dependencies.gradle
@@ -17,25 +17,26 @@
  * under the License.
  */
 dependencies {
-        tomcat "org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core",
-               "org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-logging-log4j" // NOT tomcat-embed-logging-juli (http://stackoverflow.com/questions/23963049/classcircularityerror-java-util-logging-logrecord-running-gradle-webapp-with-ja)
-        tomcat("org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-jasper") {
-            exclude group: 'org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler', module: 'ecj'
-        }
-
-    providedRuntime('org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-tomcat')
-
-    spotbugsPlugins 'jp.skypencil.findbugs.slf4j:bug-pattern:1.4.2@jar'
+    providedRuntime("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-tomcat")
+    
+    spotbugsPlugins "jp.skypencil.findbugs.slf4j:bug-pattern:1.4.2@jar"
 
     compile ('org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-data-jpa') {
 		exclude group: 'org.hibernate'
     }
 
+    compile ('com.amazonaws:aws-java-sdk-s3') {
+                exclude group: 'commons-logging'
+    }
+
+    compile ('org.mnode.ical4j:ical4j') {
+                exclude group: 'commons-logging'
+    }
+
     api(
             'com.google.code.gson:gson',
             'org.springframework:spring-jms',
             'joda-time:joda-time',
-            'org.mnode.ical4j:ical4j',
             'com.google.guava:guava',
             'org.springframework:spring-context-support',
             'org.springframework.security.oauth:spring-security-oauth2',
@@ -44,13 +45,15 @@ dependencies {
             'jakarta.jms:jakarta.jms-api',
             'jakarta.management.j2ee:jakarta.management.j2ee-api'
     )
+
 	api ('org.apache.openjpa:openjpa') {
 		exclude group: 'org.eclipse.persistence'
 		exclude group: 'org.apache.geronimo.specs'
 	}
-	api('org.quartz-scheduler:quartz') {
-		exclude group: 'com.zaxxer', module: 'HikariCP-java7'
-	}
+
+    api('org.quartz-scheduler:quartz') {
+        exclude group: 'com.zaxxer', module: 'HikariCP-java7'
+    }
 
     implementation(
             //'ch.vorburger.mariaDB4j:mariaDB4j:2.4.0',
@@ -73,6 +76,7 @@ dependencies {
 
             'org.apache.commons:commons-email',
             'org.apache.commons:commons-lang3',
+            'org.apache.commons:commons-io',
 
             'org.drizzle.jdbc:drizzle-jdbc',
 
@@ -84,7 +88,6 @@ dependencies {
 
             'com.googlecode.flyway:flyway-core',
 
-            'com.amazonaws:aws-java-sdk-s3',
             'net.sf.ehcache:ehcache',
             'com.github.spullara.mustache.java:compiler',
             'com.jayway.jsonpath:json-path',
@@ -108,7 +111,6 @@ dependencies {
             'com.google.code.gson:gson',
             'org.springframework:spring-jms',
             'joda-time:joda-time',
-            'org.mnode.ical4j:ical4j',
             'com.google.guava:guava',
             'org.apache.poi:poi-ooxml',
             'org.springframework:spring-context-support',
@@ -117,9 +119,13 @@ dependencies {
         exclude group: 'regexp'
     }
     testCompile ('io.rest-assured:rest-assured') {
+        exclude group: 'commons-logging'
         exclude group: 'org.apache.sling'
     }
     testCompile ('org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-test') {
         exclude group: 'com.jayway.jsonpath', module: 'json-path'
     }
+    testCompile ('org.mnode.ical4j:ical4j') {
+        exclude group: 'commons-logging'
+    }
 }
diff --git a/fineract-provider/src/integrationTest/java/org/apache/fineract/integrationtests/common/SchedulerJobHelper.java b/fineract-provider/src/integrationTest/java/org/apache/fineract/integrationtests/common/SchedulerJobHelper.java
index b2504cb0f..55b00d9b5 100644
--- a/fineract-provider/src/integrationTest/java/org/apache/fineract/integrationtests/common/SchedulerJobHelper.java
+++ b/fineract-provider/src/integrationTest/java/org/apache/fineract/integrationtests/common/SchedulerJobHelper.java
@@ -161,4 +161,4 @@ public class SchedulerJobHelper {
             }
         }
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/fineract-provider/src/main/java/org/apache/fineract/ServerApplication.java b/fineract-provider/src/main/java/org/apache/fineract/ServerApplication.java
index d9fa2c866..a2991a76e 100644
--- a/fineract-provider/src/main/java/org/apache/fineract/ServerApplication.java
+++ b/fineract-provider/src/main/java/org/apache/fineract/ServerApplication.java
@@ -18,14 +18,15 @@
  */
 package org.apache.fineract;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
 import org.apache.fineract.infrastructure.core.boot.AbstractApplicationConfiguration;
-import org.apache.fineract.infrastructure.core.boot.ApplicationExitUtil;
 import org.apache.fineract.infrastructure.core.boot.EmbeddedTomcatWithSSLConfiguration;
-import org.apache.fineract.infrastructure.core.boot.db.DataSourceConfiguration;
-import org.apache.fineract.infrastructure.core.boot.db.DataSourceProperties;
-import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
+import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.jdbc.DataSourceProperties;
+import org.springframework.boot.builder.SpringApplicationBuilder;
+import org.springframework.boot.web.servlet.support.SpringBootServletInitializer;
 import org.springframework.context.ConfigurableApplicationContext;
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.Import;
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.ImportResource;
 
