Apache Tomcat Administration Training Course

Tomcat Overview 

• Introduction to Apache Tomcat
• Role of the Apache Software Foundation
• Association with the Jakarta Project
• Licensing protocols for Tomcat
• Relationship to Java Enterprise Edition (J2EE) standards
• Foundations of Java-based web development
• Overview of Servlet and JSP container environments

Java Web Applications

• Core concepts and functionality of Servlets
• Operational benefits and lifecycle management of Servlets
• Implementation of JavaServer Pages (JSP)
• Integration of JSP with JavaBeans and Tag Libraries
• Application of Model-View-Controller (MVC) frameworks

Installing Tomcat

• Acquisition and installation procedures for Apache Tomcat
• Provisioning of JVM, Tomcat, and Ant build tools
• Utilizing the Windows installation utility
• Optimizing JVM memory management for performance

Tomcat Directories

• Analysis of Tomcat installation paths and directory hierarchy, including the bin, common, and shared directories
• Examination of configuration, logging, server, work, temp, and webapps directories
• Standard structure of web application directories
• Deployment procedures for HTML, JSP pages, and web contexts
• Mechanism of JSP page compilation and code generation
• Process for deploying web applications

Configuring Tomcat

• Methods for Tomcat configuration and management
• Explanation of Tomcat's component-based architecture
• Detailed review of configuration elements: Server, Service, Connector, Engine, Host, Context, Realm, Valve, Listener, Loader, and Manager
• Structure and function of the server.xml file
• Procedures for modifying the server.xml configuration

Web Applications

• Administrative practices and deployment workflows for web applications
• Anatomy of the web application directory structure
• Functionality of the web.xml configuration file
• Overview of deployment descriptors
• Usage of the element
• Mapping Servlets to specific URLs
• Definition of the element
• Definition of the element
• Definition of the element
• Example of a standard web.xml file
• Procedure for deploying a complete web application
• Review of the default conf/web.xml file provided by Tomcat
• Optimization of default JSP and static content servlets

Tomcat Manager

• Utilizing the Tomcat Manager for application deployment and administration
• Initiation and interface review of the Tomcat Manager
• Analysis of the Manager application sections
• Management of applications, deployment actions, and server information display
• Creation of Web Application Archive (WAR) files
• Practical exercise: Deploying a WAR file
• Integration of Java Management Extensions (JMX) with Tomcat
• Integration of Tomcat with Apache Ant

Advanced Features

• Leveraging advanced Tomcat capabilities
• Configuration of Valves, including Access Log and Single Sign-on features
• Implementation of Remote Address and Remote Host filters
• Use of the Request Dumper Valve
• Configuration of JNDI resources
• Overview of Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI) and resource definition
• Application of the and elements
• Configuration of JavaMail sessions
• Management of global resources

JDBC Connectivity

• Configuring Tomcat for database connectivity
• Fundamentals of Java Database Connectivity (JDBC)
• Selection and management of JDBC drivers
• Database connection management and connection pooling strategies
• Installation of MySQL database software
• Configuration of MySQL for use with Tomcat
• Creation of databases within MySQL
• Acquisition and deployment of JDBC drivers
• Definition of DataSources in Tomcat, including manual configuration
• Modification of deployment descriptors for data access
• Detection and remediation of leaked database connections

Tomcat Security

• Assessment of security controls and configuration for Tomcat
• Key security considerations for server operations
• File system security protocols and recommendations
• Implementation of the Java Security Manager
• Assignment of permissions to Java applications
• Creation and application of custom security policies
• Activation of the Java Security Manager
• Guidance on Security Manager usage and Security Realms
• Review of Realm types and configuration procedures
• Management of users and roles for authentication and authorization
• Establishment of Data Source Realms
• Protocols for password protection
• Implementation of FORM-based authentication
• Configuration of Tomcat for Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) support
• Enforcement of SSL requirements in applications

Connecting

• Integration of Tomcat with Apache HTTP Server
• Overview of connector technologies
• Configuration of HTTP connectors
• Operational benefits of using a web server front-end
• Specification of connector protocols
• Setup of AJP connectors
• Acquisition of the mod_jk module
• Creation of the mod_jk.conf configuration file
• Procedure for starting Tomcat services
• Definition of worker configurations
• Modification of httpd.conf settings
• Verification of the integration setup
• Distribution of application load across multiple Tomcat instances
• Challenges associated with load balancing
• Maintenance of server affinity through sticky sessions
• Implementation of shared session storage
• Replication of sessions via Tomcat clustering
• Configuration for shared hosting environments
• Implementation of Tomcat virtual hosting
• Enabling virtual hosting on a stand-alone Tomcat server
• Enabling virtual hosting using jk2 or webapp configurations
• Configuration of Tomcat as a stand-alone server
• Configuration of Tomcat using AJP protocol
• Assignment of separate JVM instances for each host

Load Testing

• Introduction to the JMeter application
• Conducting load testing using JMeter
• Installation and execution of JMeter
• Development of a test plan
• Configuration of thread groups and task addition
• Setup of HTTP requests
• Integration of report listeners
• Execution of the test plan
• Analysis and review of test results