Chapter 15. Configuring the Web Server (Undertow) in JBoss EAP
This chapter focuses on configuring the Undertow web server, the default server embedded within JBoss EAP. Here, you will find detailed instructions on enabling SSL/TLS for secure communication, leveraging HTTP/2 for enhanced performance, and fine-tuning server settings to align with your operational requirements.
15.1. Undertow subsystem overview
In JBoss EAP 8.0, the Undertow subsystem serves as the web layer within the application server. It provides the core web server and servlet container functionality, supporting advanced features like the Jakarta Servlet 6.0 specification, websockets, and HTTP upgrade. Undertow can also act as a high-performance reverse proxy with mod_cluster support, contributing to improved scalability, efficiency, and flexibility in handling web traffic.
The undertow subsystem allows you to configure the web server and servlet container settings. It implements the Jakarta Servlet 6.0 Specification as well as websockets. It also supports HTTP upgrade and using high performance non-blocking handlers in servlet deployments. The undertow subsystem also has the ability to act as a high performance reverse proxy which supports mod_cluster.
Within the undertow subsystem, there are five main components to configure:
- Buffer caches
- Server
- Servlet container
- Handlers
- Filters
While JBoss EAP does offer the ability to update the configuration for each of these components, the default configuration is suitable for most use cases and provides reasonable performance settings.
Default undertow subsystem configuration
<subsystem xmlns="{UndertowSubsystemNamespace}" default-server="default-server" default-virtual-host="default-host" default-servlet-container="default" default-security-domain="other"> <buffer-cache name="default"/> <server name="default-server"> <http-listener name="default" socket-binding="http" redirect-socket="https" enable-http2="true"/> <https-listener name="https" socket-binding="https" security-realm="ApplicationRealm" enable-http2="true"/> <host name="default-host" alias="localhost"> <location name="/" handler="welcome-content"/> <http-invoker security-realm="ApplicationRealm"/> </host> </server> <servlet-container name="default"> <jsp-config/> <websockets/> </servlet-container> <handlers> <file name="welcome-content" path="${jboss.home.dir}/welcome-content"/> </handlers> </subsystem>
The undertow subsystem also relies on the io subsystem to provide XNIO workers and buffer pools. The io subsystem is configured separately and provides a default configuration which should give optimal performance in most cases.
15.1.1. Using Elytron with undertow subsystem
As a web application is deployed, the name of the security domain required by that application will be identified. This will either be from within the deployment or, if the deployment does not have a security domain, the default-security-domain
as defined in the undertow
subsystem will be assumed. By default, the default-security-domain
is ApplicationDomain
. To ensure proper mapping from the name of the security domain required by the application to the appropriate Elytron configuration, an application-security-domain
resource can be added to the undertow
subsystem.
Example: Adding a mapping.
/subsystem=undertow/application-security-domain=ApplicationDomain:add(security-domain=ApplicationDomain)
The addition of mapping is successful if the result is:
<subsystem xmlns="{UndertowSubsystemNamespace}" ... default-security-domain="other"> ... <application-security-domains> <application-security-domain name="ApplicationDomain" security-domain="ApplicationDomain"/> </application-security-domains> ... </subsystem>
- If the deployment was already deployed at this point, the application server should be reloaded for the application security domain mapping to take effect.
- In current web service-Elytron integration, the name of the security domain specified to secure a web service endpoint and the Elytron security domain name must be the same.
This simple form is suitable where a deployment is using the standard HTTP mechanism as defined within the Servlet specification like BASIC
, CLIENT_CERT
, DIGEST
, FORM
. Here, the authentication will be performed against the ApplicationDomain
security domain. This form is also suitable where an application is not using any authentication mechanism and instead is using programmatic authentication or is trying to obtain the SecurityDomain
associated with the deployment and use it directly.
Example: Advanced form of the mapping:
/subsystem=undertow/application-security-domain=MyAppSecurity:add(http-authentication-factory=application-http-authentication)
The advanced mapping is successful if the result is:
<subsystem xmlns="{UndertowSubsystemNamespace}" ... default-security-domain="other"> ... <application-security-domains> <application-security-domain name="MyAppSecurity" http-authentication-factory="application-http-authentication"/> </application-security-domains> ... </subsystem>
In this form of the configuration, instead of referencing a security domain, an http-authentication-factory
is referenced. This is the factory that will be used to obtain the instances of the authentication mechanisms and is in turn associated with the security domain.
You should reference an http-authentication-factory
attribute when using custom HTTP authentication mechanisms or where additional configuration must be defined for mechanisms such as principal transformers, credential factories, and mechanism realms. It is also better to reference an http-authentication-factory
attribute when using mechanisms other than the four described in the Servlet
specification.
When the advanced form of mapping is used, another configuration option is available, override-deployment-config
. The referenced http-authentication-factory
can return a complete set of authentication mechanisms. By default, these are filtered to just match the mechanisms requested by the application. If this option is set to true
, then the mechanisms offered by the factory will override the mechanisms requested by the application.
