Apache Tomcat Administration Training Course

Tomcat Overview 

• Brief introduction to the Apache project
• The Apache Software Foundation
• The Jakarta Project
• Licensing terms for Tomcat
• J2EE Technologies
• Java Web Development concepts
• Servlet and JSP Containers

Java Web Applications

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

Installing Tomcat

• Acquiring and installing Apache Tomcat
• Steps to download and install a JVM, Tomcat, and Ant
• Utilizing the Windows installer
• Java memory management and JVM tuning for performance

Tomcat Directories

• Tomcat installation paths, directory structure, the bin directory, and common/shared directories
• The conf directory, logs directory, server directory, work directory, temp directory, and webapps directory
• Analyzing the standard web application directory structure
• Deploying HTML and JSP pages along with web contexts
• Understanding JSP pages and the code they generate
• The process of deploying a web application

Configuring Tomcat

• Tomcat configuration methods and techniques
• Tomcat's component-based architecture
• Key elements including <Server>, <Service>, <Connector>, <Engine>, <Host>, <Context>, <Realm>, <Valve>, <Listener>, <Loader>, and <Manager>
• Overview of the server.xml file
• Techniques for modifying server.xml

Web Applications

• Administration and deployment of web applications
• Standard directory structure for web apps
• The web.xml configuration file
• Understanding Deployment Descriptors
• The <web-app></web-app> element
• Mapping Servlets to specific URLs
• The <resource-ref></resource-ref> element
• The <env-entry></env-entry> element
• The <ejb-ref></ejb-ref> element
• Reviewing a sample web.xml file
• Steps involved in deploying a web application
• Examining Tomcat's default conf/web.xml file
• Optimizing default JSP and static-content servlets

Tomcat Manager

• Deploying and managing web applications via the Tomcat Manager
• Launching the Tomcat Manager and exploring its interface
• Analysis of the Manager section
• Managing Applications, Deployment, and Server Information
• Creating a WAR file
• Lab 4: Practical exercise in deploying a WAR file
• Java Management Extensions (JMX) integration with Tomcat
• Integrating Tomcat with Ant

Advanced Features

• Leveraging advanced Tomcat capabilities
• Valves, including Access Log and Single Sign-on Valves
• Remote Address Filter and Remote Host Filter
• Request Dumper Valve functionality
• Configuration of JNDI Resources
• JNDI: Java Naming and Directory Interface and defining JNDI Resources
• The <environment></environment> element and the <resource></resource> element
• Setting up a JavaMail Session
• Managing Global Resources

JDBC Connectivity

• Configuring Tomcat for database connectivity
• Overview of JDBC technology
• Understanding JDBC Drivers
• Database connection processes and Connection Pools
• Installing MySQL
• Configuring MySQL for use with Tomcat
• Creating a database within MySQL
• Deploying a JDBC Driver
• Defining a DataSource in Tomcat and manual Data Source configuration
• Adjusting the Deployment Descriptor
• Identifying and closing leaked database connections

Tomcat Security

• Examining security configurations and settings in Tomcat
• Key Security Considerations
• File System Security and best practices for Filesystem setup
• The Java Security Manager
• Granting permissions to Java apps and reviewing Java Permissions
• Creating and adding custom security policies
• Activating the Java Security Manager
• Tips for the Security Manager and understanding Security Realms
• Reviewing different Realm types and configuring a Realm
• Managing Users and Roles (authentication and authorization)
• Setting up a Data Source Realm
• Methods for protecting passwords
• Implementing FORM-based authentication
• Configuring Tomcat for SSL
• Enforcing SSL requirements in applications

Connecting

• Linking Tomcat to Apache
• Understanding Connectors
• HTTP Connectors
• Benefits of utilizing a dedicated Web Server
• Connector Protocols
• Setting up an AJP Connector
• Obtaining mod_jk
• Creating the mod_jk.conf file
• Starting Tomcat
• Creating a Worker
• Configuring httpd.conf
• Testing the setup
• Distributing application load across multiple Tomcat instances
• Addressing common issues with load balancing
• Implementing server affinity through sticky sessions
• Shared session storage solutions
• Replicating sessions via Tomcat clustering
• Shared Hosting models
• Tomcat Virtual Hosting capabilities
• Configuring Tomcat for virtual hosting as a stand-alone server
• Enabling virtual hosting in Tomcat using jk2 or webapp
• Setting up Tomcat as Stand-alone
• Configuring Tomcat with AJP
• Assigning a Separate JVM for Each Host

Load Testing

• The JMeter Application
• Conducting Load Testing with JMeter
• Installation and execution of JMeter
• Developing a Test Plan
• Configuring the Thread Group and adding tasks
• Setting up the HTTP Request
• Including a Report Listener
• Executing the Test Plan
• Analyzing the Results