Follow http://geonode.readthedocs.org/en/1.0/deploy/ubuntu.html with exceptions below.

    1. Install JRE - http://www.webupd8.org/2012/01/install-oracle-java-jdk-7-in-ubuntu-via.html

    2. Install tomcat 7 (sudo apt-get install tomcat7 tomcat7-docs tomcat7-examples tomcat7-admin -y)

    3. Update JRE with "gksudo gedit /etc/default/tomcat7"

    4. gksudo gedit /etc/tomcat7/tomcat-users.xml

> Blockquote

localhost:8080/geonetwork

> Raised exception while initializing resource main-db in
> /var/lib/tomcat7/webapps/geonetwork/WEB-INF/config.xml. Skipped.
> Exception         org.apache.commons.dbcp.SQLNestedException: Cannot create
> PoolableConnectionFactory (IO Exception:
> "java.io.FileNotFoundException: /var/lib/tomcat7/geonetwork.lock.db
> (Permission denied)"; "/var/lib/tomcat7/geonetwork.lock.db"
> [90031-152]) Resource         main-db Message         Cannot create
> PoolableConnectionFactory (IO Exception:
> "java.io.FileNotFoundException: /var/lib/tomcat7/geonetwork.lock.db
> (Permission denied)"; "/var/lib/tomcat7/geonetwork.lock.db"
> [90031-152]) Provider         jeeves.resources.dbms.ApacheDBCPool Stack
>       org.apache.commons.dbcp.SQLNestedException: Cannot create
> PoolableConnectionFactory (IO Exception:
> "java.io.FileNotFoundException: /var/lib/tomcat7/geonetwork.lock.db
> (Permission denied)"; "/var/lib/tomcat7/geonetwork.lock.db"
> [90031-152]) at
> org.apache.commons.dbcp.BasicDataSource.createPoolableConnectionFactory(BasicDataSource.java:1549)
> at
> org.apache.commons.dbcp.BasicDataSource.createDataSource(BasicDataSource.java:1388)
> at
> org.apache.commons.dbcp.BasicDataSource.getConnection(BasicDataSource.java:1044)
> at jeeves.resources.dbms.Dbms.connect(Dbms.java:88) at
> jeeves.resources.dbms.AbstractDbmsPool.open(AbstractDbmsPool.java:142)
> at jeeves.server.JeevesEngine.initResources(JeevesEngine.java:473) at
> jeeves.server.JeevesEngine.loadConfigFile(JeevesEngine.java:298) at
> jeeves.server.JeevesEngine.init(JeevesEngine.java:161) at
> jeeves.server.sources.http.JeevesServlet.init(JeevesServlet.java:85)
> at javax.servlet.GenericServlet.init(GenericServlet.java:160) at
> org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapper.initServlet(StandardWrapper.java:1266)
> at
> org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapper.loadServlet(StandardWrapper.java:1185)
> at
> org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapper.load(StandardWrapper.java:1080)
> at
> org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.loadOnStartup(StandardContext.java:5027)
> at
> org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.startInternal(StandardContext.java:5314)
> at
> org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
> at
> org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.addChildInternal(ContainerBase.java:901)
> at
> org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.addChild(ContainerBase.java:877)
> at
> org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHost.addChild(StandardHost.java:618)
> at
> org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig.deployWAR(HostConfig.java:963)
> at
> org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig$DeployWar.run(HostConfig.java:1600)
> at
> java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call(Executors.java:471)
> at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync.innerRun(FutureTask.java:334)
> at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:166) at
> java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1145)
> at
> java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:615)
> at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:722) Caused by:
> org.h2.jdbc.JdbcSQLException: IO Exception:
> "java.io.FileNotFoundException: /var/lib/tomcat7/geonetwork.lock.db
> (Permission denied)"; "/var/lib/tomcat7/geonetwork.lock.db"
> [90031-152] at
> org.h2.message.DbException.getJdbcSQLException(DbException.java:327)
> at org.h2.message.DbException.get(DbException.java:156) at
> org.h2.message.DbException.convertIOException(DbException.java:313) at
> org.h2.store.fs.FileSystemDisk.openFileOutputStream(FileSystemDisk.java:382)
> at org.h2.store.FileLock.save(FileLock.java:203) at
> org.h2.store.FileLock.lockFile(FileLock.java:335) at
> org.h2.store.FileLock.lock(FileLock.java:134) at
> org.h2.engine.Database.open(Database.java:535) at
> org.h2.engine.Database.openDatabase(Database.java:218) at
> org.h2.engine.Database.<init>(Database.java:213) at
> org.h2.engine.Engine.openSession(Engine.java:56) at
> org.h2.engine.Engine.openSession(Engine.java:159) at
> org.h2.engine.Engine.createSessionAndValidate(Engine.java:138) at
> org.h2.engine.Engine.createSession(Engine.java:121) at
> org.h2.engine.Engine.createSession(Engine.java:28) at
> org.h2.engine.SessionRemote.connectEmbeddedOrServer(SessionRemote.java:285) at org.h2.jdbc.JdbcConnection.<init>(JdbcConnection.java:114) at
> org.h2.jdbc.JdbcConnection.<init>(JdbcConnection.java:98) at
> org.h2.Driver.connect(Driver.java:72) at
> org.apache.commons.dbcp.DriverConnectionFactory.createConnection(DriverConnectionFactory.java:38)
> at
> org.apache.commons.dbcp.PoolableConnectionFactory.makeObject(PoolableConnectionFactory.java:582)
> at
> org.apache.commons.dbcp.BasicDataSource.validateConnectionFactory(BasicDataSource.java:1556)
> at
> org.apache.commons.dbcp.BasicDataSource.createPoolableConnectionFactory(BasicDataSource.java:1545)
> ... 26 more Caused by: java.io.FileNotFoundException:
> /var/lib/tomcat7/geonetwork.lock.db (Permission denied) at
> java.io.FileOutputStream.open(Native Method) at
> java.io.FileOutputStream.<init>(FileOutputStream.java:212) at
> java.io.FileOutputStream.<init>(FileOutputStream.java:136) at
> org.h2.store.fs.FileSystemDisk.openFileOutputStream(FileSystemDisk.java:374)
> ... 45 more

