Tomcat Manager sees distribution directories as applications

[Jonathan Mast-2]

When I log into the Tomcat Web Application Manager, in addition to the
actual webapps defined in server.xml, it also lists the /bin, /conf, /logs,
/temp, /lib and /work directories of the Tomcat installation as if they are
webapps.

I doubt this is correct, so how do I fix it?

thanks,


Tomcat 6 (behind Httpd 2.2)
Java 1.6

[Hassan Schroeder-2]

On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 2:03 PM, Jonathan Mast
<jhmast.developer@...> wrote:
> When I log into the Tomcat Web Application Manager, in addition to the
> actual webapps defined in server.xml, it also lists the /bin, /conf, /logs,
> /temp, /lib and /work directories of the Tomcat installation as if they are
> webapps.
>
> I doubt this is correct, so how do I fix it?

Sounds like your server.xml is wildly wrong. :-)

You might want to post a sanitized de-commented version here...

--
Hassan Schroeder ------------------------ hassan.schroeder@...
twitter: @hassan

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[Jonathan Mast-2]

I think it must be because all the webapps except the manager webapp is
actually located outside of tomcat's dir (its in httpd's directory).

Its too late in the day for the sanitization needed with my server.xml, but
I think the cause is the dir issue above.

thanks

On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 5:07 PM, Hassan Schroeder <
hassan.schroeder@...> wrote:

> On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 2:03 PM, Jonathan Mast
> <jhmast.developer@...> wrote:
> > When I log into the Tomcat Web Application Manager, in addition to the
> > actual webapps defined in server.xml, it also lists the /bin, /conf,
> /logs,
> > /temp, /lib and /work directories of the Tomcat installation as if they
> are
> > webapps.
> >
> > I doubt this is correct, so how do I fix it?
>
> Sounds like your server.xml is wildly wrong. :-)
>
> You might want to post a sanitized de-commented version here...
>
> --
> Hassan Schroeder ------------------------ hassan.schroeder@...
> twitter: @hassan
>
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[Christopher Schultz-2]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Hassan,

On 10/30/2009 5:07 PM, Hassan Schroeder wrote:

> On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 2:03 PM, Jonathan Mast
> <jhmast.developer@...> wrote:
>> When I log into the Tomcat Web Application Manager, in addition to the
>> actual webapps defined in server.xml, it also lists the /bin, /conf, /logs,
>> /temp, /lib and /work directories of the Tomcat installation as if they are
>> webapps.
>>
>> I doubt this is correct, so how do I fix it?
>
> Sounds like your server.xml is wildly wrong. :-)

+1

I suspect you have something like this:

<Host appBase="" ...

If you thought "I don't need a webapps directory because all my webapps
are defined in their own XML files" and you decided to just remove the
appBase string, then you likely ended up setting your appBase to
CATALINA_BASE and exposing all your configuration to the world.  If
you're using JNDI DataSources, you might want to change your database
passwords right about now. ;)

- -chris
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[Jonathan Mast-2]

You're right, I totally forgot to put appBase attributes in my Host
declarations.  However, httpd only lets *.jsp and *.do requests pass on to
Tomcat so I don't have to worry about the security issue.

I'm gonna put appBase attributes into my config and see if that fixes it.

thanks

On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 7:59 PM, Christopher Schultz <
chris@...> wrote:

> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> Hassan,
>
> On 10/30/2009 5:07 PM, Hassan Schroeder wrote:
> > On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 2:03 PM, Jonathan Mast
> > <jhmast.developer@...> wrote:
> >> When I log into the Tomcat Web Application Manager, in addition to the
> >> actual webapps defined in server.xml, it also lists the /bin, /conf,
> /logs,
> >> /temp, /lib and /work directories of the Tomcat installation as if they
> are
> >> webapps.
> >>
> >> I doubt this is correct, so how do I fix it?
> >
> > Sounds like your server.xml is wildly wrong. :-)
>
> +1
>
> I suspect you have something like this:
>
> <Host appBase="" ...
>
> If you thought "I don't need a webapps directory because all my webapps
> are defined in their own XML files" and you decided to just remove the
> appBase string, then you likely ended up setting your appBase to
> CATALINA_BASE and exposing all your configuration to the world.  If
> you're using JNDI DataSources, you might want to change your database
> passwords right about now. ;)
>
> - -chris
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>
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> psoAnAtiufYZvyqE8Fd4D9gZYm4Qa3UB
> =XY3t
> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
>
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>
>

[Jonathan Mast-2]

OK I just added the appBase attr to a Host in my server.xml.  It did get rid
of the Tomcat install. folders showing up as webapps, but it isnt' doing
exactly what I thought it would do.  Now everything in my appBase shows up
in my Manager instance as belonging to that Host, when what I want there is
only those directories in my appBase that are referenced by Contexts in my
particular Host.

At least the old (appBase-less) method retained the logical mapping defined
in the Host section.

