Apache Tomcat Administration Training Course

Tomcat Overview 

• A brief introduction to Apache
• The Apache Software Foundation
• The Jakarta Project
• Tomcat Licensing details
• J2EE Technologies
• Java Web Development fundamentals
• Servlet/JSP Containers

Java Web Applications

• An introduction to Servlets
• The benefits of Servlets & The Lifecycle
• JavaServer Pages
• JSP, JavaBeans and JSP Tag Libraries
• MVC frameworks

Installing Tomcat

• Acquiring and installing Apache Tomcat
• Installing a JVM, obtaining Tomcat, and setting up Ant
• Using the Windows installer
• Java memory management and optimizing 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
• Understanding the Web Application Directory Structure
• Deploying HTML and JSP Pages and managing Web Contexts
• JSP Pages and their Generated Code
• Deploying a Web App

ConfiguringTomcat

• Tomcat configuration and an overview of relevant techniques
• Tomcat's Component Architecture
• The <Server> Element, <Service> Element, <Connector> Element, <Engine> Element, <Host> Element, <Context> Element, <Realm> Element, <Valve> Element, <Listener> Element, <Loader> Element, and <Manager> Element
• The server.xml File
• Modifying the server.xml file

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

• Leveraging 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 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 using 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 Defining a Data Source 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
• 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
• Examining 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

• 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
• Common 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

• The 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