Apache Tomcat Administration Training Course

Tomcat Overview 

• A brief overview of Apache
• The Apache Software Foundation
• The Jakarta Project
• Tomcat Licensing
• J2EE Technologies
• Java Web Development
• Servlet/JSP Containers

Java Web Applications

• An Overview of Servlets
• The Advantages of Servlets & The 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
• The Windows installer
• Java memory management and tuning the JVM for performance

Tomcat Directories

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

Configuring Tomcat

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

Web Applications

• Web Application Administration & Deployment
• Directory Structure of a Web App
• The 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
• A 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 Some of the Advanced Features of Tomcat
• Valves, Access Log Valve, and Single Sign-on Valve
• Remote Address Filter and Remote Host Filter
• Request Dumper Valve
• Configuring the 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 Doing So Manually
• 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
• The Java Security Manager
• Granting Permissions to Java Apps and Examining Java Permissions
• Creating and Adding Custom Policies
• Enabling the Java Security Manager
• Security Manager Tips and Security Realms
• Exploring the different Types of Realms and Configuring a Realm
• Users and Roles (authentication and authorization)
• Creating a Data Source Realm
• Password protection mechanisms
• FORM-based authentication
• Configuring Tomcat for SSL
• Requiring SSL in applications

Connecting

• Connect Tomcat to Apache
• Examining Connectors
• HTTP Connectors
• Advantages of Using a Web Server
• Connector Protocols
• Configure an AJP Connector
• Download mod_jk
• Create the mod_jk.conf file
• Start Tomcat
• Create a Worker
• Configure httpd.conf
• Test 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
• Configure Tomcat to enable virtual hosting as a stand-alone server
• Configure Tomcat to enable virtual hosting using jk2 or webapp.
• Configure Tomcat as Stand-alone
• Configure Tomcat with AJP
• Separate JVM for Each Host

Load Testing

• The JMeter Application
• Load Testing with JMeter
• Install and run JMeter
• Creating a Test Plan
• Configure the Thread Group and add a task
• Configure the HTTP Request
• Add a Report Listener
• Run the Test Plan
• Viewing the Results