Index: core/containers/tomcat/src/main/java/org/codehaus/cargo/container/tomcat/TomcatPropertySet.java
===================================================================
--- core/containers/tomcat/src/main/java/org/codehaus/cargo/container/tomcat/TomcatPropertySet.java	(revision 2862)
+++ core/containers/tomcat/src/main/java/org/codehaus/cargo/container/tomcat/TomcatPropertySet.java	(working copy)
@@ -45,4 +45,9 @@
      * Whether the contexts for deployed Web applications should be set as reloadable.
      */
     String CONTEXT_RELOADABLE = "cargo.tomcat.context.reloadable";
+
+    /**
+     * Flag determining if WAR deployables should be copied (default) or referenced.
+     */
+    String COPY_WARS = "cargo.tomcat.copywars";
 }
Index: core/containers/tomcat/src/main/java/org/codehaus/cargo/container/tomcat/internal/AbstractCatalinaStandaloneLocalConfiguration.java
===================================================================
--- core/containers/tomcat/src/main/java/org/codehaus/cargo/container/tomcat/internal/AbstractCatalinaStandaloneLocalConfiguration.java	(revision 2862)
+++ core/containers/tomcat/src/main/java/org/codehaus/cargo/container/tomcat/internal/AbstractCatalinaStandaloneLocalConfiguration.java	(working copy)
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@
         setProperty(GeneralPropertySet.URI_ENCODING, "ISO-8859-1");
         setProperty(TomcatPropertySet.AJP_PORT, "8009");
         setProperty(TomcatPropertySet.CONTEXT_RELOADABLE, "false");
+        setProperty(TomcatPropertySet.COPY_WARS, "true");
     }
 
     /**
@@ -222,7 +223,8 @@
                 TomcatCopyingInstalledLocalDeployer deployer =
                     new TomcatCopyingInstalledLocalDeployer((InstalledLocalContainer) container);
                 deployer.setShouldDeployExpanded(DeployableType.WAR, true);
-                deployer.setShouldCopyWars(false);
+                deployer.setShouldCopyWars(Boolean.parseBoolean(
+                    getPropertyValue(TomcatPropertySet.COPY_WARS)));
                 deployer.deploy(getDeployables());
 
                 // Deploy the CPC (Cargo Ping Component) to the webapps directory
@@ -301,6 +303,9 @@
         // wars are located.
         StringBuilder webappTokenValue = new StringBuilder(" ");
 
+        // Determine possible override for property copyWars
+        boolean copyWars = Boolean.parseBoolean(getPropertyValue(TomcatPropertySet.COPY_WARS));
+
         for (Deployable deployable : getDeployables())
         {
             if (deployable.getType() != DeployableType.WAR)
@@ -311,7 +316,7 @@
 
             // Do not create tokens for WARs containing a context file as they
             // are copied to the webapps directory.
-            if (TomcatUtils.containsContextFile(deployable))
+            if (copyWars || TomcatUtils.containsContextFile(deployable))
             {
                 continue;
             }