Web Services on the IU Research Database Complex

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Introduction

In addition to providing a home for research databases, Indiana University's Research Database Complex (RDC) provides an environment for database-driven web applications with a research focus. This environment comprises a Dell 2950 with a 1.6 GHz Quad-core Intel Xeon processor and 8 GB of memory. This system is known as rdcweb.uits.iu.edu, and runs Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5. User home directories reside on the IBM N5500 NAS storage device with disk quotas of 10 GB per user. This quota is shared by your Big Red, Quarry, and RDC accounts, if you have accounts on those systems.

Software

Apache and Tomcat are available to host web applications. In addition, you also have the option of using mod_jk to facilitate communication between Apache and Tomcat.

The following scripting languages are available:

Port assignment

When accounts are created, each user is assigned a range of 10 ports. This lets you run multiple servers if needed.

Your `web_services` directory

The web_services directory in your home directory on rdcweb.uits.iu.edu is where all the user-controlled files for Apache and Tomcat live. You can access this directory via its full path (/N/u/username/RDC/web_services), or via /ip/username, which is a symbolic link provided for your convenience.

Configuration

In addition to the Apache and Tomcat configuration files, two files control the behavior of your servers:

The rdc-web.conf file, located in the web_services directory, can be edited to toggle on and off various options, such as PHP, SSL, and mod_jk. Important instructions for editing this file are contained in the file itself. If this file is deleted, you will not be able to start your servers.
The .rdc-env file is located in your home directory. It contains various environment variables that tell Apache and Tomcat where to find files needed for their operation. This file is also used to restart your servers in the event of a system reboot. Edit .rdc-env only if you need to add environment variables.

Configuring Apache

The Apache configuration on rdcweb.uits.iu.edu allows all users to share the Apache binaries and libraries. All users have their own configuration files. In this way, the deployment of new versions of Apache, and supporting libraries and modules, can be centrally managed.

The root of your Apache server is web_services/httpd, and contains these subdirectories:

Directory	Description
`conf`	Apache configuration files
`logs`	Apache access and error logs, and stored Pid-File modules
`perl`	Reserved for use by `mod_perl`
`cgi-bin`	CGI scripts

In the web_services/httpd/conf/ directory, you'll find some files that may need slight modifications:

File	Description
`httpd.conf`	Main Apache configuration file
`ssl`	Configuration file for SSL server, if enabled
`workers.properties`	Configuration file for `mod_jk`, if enabled
`cgi-bin`	CGI scripts

The web_services/httpd/conf/ directory contains these subdirectories:

Directory	Description
`ssl`	SSL certificates and keys
`modules.d`	Contains configuration information for various modules
`cgi-bin`	CGI scripts

Configuring Tomcat

Tomcat server binaries and libraries are shared system-wide. As with Apache, each user has an individual set of configuration files. The root of your Tomcat server is web_services/tomcat, also referred to as CATALINA_BASE, and contains these subdirectories:

Directory	Description
`conf`	Tomcat configuration files
`webapps`	Your RDC web applications
`shared`	Classes and libraries shared among all your web applications
`work`	Java code for servlets
`temp`	Temporary space used by Tomcat

For more information about Tomcat directory structure for web applications and configuration, see Apache's Tomcat 5.5 Servlet/JSP Container page.

By default, your server.xml file, located in the conf directory, will be configured for a non-SSL port and a Tomcat shutdown port when it is installed. You may add additional ports from your port assignment range as needed.

Starting and stopping Web Services

Example syntax for starting and stopping Web Services is:

boot-rdc-web.pl command service

In the above example, replace command with start, stop, restart, or status, and service with apache, tomcat, or all (if you are running both Apache and Tomcat).

To specify which services should be loaded in the event of a system restart, modify the boot variable in the web_services/rdc-web.conf file as shown in last line of this sample configuration file:

# To enable a feature, uncomment the line beginning with "-D". To disable # said feature, comment out that line (by preceding it with # ) # Enable support for perl #-D PERL # Enable SSL Support through Apache #-D SSL # Enable Java through Tomcat # NOTE : This only enables mod_jk for passing java requests through apache to # tomcat. You must have a tomcat instance running and properly # configured. This option _does not_ handle starting the tomcat # instance. #-D JAVA # NOTE : You cannot enable PHP4 and PHP5 simultaneously # Enable PHP4 support #-D PHP4 # Enable PHP5 support #-D PHP5 # Location of httpd.conf . may be changed, but should be done with caution. # This must be a path relative to /ip/$USERAME$ httpd_conf = httpd/conf/httpd.conf # This line enables apache and/or tomcat to start on boot. If you don't wish # to have your services start on boot, simply comment out this line. # Use ( all | apache | tomcat ) respectively. boot=all Back to top

Getting help

For help configuring Web Services for your RDC database, email the High Performance Systems group.

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Last modified on March 30, 2011.