> ----------- root@atgis-linux:/var/lib/tomcat7/webapps/geonetwork/WEB-INF# service
> tomcat7 restart  * Stopping Tomcat servlet engine tomcat7
> [ OK ]   * Starting Tomcat servlet engine tomcat7
> [ OK ]  root@atgis-linux:/var/lib/tomcat7/webapps/geonetwork/WEB-INF#
> wget http://lh:8080/geonetwork
> --2013-03-05 15:01:18--  http://lh:8080/geonetwork Resolving localhost (localhost)... 127.0.0.1 Connecting to localhost
> (localhost)|127.0.0.1|:8080... connected. HTTP request sent, awaiting
> response... 302 Found Location: http://lh:8080/geonetwork/
> [following]
> --2013-03-05 15:01:18--  http://lh:8080/geonetwork/ Reusing existing connection to localhost:8080. HTTP request sent, awaiting
> response... 200 OK Length: 666 [text/html] Saving to: 'geonetwork'
>
> 100%[===============================================================>]
> 666         --.-K/s   in 0s
>
> 2013-03-05 15:01:18 (108 MB/s) - 'geonetwork' saved [666/666]

--------

> root@atgis-linux:/var/lib/tomcat7/webapps/geonetwork/WEB-INF# service
> tomcat7 restart * Stopping Tomcat servlet engine tomcat7
> [ OK ]   * Starting Tomcat servlet engine tomcat7
> [fail]

sudo chgrp tomcat7 /usr/share/tomcat7
sudo chmod g+w /usr/share/tomcat7

<url>jdbc:h2:geonetwork;LOCK_TIMEOUT=20000;MVCC=TRUE</url>

<url>jdbc:h2:~/.geonetwork/geonetwork;LOCK_TIMEOUT=20000;MVCC=TRUE</url>