Apache Tomcat Administration Training Course

Tomcat Overview 

• Brief introduction to Apache
• Overview of the Apache Software Foundation
• Introduction to the Jakarta Project
• Details on Tomcat Licensing
• Review of J2EE Technologies
• Basics of Java Web Development
• Understanding Servlet and JSP Containers

Java Web Applications

• Introduction to Servlets
• Benefits of Servlets and their Lifecycle
• Overview of JavaServer Pages (JSP)
• JSP, JavaBeans, and JSP Tag Libraries
• Introduction to MVC frameworks

Installing Tomcat

• Process of downloading and installing Apache Tomcat
• Installing the JVM, downloading Tomcat, and setting up Ant
• Using the Windows installer
• Managing Java memory and tuning the JVM for optimal performance

Tomcat Directories

• Overview of Tomcat installation directories, general structure, the bin directory, and common/shared directories
• Examination of the conf, logs, server, work, temp, and webapps directories
• Understanding the Web Application Directory Structure
• Deploying HTML and JSP pages and understanding the Web Context
• JSP pages and their generated code
• Deploying a complete Web Application

ConfiguringTomcat

• Techniques for configuring Tomcat
• Tomcat's Component Architecture
• Details on the <Server>, <Service>, <Connector>, <Engine>, <Host>, <Context>, <Realm>, <Valve>, <Listener>, <Loader>, and <Manager> Elements
• Analysis of the Server.xml File
• Methods for modifying server.xml

Web Applications

• Administration and deployment of Web Applications
• Directory structure for a Web App
• The web.xml configuration file
• Deployment Descriptors
• The <web-app></web-app> Element
• Mapping Servlets to URLs
• The <resource-ref></resource-ref> Element
• The <env-entry></env-entry> Element
• The <ejb-ref></ejb-ref> Element
• Sample web.xml file analysis
• Deploying a Web Application
• Tomcat's default conf/web.xml file
• Tuning default JSP and Static-content servlets

Tomcat Manager

• Deploying and managing Web Applications via the Tomcat Manager
• Starting the Tomcat Manager and exploring its interface
• Reviewing the Manager Section
• Applications, Deployment options, and Server Information
• Creating a WAR File
• Lab 4: Deploying a WAR File
• Java Management Extensions (JMX) in Tomcat
• Integrating Tomcat with Ant

Advanced Features

• Leveraging advanced Tomcat features
• Valves, including Access Log Valve and Single Sign-on Valve
• Remote Address Filter and Remote Host Filter
• Request Dumper Valve
• Configuring JNDI Resources
• JNDI (Java Naming and Directory Interface) and defining JNDI Resources
• The <environment></environment> Element and the <resource></resource> Element
• Configuring a JavaMail Session
• Global Resources

JDBC Connectivity

• Configuring Tomcat to connect to a database
• Overview of JDBC
• JDBC Drivers
• Database connections and Connection Pools
• Downloading and Installing MySQL
• Configuring MySQL for use with Tomcat
• Creating a Database in MySQL
• Downloading and deploying a JDBC Driver
• Defining a DataSource in Tomcat and manual setup
• Modifying the Deployment Descriptor
• Detecting and closing leaked database connections

Tomcat Security

• Security configuration for Tomcat
• Key Security Considerations
• File System Security and best practices
• Java Security Manager
• Granting permissions to Java applications and reviewing Java Permissions
• Creating and adding custom policies
• Enabling the Java Security Manager
• Tips for the Security Manager and Security Realms
• Different types of Realms and realm configuration
• Users and Roles (authentication and authorization)
• Creating a Data Source Realm
• Password protection mechanisms
• FORM-based authentication
• Configuring Tomcat for SSL
• Enforcing SSL within applications

Connecting

• Connecting Tomcat to Apache
• Overview of Connectors
• HTTP Connectors
• Benefits of using a Web Server
• Connector Protocols
• Configuring an AJP Connector
• Downloading mod_jk
• Creating the mod_jk.conf file
• Starting Tomcat
• Creating a Worker
• Configuring httpd.conf
• Testing the setup
• Load balancing applications across multiple Tomcat instances
• Common issues with load balancing
• Server affinity using sticky sessions
• Shared session storage
• Replicated sessions via Tomcat clustering
• Shared Hosting
• Tomcat Virtual Hosting
• Enabling virtual hosting for Tomcat as a stand-alone server
• Enabling virtual hosting using jk2 or webapp.
• Configuring Tomcat as Stand-alone
• Configuring Tomcat with AJP
• Separate JVM for Each Host

Load Testing

• The JMeter Application
• Conducting Load Testing with JMeter
• Installing and running JMeter
• Creating a Test Plan
• Configuring the Thread Group and adding tasks
• Configuring the HTTP Request
• Adding a Report Listener
• Executing the Test Plan
• Reviewing the Results