The application-security-domain
resource also has one additional option enable-jacc
. If this is set to true
, Java Authorization Contract for Containers will be enabled for any deployments matching this mapping.
15.1.1.1. Runtime information
Where an application-security-domain
mapping is in use, it can be useful to double check that deployments did match against it as expected. If the resource is read with include-runtime=true
, the deployments that are associated with the mapping will also be shown as:
/subsystem=undertow/application-security-domain=MyAppSecurity:read-resource(include-runtime=true) { "outcome" => "success", "result" => { "enable-jacc" => false, "http-authentication-factory" => undefined, "override-deployment-config" => false, "referencing-deployments" => ["simple-webapp.war"], "security-domain" => "ApplicationDomain", "setting" => undefined } }
In this output, the referencing-deployments
attribute shows that the deployment simple-webapp.war
has been deployed using the mapping.
15.1.2. Configuring buffer caches
This procedure guides you through configuring buffer caches in JBoss EAP, which help cache static resources to improve performance. Different deployments can use different cache sizes to optimize resource management. The total amount of space used can be calculated by multiplying the buffer size by the number of buffers per region by the maximum number of regions. The default size of a buffer cache is 10MB.
JBoss EAP provides a single cache by default.
<subsystem xmlns="{UndertowSubsystemNamespace}" default-server="default-server" default-virtual-host="default-host" default-servlet-container="default" default-security-domain="other"> <buffer-cache name="default"/> ... </subsystem>
Prerequisites
- Ensure JBoss EAP is installed and you have administrative access to the management CLI.
Procedure
Update an existing buffer cache:
Modify the buffer size attribute:
/subsystem=undertow/buffer-cache=default/:write-attribute(name=buffer-size,value=2048)
reload
Create a new buffer cache:
Add a new buffer cache:
/subsystem=undertow/buffer-cache=new-buffer:add
Delete a buffer cache:
Remove an existing buffer cache:
/subsystem=undertow/buffer-cache=new-buffer:remove
reload
Additional resources
- For a full list of the attributes available for configuring buffer caches, please see the Undertow Subsystem Attributes section.
15.1.3. Configuring byte buffer Pool
Undertow byte buffer pools are used to allocate pooled NIO ByteBuffer
instances. All listeners have a byte buffer pool and you can use different buffer pools and workers for each listener. Byte buffer pools can be shared between different server instances.
These buffers are used for IO operations, and the buffer size has a big impact on application performance. For most servers, the ideal size is usually 16k.
Prerequisites
- Ensure JBoss EAP is installed and you have administrative access to the management CLI.
Procedure
Update an Existing Byte Buffer Pool.
Modify the buffer size attribute:
/subsystem=undertow/byte-buffer-pool=myByteBufferPool:write-attribute(name=buffer-size,value=1024)
reload
Create a New Byte Buffer Pool.
Add a new byte buffer pool:
/subsystem=undertow/byte-buffer-pool=newByteBufferPool:add
Delete a Byte Buffer Pool.
Remove an existing byte buffer pool:
/subsystem=undertow/byte-buffer-pool=newByteBufferPool:remove
reload
Verification
- Verify the changes by checking the buffer pool settings in the management console.
Additional resources
- For detailed attributes for byte buffer pools, see the Byte Buffer Pool Attributes section.
15.1.4. Understanding server configuration in undertow
A server represents an instance of Undertow and consists of several elements:
-
host
-
http-listener
-
https-listener
-
ajp-listener
The host
element provides a virtual host configuration, while the three listeners provide connections of that type to the Undertow instance.
The default behavior of the server is to queue requests while the server is starting. You can change this default behavior using the queue-requests-on-start
attribute on the host. If this attribute is set to true
(the default), then requests that arrive when the server is starting will be held until the server is ready. If this attribute is set to false
, then requests that arrive before the server has completely started will be rejected with the default response code.
Regardless of the attribute value, request processing does not start until the server is completely started.
You can configure the queue-requests-on-start
attribute using the management console by navigating to Configuration
Multiple servers can be configured, allowing deployments and servers to be completely isolated. This can be useful in certain scenarios such as multi-tenant environments.
JBoss EAP provides a server by default:
15.1.5. Default undertow subsystem configuration
This reference provides the default configuration of the Undertow subsystem.
<subsystem xmlns="{UndertowSubsystemNamespace}" default-server="default-server" default-virtual-host="default-host" default-servlet-container="default" default-security-domain="other"> <buffer-cache name="default"/> <server name="default-server"> <http-listener name="default" socket-binding="http" redirect-socket="https" enable-http2="true"/> <https-listener name="https" socket-binding="https" security-realm="ApplicationRealm" enable-http2="true"/> <host name="default-host" alias="localhost"> <location name="/" handler="welcome-content"/> <http-invoker security-realm="ApplicationRealm"/> </host> </server> ... </subsystem>
15.1.6. Configuring a server using the management CLI
This procedure explains how to manage servers in the Undertow subsystem using the management CLI. You can update existing servers, create new ones, or delete servers as needed.
