I have CherryPy based web service which dishes out data from flat files based on GET request query's. The list of files that it uses as its database is specified in a yaml based configuration file.
Now each time I want to add/remove a file from that yaml config file, I have edit the yaml configuration file and then restart the service.
What would be the easiest way for me to implement a scheme, so that each time I modify the config file to the configuration file, the web service would automatically detect the change and reload the contents of that file without requiring a restart.
My goal is to avoid downtime completely and not interrupt my customers who are running the queries.
If your service is behind the apache using mod_rewrite:
create two instance of your application with different ports, and when *mod_rewrite* is configured to rewrite requests to instance A, you can change instance B config file, after auto-restart, you can change the apache config file, and issue:
/etc/init.d/apache reload
then change instance A's config file.
If your cherrypy is standalone you can use proxy server with mentioned two instance.
Related
I've used WHM and cpanel for years but recently noticed that after an update the "/controlpanel" directory has been automatically added allowing domain.com/controlpanel to redirect to domain.com:2083
How do you disable this redirect that is public facing?
The /controlpanel and /securecontrolpanel are controlled by ScriptAliasMatch in httpd.conf which cannot by modified directly as WHM/cPanel will rebuild it again as it where before the manual modifications. So it will be better if modifications done through one of the following options:
SSH access is needed to apply any one of these
Modify the yaml file which used in the rebuild apache configuration process, the file can be found under /var/cpanel/conf/apache/local or /var/cpanel/conf/apache/main then rebuild apache configuration by running /scripts/rebuildhttpdconf then restart apache by running /usr/local/cpanel/scripts/restartsrv_httpd
Modify the template file which used to parse the previous yaml file in order to generate the configuration file. First copy this file /var/cpanel/templates/apache2_4/ea4_main.default to /var/cpanel/templates/apache2_4/ea4_main.local then start modifying it then rebuild and restart apache.
And my vote goes to the first option to keep it clean and simple as possible but it worth knowing both ways so you can extend the functionality as much as you can.
For more details:
Apache Global Configuration docs
Apache Custom Templates docs
I am running into some sort of issue when trying to access my local website:
Forbidden
You don't have permission to access /index.html on this server.
Apache Server at ffghost.local Port 34580
I'm using macOS X Server 5.2 with Apache 2.4.18. OS X Server automatically creates two default websites (one on port 80 and one on port 443). I created a new website. It was my understanding that Apache would redirect from the default site to the created site automatically once created. This didn't happen. So, in an attempt to begin de-conflicting I replaced the files where the default site was located with the new website files and all of the sudden am getting the above 404 message.
I have read a lot of possibilities as to why this may be happening. I've run a syntax checker for Apache in terminal and terminal says syntax is ok. So from there I was going to check into the config files, but there are several, and I just want to know the gist behind them.
There seem to be about 4 file extension types. I don't know what they all mean or if they are active.
.config (I'm assuming this is the active file)
.config.prev (I'm assuming this is a previous version or copy of an active config file and is no longer active)
.config.orig (original file? and is no longer active)
.config.default (???)
Also, OS X Server and Apache seem to have the same files in two different places and I'm a little confused on which one to change. If I change one of them will it be reflected in the other? Do I need to change both of them? Additionally, I don't have DNS set up and am unsure if that was the original issue of not pulling up the new website over the default site.
You are mixing several aspects in your question which makes it complicated to give a helpful answer. For example, you say you get Forbidden when accessing your site, but later you mention a status 404. The former might be due to configuring a user group being allowed to access the site, while the latter just means Not found.
As to your actual question about the config files:
The file just ending in .conf is the one that is being used.
However, the Server app uses a lot of of different config files which might be relevant:
Path /Library/Server/Web/Config/apache2 contains the general config files
httpd.conf - general Apache configuration
httpd_server_app.conf - more general configuration
the other files contain configurations for specific applications or webapps (the latter being defined in plist files in /Library/Server/Web/Config/apache2/webapps)
Path /Library/Server/Web/Config/apache2/sites contains config files specific to your websites. They are named something like 0000_127.0.0.1_34543_your.domain.name.conf where 34543 is the configuration for the https (SSL) port, while 35480 would indicate the http port. There is also a file like 0000_127.0.0.1_34543_.conf (no domain name in the file name) which defines the default site.
