Apache Tomcat Administration Training Course

Tomcat Overview

• Concise overview of Apache
• The Apache Software Foundation
• The Jakarta Project
• Licensing terms for Tomcat
• J2EE Technologies
• Java Web Development
• Servlet and JSP Containers

Java Web Applications

• Overview of Servlets
• Benefits of Servlets and Their Lifecycle
• JavaServer Pages
• JSP, JavaBeans, and JSP Tag Libraries
• MVC frameworks

Installing Tomcat

• Downloading and Installing Apache Tomcat
• Downloading and installing a JVM, Tomcat, and Ant
• Utilizing the Windows installer
• Managing Java memory and tweaking the JVM for optimal performance

Tomcat Directories

• Tomcat Installation Directories, Directory Structure, the bin Directory, and Common/shared Directories
• Overview of the conf, logs, server, work, temp, and webapps Directories
• Structure of the Web Application Directory
• Deploying HTML and JSP Pages along with Web Context
• Understanding JSP Pages and Generated Code
• Deploying a Web App

Configuring Tomcat

• Tomcat configuration techniques
• Tomcat's Component Architecture
• Key Elements: Server, Service, Connector, Engine, Host, Context, Realm, Valve, Listener, Loader, and Manager
• Understanding 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 Element
• Mapping a Servlet to a URL
• The resource-ref Element
• The env-entry Element
• The 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
• Exploring the Manager Section
• Applications, Deployment options, and Server Information
• Creating a WAR File
• Lab 4: Deploying a WAR File
• Java Management Extensions (JMX) on Tomcat
• Integrating Tomcat with Ant

Advanced Features

• Utilizing Advanced Features of Tomcat
• Valves, 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 a JNDI Resource
• Environment and Resource Elements
• Configuring a JavaMail Session
• Global Resources

JDBC Connectivity

• Configuring Tomcat for Database Connectivity
• JDBC Overview
• JDBC Drivers
• Connecting to a Database and Managing Connection Pools
• Downloading and Installing MySQL
• Configuring MySQL for Tomcat
• Creating a Database in MySQL
• Downloading and Deploying 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

• Exploring Security configurations on Tomcat
• Security Considerations
• File System Security and Recommendations
• Java Security Manager
• Granting Permissions to Java Apps and Understanding Java Permissions
• Creating and Adding Custom Policies
• Enabling the Java Security Manager
• Security Manager Tips and Security Realms
• Exploring Different Types of Realms and Configuring a Realm
• Users and Roles (authentication and authorization)
• Creating a Data Source Realm
• Password protection measures
• FORM-based authentication
• Configuring Tomcat for SSL
• Requiring SSL in applications

Connecting

• Connecting Tomcat to Apache
• Understanding 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 associated 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 for 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