My reading of the Tomcat config docs seemed to indicate that each Host
should have it's own Manager Context defined as opposed to having a single
Manager instance that can span multiple Hosts.  Is this correct?



On Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 10:05 AM, Jonathan Mast
<jhmast.developer@...>wrote:

> You're right, I totally forgot to put appBase attributes in my Host
> declarations.  However, httpd only lets *.jsp and *.do requests pass on to
> Tomcat so I don't have to worry about the security issue.
>
> I'm gonna put appBase attributes into my config and see if that fixes it.
>
> thanks
>
>
> On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 7:59 PM, Christopher Schultz <
> chris@...> wrote:
>
>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>> Hash: SHA1
>>
>> Hassan,
>>
>> On 10/30/2009 5:07 PM, Hassan Schroeder wrote:
>> > On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 2:03 PM, Jonathan Mast
>> > <jhmast.developer@...> wrote:
>> >> When I log into the Tomcat Web Application Manager, in addition to the
>> >> actual webapps defined in server.xml, it also lists the /bin, /conf,
>> /logs,
>> >> /temp, /lib and /work directories of the Tomcat installation as if they
>> are
>> >> webapps.
>> >>
>> >> I doubt this is correct, so how do I fix it?
>> >
>> > Sounds like your server.xml is wildly wrong. :-)
>>
>> +1
>>
>> I suspect you have something like this:
>>
>> <Host appBase="" ...
>>
>> If you thought "I don't need a webapps directory because all my webapps
>> are defined in their own XML files" and you decided to just remove the
>> appBase string, then you likely ended up setting your appBase to
>> CATALINA_BASE and exposing all your configuration to the world.  If
>> you're using JNDI DataSources, you might want to change your database
>> passwords right about now. ;)
>>
>> - -chris
>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
>> Version: GnuPG v1.4.10 (MingW32)
>> Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org/
>>
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>> psoAnAtiufYZvyqE8Fd4D9gZYm4Qa3UB
>> =XY3t
>> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
>>
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>>
>

[Hassan Schroeder-2]

On Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 8:35 AM, Jonathan Mast
<jhmast.developer@...> wrote:

> My reading of the Tomcat config docs seemed to indicate that each Host
> should have it's own Manager Context defined as opposed to having a single
> Manager instance that can span multiple Hosts.  Is this correct?

Yes, and its own appBase.

--
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twitter: @hassan

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[Jonathan Mast-2]

So you are saying each Host *must* have it's own distinct appBase.  That
sucks, doing that will make my deployment process a nightmare.  Any way
around the problem I described above?

On Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 11:02 AM, Hassan Schroeder <
hassan.schroeder@...> wrote:

> On Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 8:35 AM, Jonathan Mast
> <jhmast.developer@...> wrote:
>
> > My reading of the Tomcat config docs seemed to indicate that each Host
> > should have it's own Manager Context defined as opposed to having a
> single
> > Manager instance that can span multiple Hosts.  Is this correct?
>
> Yes, and its own appBase.
>
> --
> Hassan Schroeder ------------------------ hassan.schroeder@...
> twitter: @hassan
>
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[Caldarale, Charles R]

> From: Jonathan Mast [mailto:jhmast.developer@...]
> Subject: Re: Tomcat Manager sees distribution directories as
> applications
>
> So you are saying each Host *must* have it's own distinct appBase.
> That sucks, doing that will make my deployment process a nightmare.
> Any way around the problem I described above?

Perhaps you can tell us exactly what you're trying to achieve...

 - Chuck


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[Hassan Schroeder-2]

On Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 9:22 AM, Jonathan Mast
<jhmast.developer@...> wrote:
> So you are saying each Host *must* have it's own distinct appBase.

Not "must", but that's the easy/simple/standard way to do it, and of
course you're free to complicate your life in any number of ways by
fighting it.  :-)

> That
> sucks, doing that will make my deployment process a nightmare.  Any way
> around the problem I described above?

Uh, "nightmare"? If it were me I'd fix that deployment process. YMMV.

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[Jonathan Mast-2]

By nightmare I meant complexity.  Currently all my webapps are located in a
single directory, its flat, it only contains webapps (IE. folders with a
WEB-INF directory).  I have approximately a dozen Hosts defined across 3
domain names (and every intention of adding more).  Some Hosts have single
Contexts, but others have dozens of Contexts defined.  If each Host must
have it's own unique appBase for the Manager to work correctly, then that
entails a 3 level structure for my webserver's document root:
/
--/webapps
-----/host_<MY_HOST>
-------/<MY_CONTEXT>

Which means reworking the build scripts for each and every webapp.  If this
is the only way to have the manager work correctly, then I guess I'll have
to do.  I just don't understand why the server.xml cannot be interpreted as
a logical structure.

If I can define a "/blahblah" Context on a docBase of "foobar-webapp" (a
logical or arbitrary mapping) why can't Contexts be understood as belonging
to certain arbitrary Hosts, regardless of their filepath?


On Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 12:11 PM, Hassan Schroeder <
hassan.schroeder@...> wrote:

> On Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 9:22 AM, Jonathan Mast
> <jhmast.developer@...> wrote:
> > So you are saying each Host *must* have it's own distinct appBase.
>
> Not "must", but that's the easy/simple/standard way to do it, and of
> course you're free to complicate your life in any number of ways by
> fighting it.  :-)
>
> > That
> > sucks, doing that will make my deployment process a nightmare.  Any way
> > around the problem I described above?
>
> Uh, "nightmare"? If it were me I'd fix that deployment process. YMMV.
>
> --
> Hassan Schroeder ------------------------ hassan.schroeder@...
> twitter: @hassan
>
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[Christopher Schultz-2]

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Jonathan,

On 11/2/2009 2:37 PM, Jonathan Mast wrote:
> By nightmare I meant complexity.  Currently all my webapps are located in a
> single directory, its flat, it only contains webapps (IE. folders with a
> WEB-INF directory).  I have approximately a dozen Hosts defined across 3
> domain names (and every intention of adding more).  Some Hosts have single
> Contexts, but others have dozens of Contexts defined.

This shouldn't be a problem.

> If each Host must
> have it's own unique appBase for the Manager to work correctly

This is not altogether true. If you want to deploy all of your webapps
individually and explicitly using files in
conf/Catalina/[host]/[context].xml, then you can set all the <Host>
appBase's to the same empty directory if you want. It shouldn't be a
problem as long as you don't put anything in there.

But yes, if you want to be entirely safe, it wouldn't be a bad idea to
create an empty appBase directory for each host. This shouldn't
represent too much of a problem to create empty directories, right?

At any rate, it might be a good idea to request an enhancement in Tomcat
to allow an appBase-less <Host> for just this situation.

> then that
> entails a 3 level structure for my webserver's document root:
> /
> --/webapps
> -----/host_<MY_HOST>
> -------/<MY_CONTEXT>

While this is not strictly necessary, it is "recommended technique". It
will save you from having to put lots of
conf/Catalina/[host]/[context].xml files all over the place, too, since
you can simply auto-deploy them.

> Which means reworking the build scripts for each and every webapp.

Changing the target directory for a build script should be trivial. Is
it not in your deployment process?

> If this is the only way to have the manager work correctly, then I
> guess I'll have to do.

None of this really has anything to do with the Manager app itself,
really. You can choose to deploy or not deploy the Manager into each <Host>.

> I just don't understand why the server.xml cannot be interpreted as
> a logical structure.

I'm not sure I understand your statement, here.

> If I can define a "/blahblah" Context on a docBase of "foobar-webapp" (a
> logical or arbitrary mapping) why can't Contexts be understood as belonging
> to certain arbitrary Hosts, regardless of their filepath?

They can, if you use the "conf/Catalina/[host]/[context].xml"-style
deployment.

- -chris
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[awarnier]

Jonathan Mast wrote:
> /
> --/webapps
> -----/host_<MY_HOST>
> -------/<MY_CONTEXT>
>
Is it not more like
server
     -- Host1
         --webapps
             -- manager
             -- your app 1
             -- your app 2
             -- others
     -- Host2
         --webapps
             -- manager
             -- your app3 (maybe the same as app 1 above)
             -- others
?

Maybe you did not exactly grasp what Chuck was asking you, which was
"what are you trying to achieve" ? (.. with the Tomcat Manager application)
As far as I know, the Manager allows you to :
- list the applications that exist
- start and stop these applications
- undeploy and application
- deploy an application
(all of that "within a Host", and using a nice interactive web page).
Not necessarily for me, but in the grand Tomcat scheme of things, these
look like relatively simple things, that could be done with something else.

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[Jonathan Mast-2]

Thanks Chris, I'm now just pointing the appBase to an empty directory and
everything looks great.  A lot easier than reorganizing my server setup.
Although I do agree with everyone that that approach (each Host has it's own
dir) is more *correct* the complexity of it just too much for my
organization at this moment.


On Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 3:16 PM, André Warnier <aw@...> wrote:

> Jonathan Mast wrote:
>
>> /
>> --/webapps
>> -----/host_<MY_HOST>
>> -------/<MY_CONTEXT>
>>
>>  Is it not more like
> server
>    -- Host1
>        --webapps
>            -- manager
>            -- your app 1
>            -- your app 2
>            -- others
>    -- Host2
>        --webapps
>            -- manager
>            -- your app3 (maybe the same as app 1 above)
>            -- others
> ?
>
> Maybe you did not exactly grasp what Chuck was asking you, which was "what
> are you trying to achieve" ? (.. with the Tomcat Manager application)
> As far as I know, the Manager allows you to :
> - list the applications that exist
> - start and stop these applications
> - undeploy and application
> - deploy an application
> (all of that "within a Host", and using a nice interactive web page).
> Not necessarily for me, but in the grand Tomcat scheme of things, these
> look like relatively simple things, that could be done with something else.
>
>
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