In addition to these, there are two more configuration file in /Library/Server/Web/Config/proxy which configure the proxy services.
It is not recommended to manually adjust the config files, except for those in the sites subdirectory, because they may get overwritten by the Server app or when updating the Server app.
Important: If you change the files manually, you must re-start the Apache server in order to make the changes effective. Use sudo serveradmin stop/start web to do so.
However, I do not know of a detailed documentation of of all these files, so I try to stay on the safe side and possibly not edit the general config files (only those in sites). I also recommend to write down any manual changes, so they can be reapplied if necessary.
Without exactly knowing what you configured in the Server app and which files you changed how, I'm afraid it is impossible to say what might have gone wrong. I recommend to start all over by removing and re-adding the web sites.
Some people say that to enable compression you modify htaccess file:
apache compression Deflate .js and .css files not compressed?
http://betterexplained.com/articles/how-to-optimize-your-site-with-gzip-compression/)
Others say you need to update httpd.conf file
http://kb.mediatemple.net/questions/1567/Compressing+web+pages+with+mod_deflate#dv
What is the right way? If either is correct then wouldn't htaccess be a better choice since it doesn't require web server restart?
The Apache HTTP Server can be configured in a number of ways: The main configuration file is (usually) called "httpd.conf", but this file can include other configuration files with the "Include" directive. Furthermore, the HTTP Server allows for configuration files to be placed in the context path of your website. These decentral configuration files are (usually) called ".htaccess".
Configuration directives, like the directives to enable compression, can be valid in different contexts. The valid configuration contexts of the "AddOutputFilter", the "SetOutputFilter", and the (deprecated) "AddOutputFilterByType" all specify "server config, virtual host, directory, .htaccess" as their valid configuration contexts. Therefore, all of these directives can be used in the "httpd.conf" as well as in the ".htaccess" configuration files.
So both ways of configuring output compression are valid, and it's just a matter of taste whether you want all your server configuration in one central file (which gets only read during server (re)start) or whether want to spread the configuration in multiple files and directories (but get the benefit of changes being applied instantly).
If your Web Host is through C Panel
Enable G ZIP Compression on Apache C Panel
Go to CPanel and check for software tab.
Previously Optimize website used to work but now a new option is available i.e "MultiPHP INI Editor".
Select the domain name you want to compress.
Scroll down to bottom until you find zip output compression and enable it.
Now check again for the G ZIP Compression.
You can follow the video tutorial also.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0UDmcpGlZI
I want to access local media file say .mp4 file to play in FlowPLayer on Firefox browser..
My application is based on JSF and RF3.3 with JBoss server.
Problem is in my backing bean say I have written a file name as test.mp4 and the same is being present in WEB-INF folder..FlowPlayer will access this file using:-
http://IP/ContextPath/WEB-INF/test.mp4
But now say suppose I have a file placed in my D: drive on my system. The local server is running on my system.I want to access the file kept in D: drive and play it in flowplayer...
FlowPlayer always append http://IP/ to the file name and as such it won't play the media file..
Is there any way out to allow flow player to access local file on the system...
I figured that it can be done using Apache...But how/??...
The component accepts a URL that must be accessible from the client browser, thus a url like file:///C:/resources/foo.mp4 would not work. The resource file you are trying to reference must be accessible from a web context. That is not to say that you can't store the file resources on the D: of your machine, but you would need a web server like Apache to access that folder location as a web context folder. It can be configured to do this, but I will not go into the details of how to do this, if you have trouble with that then you should post a question to the ServerFault StackExchange site for help with this.
One thing to keep in mind is that your web application is likely configured that any resources within the WEB-INF folder of your project is likely set to be the context path of your application. Thus if you you were to place your MP4 file in your web app (i advice against it, those files are enormous), then it would be accessible from http://site:port/applicationcontext/resources/foo.mp4 but on disk it is WEB-INF/resources/foo.mp4.
