Can't figure out Apache VirtualHosts + Tomcat + ReverseProxy + RewriteRules

rave8151 · 07-15-2008, 02:02 PM

Hi all, I have a problem that I can't seem to find info on anywhere!

CURRENT SETUP:
I'm running Apache 1.3 on Server_1 which directs all requests with JkMount to Server_2 which runs a home grown CMS application ('cmsapp') and a related application ('app1') on tomcat 5.

The CMS application services 20+ domains, and the Apache server uses VirtualHosts for each of them. e.g:

Code:

<VirtualHost 1.2.3.4:80>
	ServerAdmin webmaster@domain1.com
	DocumentRoot /usr/local/www/data/vhosts
	ServerName domain1.com
	ServerAlias www.domain1.com
	
	ErrorLog /usr/var/log/vhosts/www.domain1.com-error_log
	CustomLog /usr/var/log/vhosts/www.domain1.com-access_log combined
	
        JkMount /cmsapp/* worker1
	JkMount /app1/* worker1

	<Directory "/usr/local/www/data/vhosts">
		RewriteEngine On
		RewriteBase /	
		RewriteRule ^$ /cmsapp/homepage.html [L]
		RewriteRule ^([a-zA-Z0-9_-]{1,30})$ /cmsapp/$1.do.html [R]
	</Directory>
</VirtualHost>

The RewriteRules (as I understand them) allow us to direct to a different default starting page for each domain name, as specified in the VirtualHost settings.

This all works fine and there have been no real problems with this setup for over 2 years.

PROBLEM:

An increase in the number of domains being managed by the CMS and the rise in traffic means our little tomcat server can't handle it fast enough! I really want to upgrade to Apache 2.2 and get rid of the JkMount setup and implement a reverse proxy so I can set up a cache for the Tomcat applications. This, I think, will alleviate the problems.

But try as I might I can't get the setup to work! Maybe my VirtualHost settings are wrong for Apache2.2, maybe I don't know enough about Regex, but I think the problem is my lack of experience with mod_rewrite and mod_proxy.

Below are the best settings I have found so far for the domain shown above. This resolves requests for specific pages and displays them properly, but the rewrite rules (which work for Apache 1.3) don't get executed. So instead of rewriting the request for 'http://www.domain1.com' to the default homepage for that domain, it just goes to the Tomcat default homepage, "$CATALINA_HOME/webapps/ROOT/index.jsp":

Code:

<VirtualHost 1.2.3.4:80>
	ServerAdmin webmaster@domain1.com
	DocumentRoot /usr/local/www/data/vhosts
	ServerName domain1.com
	ServerAlias www.domain1.com

        ErrorLog /usr/var/log/vhosts/www.domain1.com-error_log
	CustomLog /usr/var/log/vhosts/www.domain1.com-access_log combined

        ProxyRequests Off

        ProxyPass / http://1.2.3.111:8180/          #Tomcat Server
        ProxyPassReverse / http://1.2.3.111:8180/   

        <Directory "/usr/local/www/data/vhosts">
                RewriteEngine On
                RewriteBase /
                RewriteRule ^$ /cmsapp/homepage.html [L]
		RewriteRule ^([a-zA-Z0-9_-]{1,30})$ /cmsapp/$1.do.html[R]
        </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

I think the issue is something to do with the module order, but I can't figure out a solution. I read somewhere that one can leave out the 'ProxyPass' directive and just use 'RewriteRule' to send requests through a compiled-in mod_proxy. I tried setting that up but then I couldn't access any pages at all, with every request returning an HTTP 403 error message.

Does anyone know how I can get the old RewriteRule directives to work and fix this problem?

alunduil · 07-15-2008, 02:06 PM

I'm not sure that you can put rewrite directives like that in a directory block. Try putting them directly in the virtualhost declaration, and see if their is a change in behavior.

Regards,

Alunduil

P.S. RewriteLog <logfile> may help too.

rave8151 · 07-15-2008, 03:05 PM

Thanks for the reply, alunduil. I tried what you suggested with putting the rewrite directives directly in the VirtualHost declaration, but it didn't work so I rechecked the documentation: you can use many rewrite directives in a directory or file block, and some directives will not work outside of them.

I tried adding the RewriteLog directive as you suggested, but it didn't give me anything useful. All I got from it was two entries for every URL I requested, e.g:

Code:

2.3.4.5 - - [15/Jul/2008:13:06:54 --0700] [www.domain1.com/sid#8181b20][rid#81fd058/initial] (2) init rewrite engine with requested uri /cmsapp/gobbledegook
2.3.4.5 - - [15/Jul/2008:13:06:54 --0700] [www.domain1.com/sid#8181b20][rid#81fd058/initial] (1) pass through /cmsapp/gobbledegook

This request for 'www.domain1.com/cmsapp/gobbledegook' returned the standard 404 page we use to my browser, but at the highest RewriteLogLevel (9), all I got were the above two entries in the rewrite log file

rave8151 · 07-16-2008, 11:15 AM

For anyone experiencing similar problems, here are the VirtualHost settings that I used to fix my problems, provided by 'richardk' of Mod_Rewrite Forums.

Code:

<VirtualHost 1.2.3.4:80>
   ServerName domain1.com
   ServerAlias www.domain1.com
   ServerAdmin webmaster@domain1.com

   ErrorLog  /usr/var/log/vhosts/www.domain1.com-error_log
   CustomLog /usr/var/log/vhosts/www.domain1.com-access_log combined

   RewriteEngine On

   RewriteRule ^/$ /cmsapp/homepage.html [PT,L]
   RewriteRule ^/([a-z0-9_-]{1,30})$ /cmsapp/$1.do.html [NC,R=301,L]

   ProxyRequests Off

   ProxyPass        / http://1.2.3.111:8180/ #Tomcat Server
   ProxyPassReverse / http://1.2.3.111:8180/
</VirtualHost>