 /**
  * Fineract main() application which launches Fineract in an embedded Tomcat HTTP
@@ -40,17 +41,26 @@ import org.springframework.context.annotation.Import;
  *
  * It's the old/classic Mifos (non-X) Workspace 2.0 reborn for Fineract! ;-)
  *
- * @see DataSourceProperties about how to configure the DataSource used
  * @see ServerWithMariaDB4jApplication for an alternative with an embedded DB
  */
-public class ServerApplication {
 
-    @Import({ DataSourceConfiguration.class, EmbeddedTomcatWithSSLConfiguration.class })
+public class ServerApplication extends SpringBootServletInitializer {
+
+    @Import({ EmbeddedTomcatWithSSLConfiguration.class })
+    @ImportResource({ "classpath*:META-INF/spring/hikariDataSource.xml" })
     private static class Configuration extends AbstractApplicationConfiguration { }
 
-    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
-        ConfigurableApplicationContext ctx = SpringApplication.run(Configuration.class, args);
-        ApplicationExitUtil.waitForKeyPressToCleanlyExit(ctx);
+    @Override
+    protected SpringApplicationBuilder configure(SpringApplicationBuilder builder) {
+        return builder.sources(Configuration.class);
     }
 
-}
+    private static SpringApplicationBuilder configureApplication(SpringApplicationBuilder builder) {
+        return builder.sources(Configuration.class);
+    }
+
+    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
+        ConfigurableApplicationContext ctx = configureApplication(new SpringApplicationBuilder(ServerApplication.class)).run(args);
+        //ApplicationExitUtil.waitForKeyPressToCleanlyExit(ctx);
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/fineract-provider/src/main/java/org/apache/fineract/infrastructure/core/boot/EmbeddedTomcatWithSSLConfiguration.java b/fineract-provider/src/main/java/org/apache/fineract/infrastructure/core/boot/EmbeddedTomcatWithSSLConfiguration.java
index e7520d2b0..ccd58c89c 100644
--- a/fineract-provider/src/main/java/org/apache/fineract/infrastructure/core/boot/EmbeddedTomcatWithSSLConfiguration.java
+++ b/fineract-provider/src/main/java/org/apache/fineract/infrastructure/core/boot/EmbeddedTomcatWithSSLConfiguration.java
@@ -21,11 +21,11 @@ package org.apache.fineract.infrastructure.core.boot;
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.net.URL;
-
 import org.apache.catalina.connector.Connector;
 import org.apache.commons.io.FileUtils;
 import org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11NioProtocol;
 import org.springframework.boot.web.embedded.tomcat.TomcatServletWebServerFactory;
+import org.springframework.boot.web.servlet.server.ServletWebServerFactory;
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
 import org.springframework.core.io.ClassPathResource;
@@ -34,10 +34,10 @@ import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
 @Configuration
 public class EmbeddedTomcatWithSSLConfiguration {
 