The best way that I set this up is to set up an Apache front end that is listening for web traffic on the specific port, then using the mod_jk module you can have Apache forward requests for resources at http://site:port/applicationcontext/ to your application server on the AJP port. I like this setup because I can keep large static resources at the ROOT context of the web server, as well as protect my application server by keeping it completely behind a firewall and inaccessible from the outside. The application server can only be accessed through the Apache web server meaning increased security. For more information on this type of setup, see this example guide on how to setup Apache Web Connector with Tomcat. http://tomcat.apache.org/connectors-doc/webserver_howto/apache.html
I am working on a web application that allows users to upload attachments. These attachments are stored on a different drive than that of the web application. How can I create an alias (equivalent to Apache HTTP server's aliases) to this drive so that users can download these attachments?
Currently I am creating a context file and dumping it in CATALINA_HOME/conf/Catalina/localhost, but it gets randomly deleted every so often. The context file is named attachments.xml and the contents are shown below. I have also read about virtual hosts, but if I understand correctly, then a virtual host is not what I am looking for. I am using version 6.0.18 of Apache Tomcat.
attachments.xml:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Context docBase = "e:\uploads\attachments"
reloadable = "true"
crossContext = "true">
</Context>
I spent a lot more time researching this and found a solution that solves the random deletion of the context files. I found this excerpt on Apache's website under the host configuration section:
You can nest one or more Context
elements inside this Host element,
each representing a different web
application associated with this
virtual host.
The virtual hosts are stored in the server.xml file located at CATALINA_HOME\conf. Tomcat comes configured with localhost as the default host. So, if we add the contents of attachments.xml from the first post, we get the following:
<Host name="localhost" appBase="webapps"
unpackWARs="true" autoDeploy="true"
xmlValidation="false" xmlNamespaceAware="false">
<Context path="/attachments"
docBase="e:\uploads\attachments"
reloadable="true"
crossContext="true" />
</Host>
This is as close as one can get to defining aliases similar to Apache's HTTP server, I think.
There are multiple options.
Use Apache as frontend, delegating to tomcat by mod_jk or mod_proxy
Provide a download servlet in your own application, serving the requested file
Make the directory that you want tomcat to deliver a web application
each has some drawbacks and some advantages. I strongly prefer the first solution for multiple reasons:
My main reasons apply to unixoid systems, which you are obviously not talking about: Only root can bind ports lower than 1024, e.g. 80. Therefor tomcat would need to run as root (I know that there are mechanics to allow users to bind to low ports, but I've never gotten to use them). Apache is usually started as root but drops these privileges as soon as port 80 is bound.
Apache is said to be a lot better in serving static resources than tomcat (I've never measured it, but find it hard to believe the contrary)
You obviously know how to create aliases in apache - it would be trivial to do so.
About the download servlet:
This way you'd have a servlet serving your static resources, which you might bind to the urls "/download/*" (e.g. in the application that also handles file uploads) You'd gain:
You need to configure the directory where your files are stored only once
If you need you might easily implement permission checks (e.g. login required for downloading)
You need to deploy only one completely selfcontained application.
The download servlet is trivial - find the file, set it's name and filetype in the output stream and stream it byte by byte, then close the output stream (be sure to handle attacking file names like "/download/../../../../etc/passwd" or "/download/C:/WINDOWS/someimportantfile.xxx"), e.g. by using the java.io.File constructor that gets the base directory as a separate parameter.
The third option has some severe drawbacks and opens you for attacks if you don't take special care of them:
Tomcat does not serve directories, but webapps. Therefor "E:/upload/attachments" would need at least a directory named "WEB-INF", containing "web.xml". Take care to not provide write access to this directory and file from the uploading web application. With this provision you might let tomcat serve the directory.
However: Configure the contained web.xml to not serve "*.jsp" as a jsp, otherwise tomcat would not just deliver jsp files but execute them. Imagine someone uploading "index.jsp" with <% System.exit(0); %> or more malicious content.
One additional thought: You don't need the extra crosscontext="true". This would imply that the webapplication that you deploy just to serve your files has access to other webapplications, e.g. is able to manage them or access their private data. Usually you don't need that at all, in the case of your question you definitely don't want that.
See the initial part of my newer question for ways to do this by editing the context.xml file
How do I add aliases to a Servlet Context in java?.
According to several people now, it is no longer necessary (2012: Tomcat 6 or 7) to use Apache for performance reasons over Tomcat for serving static content.