Bug 1006448

Summary:	[Doc Bug Fix] Documentation for configuring mod_jk appears to be out of date
Product:	[JBoss] JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6	Reporter:	David van Balen <dvanbale>
Component:	Documentation	Assignee:	Russell Dickenson <rdickens>
Status:	CLOSED CURRENTRELEASE	QA Contact:	Michal Karm Babacek <mbabacek>
Severity:	high	Docs Contact:
Priority:	unspecified
Version:	6.1.0	CC:	asoldano, dvanbale, mbabacek, nziakova, rdickens, smumford
Target Milestone:	GA	Keywords:	Documentation
Target Release:	EAP 6.3.0
Hardware:	Unspecified
OS:	Unspecified
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version:		Doc Type:	Bug Fix
Doc Text:		Story Points:	---
Clone Of:		Environment:	Build: CSProcessor Builder Version 1.11 Build Name: 11865, Administration and Configuration Guide-6.1-4 Build Date: 12-07-2013 01:29:20 Topic ID: 5217-459108 [Specified]
Last Closed:	2014-08-06 14:37:55 UTC	Type:	Bug
Regression:	---	Mount Type:	---
Documentation:	---	CRM:
Verified Versions:		Category:	---
oVirt Team:	---	RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team:	---	Target Upstream Version:

Description David van Balen 2013-09-10 15:55:38 UTC

Title: Install the Mod_jk Module Into Apache HTTPD or JBoss Enterprise Web Server HTTPD

Describe the issue:

It looks like our recommended mod_jk configuration directives are based on old defaults, some of which have since changed. The value that I think might be an issue is for JkOptions, where it says to set +ForwardURICompat.

The mod_jk documentation, however, calls this option "unsafe" and "less spec compliant". It apparently was the default for much older versions of mod_jk, but has since been replaced by "ForwardURIProxy" as the default, and it is recommended not to change the default unless there's a very good reason for it. Of course, this advise is for Tomcat. Not sure if it's different for JBoss.


Suggestions for improvement:

Verify whether JkOptions +ForwardURICompat is still appropriate when configuring mod_jk to front JBoss EAP servers. If it isn't, either update this setting in the documentation so that it is appropriate, or remove the setting altogether so that customers always use the default.


Additional information:

mod_jk httpd directives documentation:

http://tomcat.apache.org/connectors-doc/reference/apache.html

Comment 1 Russell Dickenson 2014-06-23 04:39:49 UTC

Attention: Alessio

On this topic, the Apache documentation (linked in this ticket's description) states the following:

-------------
"The four following options +ForwardURIxxx are mutually exclusive. Exactly one of them is required, a negative sign prefix is not allowed with them. The default value is "ForwardURIProxy" since version 1.2.24. It was "ForwardURICompatUnparsed" in version 1.2.23 and "ForwardURICompat" until version 1.2.22. You can turn the default off by switching on one of the other two options. You should leave this at it's default value, unless you have a very good reason to change it."
-------------

The JBoss EAP 6.3 documentation (pending release) states the following at [1]

"Configure the mod_jk module.

Create a new file called HTTPD_HOME/conf.d/mod-jk.conf and add the following to it:
..."

Included in the text to be added is the line:
"JkOptions +ForwardKeySize +ForwardURICompat -ForwardDirectories"

Given the Apache documentation states that this should be left at its default value, I intend removing this option from the documentation. Do you agree?


[1] http://documentation-devel.engineering.redhat.com/site/documentation/en-US/JBoss_Enterprise_Application_Platform/6.3/html-single/Administration_and_Configuration_Guide/index.html#Install_the_Mod_jk_Module_Into_Apache_HTTPD_or_Enterprise_Web_Server_HTTPD1

Comment 2 Alessio Soldano 2014-06-23 08:17:10 UTC

Russell, unfortunately I'm not the expert here, this is not a webservices issue, sorry.

Comment 3 Russell Dickenson 2014-06-24 05:24:01 UTC

Attention: Alessio

No problem. Thank you for a prompt response.

Comment 4 Russell Dickenson 2014-07-01 03:36:32 UTC

As per comment 1 I have removed the option "ForwardURICompat" from the content to be pasted into the file "HTTPD_HOME/conf.d/mod-jk.conf". As confirmed in comment 1, this option is no longer recommended. Instead it is recommended that this option remains at its default value.

Doc notes:
Topic amended: "Install the Mod_jk Module Into the Apache HTTP Server (ZIP) [5217]".

QE notes:
When this guide is again rebuilt, the amended content will be available at [1] for QE.


[1] http://documentation-devel.engineering.redhat.com/site/documentation/en-US/JBoss_Enterprise_Application_Platform/6.3/html-single/Administration_and_Configuration_Guide/index.html#Install_the_Mod_jk_Module_Into_Apache_HTTPD_or_Enterprise_Web_Server_HTTPD1

Comment 5 Russell Dickenson 2014-07-02 06:54:22 UTC

The amended text is now available for review in revision 6.3.0-30 (or later) of the 'Admin and Config Guide' at [1]. To address the issue raised in this ticket, I removed the option "ForwardURICompat" from the text to be pasted into the configuration file.


[1] http://documentation-devel.engineering.redhat.com/site/documentation/en-US/JBoss_Enterprise_Application_Platform/6.3/html-single/Administration_and_Configuration_Guide/index.html#Install_the_Mod_jk_Module_Into_Apache_HTTPD_or_Enterprise_Web_Server_HTTPD1

Comment 6 Michal Karm Babacek 2014-07-04 07:37:29 UTC

The text is amended. Verifying.