-    // http://docs.spring.io/spring-boot/docs/1.1.5.RELEASE/reference/htmlsingle/#howto-enable-multiple-connectors-in-tomcat
+    // https://docs.spring.io/spring-boot/docs/2.2.6.RELEASE/reference/html/howto.html#howto-enable-multiple-connectors-in-tomcat
 
     @Bean
-    public TomcatServletWebServerFactory servletContainer() {
+    public ServletWebServerFactory servletContainer() {
         TomcatServletWebServerFactory tomcat = new TomcatServletWebServerFactory();
         tomcat.setContextPath(getContextPath());
         tomcat.addAdditionalTomcatConnectors(createSslConnector());
@@ -53,16 +53,12 @@ public class EmbeddedTomcatWithSSLConfiguration {
         Http11NioProtocol protocol = (Http11NioProtocol) connector.getProtocolHandler();
         try {
             File keystore = getFile(getKeystore());
-            File truststore = keystore;
             connector.setScheme("https");
             connector.setSecure(true);
             connector.setPort(getHTTPSPort());
             protocol.setSSLEnabled(true);
             protocol.setKeystoreFile(keystore.getAbsolutePath());
             protocol.setKeystorePass(getKeystorePass());
-            protocol.setTruststoreFile(truststore.getAbsolutePath());
-            protocol.setTruststorePass(getKeystorePass());
-            // ? protocol.setKeyAlias("apitester");
             return connector;
         } catch (IOException ex) {
             throw new IllegalStateException("can't access keystore: [" + "keystore" + "] or truststore: [" + "keystore" + "]", ex);
diff --git a/fineract-provider/src/main/java/org/apache/fineract/infrastructure/core/boot/WarWebApplicationInitializer.java b/fineract-provider/src/main/java/org/apache/fineract/infrastructure/core/boot/WarWebApplicationInitializer.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 5969d65a4..000000000
--- a/fineract-provider/src/main/java/org/apache/fineract/infrastructure/core/boot/WarWebApplicationInitializer.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,53 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
- * or more contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file
- * distributed with this work for additional information
- * regarding copyright ownership. The ASF licenses this file
- * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
- * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
- * with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
- *
- * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
- * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
- * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
- * KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the
- * specific language governing permissions and limitations
- * under the License.
- */
-package org.apache.fineract.infrastructure.core.boot;
-
-import org.springframework.boot.builder.SpringApplicationBuilder;
-import org.springframework.boot.web.servlet.support.SpringBootServletInitializer;
-import org.springframework.context.annotation.ImportResource;
-
-/**
- * Required to still have a working legacy "classic" WAR.
- *
- * Configuration just adds the JNDI-based DataSource lookup to its
- * AbstractApplicationConfiguration.
- *
- * This (intentionally) only configures the original (pre-Spring Boot &amp;
- * MariaDB4j) fineract Spring Beans, and does NOT include the embedded Tomcat
- * (incl. TomcatSSLConfiguration) nor the MariaDB4jSetupService or
- * MariaDB4jDataSourceConfiguration, and not even the DataSourceConfiguration
- * (as it uses "classic" JNDI) - we want the WAR to "work like before".
- *
- * @see <a
- *      href="http://docs.spring.io/spring-boot/docs/current/reference/htmlsingle/#howto-convert-an-existing-application-to-spring-boot">#howto-convert-an-existing-application-to-spring-boot</a>
- */
-public class WarWebApplicationInitializer extends SpringBootServletInitializer {
-
-    @ImportResource({ "classpath*:META-INF/spring/hikariDataSource.xml" })
-    private static class Configuration extends AbstractApplicationConfiguration {
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    protected SpringApplicationBuilder configure(
-            SpringApplicationBuilder application) {
-        // let's share Spring Boot Love, so no showBanner(false)
-        return application.sources(Configuration.class);
-    }
-
-}