Yes you can,
In your pom.xml, add the tomcat plugin. (You can use this for both Tomcat 7 and 8):
pom.xml
<!-- Tomcat plugin -->
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.tomcat.maven</groupId>
<artifactId>tomcat7-maven-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.2</version>
<configuration>
<url>http:// localhost:8080/manager/text</url>
<server>TomcatServer</server> *(From maven > settings.xml)*
<username>*yourtomcatusername*</username>
<password>*yourtomcatpassword*</password>
</configuration>
</plugin>
tomcat-users.xml
<tomcat-users>
<role rolename="manager-gui"/>
<role rolename="manager-script"/>
<user username="admin" password="password" roles="manager-gui,manager-script" />
</tomcat-users>
settings.xml (maven > conf)
<servers>
<server>
<id>TomcatServer</id>
<username>admin</username>
<password>password</password>
</server>
</servers>
* deploy/re-deploy
mvn tomcat7:deploy OR mvn tomcat7:redeploy
Tried this on (Both Ubuntu and Windows 8/10):
* Jdk 7 & Tomcat 7
* Jdk 7 & Tomcat 8
* Jdk 8 & Tomcat 7
* Jdk 8 & Tomcat 8
* Jdk 8 & Tomcat 9
Tested on Both Jdk 7/8 & Tomcat 7/8. (Works with Tomcat 8.5 and 9)
Note:
Tomcat manager should be running or properly setup, before you can use it with maven.
Good Luck!