Apache Tomcat Administration Training Course

Tomcat Overview

• A brief look at Apache
• The Apache Software Foundation
• The Jakarta Project
• Tomcat Licensing
• J2EE Technologies
• Java Web Development
• Servlet and JSP Containers

Java Web Applications

• Introduction to Servlets
• Benefits of Servlets and Their Lifecycle
• JavaServer Pages
• JSP, JavaBeans, and JSP Tag Libraries
• MVC Frameworks

Installing Tomcat

• Downloading and Installing Apache Tomcat
• Acquiring and setting up a JVM, downloading Tomcat, and installing Ant
• Using the Windows installer
• Managing Java memory and optimizing JVM for better performance

Tomcat Directories

• Understanding Tomcat’s installation directories, directory structure, the bin Directory, and Common and shared Directories
• Exploring the conf Directory, logs Directory, server directory, work Directory, temp Directory, and webapps Directory
• Structure of the Web Application Directory Structure
• Deploying HTML and JSP Pages along with Web Context
• JSP Page and the Generated Code
• Deploying a Web App

Configuring Tomcat

• Configuring Tomcat and examining various techniques
• Tomcat's Component Architecture
• Key Elements: <Server>, <Service>, <Connector>, <Engine>, <Host>, <Context>, <Realm>, <Valve>, <Listener>, <Loader>, and <Manager>
• The server.xml File
• Modifying server.xml

Web Applications

• Web Application Administration and Deployment
• Directory Structure of a Web App
• web.xml configuration file
• Deployment Descriptors
• The <web-app>/<web-app> Element
• Mapping a Servlet to a URL
• The <resource-ref>/<resource-ref> Element
• The <env-entry>/<env-entry> Element
• The <ejb-ref>/<ejb-ref> Element
• Sample web.xml file
• 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 using the Tomcat Manager
• Starting the Tomcat Manager and exploring its interface
• Examining the Manager Section
• Applications, Deploy, and Server Information
• Creating a WAR File
• Lab 4: Deploying a WAR File
• Java Management Extensions (JMX) on Tomcat
• Tomcat integration with Ant

Advanced Features

• Utilizing selected advanced features of Tomcat
• Valves, Access Log Valve, 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 a JNDI Resource
• 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
• Connecting to a Database and Connection Pools
• Download and Install MySQL
• Configure MySQL for Tomcat
• Create a Database in MySQL
• Download and Deploy a JDBC Driver
• Defining a DataSource in Tomcat and Manual Data Source Definition
• Modifying the Deployment Descriptor
• Detecting and closing leaked database connections

Tomcat Security

• Examining Security on Tomcat and its configuration
• Security Considerations
• File System Security and Filesystem Recommendations
• Java Security Manager
• Granting Permissions to Java Apps and understanding Java Permissions
• Creating and Adding Your Own Policies
• Enabling the Java Security Manager
• Security Manager Tips and Security Realms
• Examining different Types of Realms and Configuring a Realm
• Users and Roles (authentication and authorization)
• Creating a Data Source Realm
• Protecting passwords
• FORM-based authentication
• Configuring Tomcat for SSL
• Requiring SSL in applications

Connecting

• Connecting Tomcat to Apache
• Examining Connectors
• HTTP Connectors
• Advantages 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
• Issues with load balancing
• Server affinity via sticky sessions
• Shared session storage
• Replicated sessions via Tomcat clustering
• Shared Hosting
• Tomcat Virtual Hosting
• Configuring Tomcat to enable virtual hosting as a stand-alone server
• Configuring Tomcat to enable virtual hosting using jk2 or webapp
• Configuring Tomcat as Stand-alone
• Configuring Tomcat with AJP
• Separate JVM for Each Host

Load Testing

• JMeter Application
• Load Testing with JMeter
• Installing and running JMeter
• Creating a Test Plan
• Configuring the Thread Group and adding a task
• Configuring the HTTP Request
• Adding a Report Listener
• Running the Test Plan
• Viewing the Results