You can also configure a server using the management console by navigating to Configuration
Prerequisites
- You have access to the management CLI.
- You have permissions to modify server configurations.
Procedure
Update an existing server
/subsystem=undertow/server=default-server:write-attribute(name=default-host,value=default-host)
reload
Create a new server
/subsystem=undertow/server=new-server:add
reload
Delete a server
/subsystem=undertow/server=new-server:remove
reload
15.1.7. Access logging
You can configure access logging on each host you define.
Two access logging options are available: standard access logging and console access logging.
Note that the additional processing required for access logging can affect system performance.
15.1.7.1. Standard Access logging
Standard access logging writes log entries to a log file.
By default, the log file is stored in the directory standalone/log/access_log.log.
To enable standard access logging, add the access-log setting to the host for which you want to capture access log data. The following CLI command illustrates the configuration on the default host in the default JBoss EAP server:
/subsystem=undertow/server=default-server/host=default-host/setting=access-log:add
You must reload the server after enabling standard access logging.
By default, the access log record includes the following data:
- Remote host name
- Remote logical user name (always -)
- Remote user that was authenticated
- The date and time of the request, in Common Log Format
- The first line of the request
- The HTTP status code of the response
- The number of bytes sent, excluding HTTP headers
This set of data is defined as the common pattern. Another pattern, combined, is also available. In addition to the data logged in the common pattern, the combined pattern includes the referer and user agent from the incoming header.
You can change the data logged using the pattern
attribute. The following CLI command illustrates updating the pattern
attribute to use the combined pattern:
/subsystem=undertow/server=default-server/host=default-host/setting=access-log:write-attribute(name=pattern,value="combined"
You must reload the server after updating the pattern attribute.
Pattern | Description |
---|---|
%a | Remote IP address |
%A | Local IP address |
%b |
Bytes sent, excluding HTTP headers or |
%B | Bytes sent, excluding HTTP headers |
%h | Remote host name |
%H | Request protocol |
%l |
Remote logical username from |
%m | Request method |
%p | Local port |
%q |
Query string (excluding the |
%r | First line of the request |
%s | HTTP status code of the response |
%t | Date and time, in Common Log Format format |
%u | Remote user that was authenticated |
%U | Requested URL path |
%v | Local server name |
%D | Time taken to process the request, in milliseconds |
%T | Time taken to process the request, in seconds |
%I | Current Request thread name (can compare later with stack traces) |
common |
|
combined |
|
You can also write information from the cookie, the incoming header and response header, or the session. The syntax is modeled after the Apache syntax:
-
%{i,xxx}
for incoming headers -
%{o,xxx}
for outgoing response headers -
%{c,xxx}
for a specific cookie -
%{r,xxx}
wherexxx
is an attribute in theServletRequest
-
%{s,xxx}
wherexxx
is an attribute in theHttpSession
Additional configuration options are available for this log. For more information see "access-log Attributes" in the appendix.
15.1.7.2. Console access logging
Console access logging writes data to stdout as structured as JSON data.
Each access log record is a single line of data. You can capture this data for processing by log aggregation systems.
To configure console access logging, add the console-access-log setting to the host for which you want to capture access log data. The following CLI command illustrates the configuration on the default host in the default JBoss EAP server:
/subsystem=undertow/server=default-server/host=default-host/setting=console-access-log:add
By default, the console access log record includes the following data:
Log data field name | Description |
---|---|
eventSource | The source of the event in the request |
hostName | The JBoss EAP host that processed the request |
bytesSent | The number of bytes the JBoss EAP server sent in response to the request |
dateTime | The date and time that the request was processed by the JBoss EAP server |
remoteHost | The IP address of the machine where the request originated |
remoteUser | The user name associated with the remote request |
requestLine | The request submitted |
responseCode | The HTTP response code returned by the JBoss EAP server |
Default properties are always included in the log output. You can use the attributes
attribute to change the labels of the default log data, and in some cases to change the data configuration. You can also use the attributes
attribute to add additional log data to the output.
Log data field name | Description | Format |
---|---|---|
authentication-type | The authentication type used to authenticate the user associated with the request. Default label: authenticationType Use the key option to change the label for this property. | authentication-type{} authentication-type={key="authType"} |
bytes-sent | The number of bytes returned for the request, excluding HTTP headers. Default label: bytesSent Use the key option to change the label for this property. | bytes-sent={} bytes-sent={key="sent-bytes"} |
date-time | The date and time that the request was received and processed. Default label: dateTime Use the key option to change the label for this property. Use the date-format to define the pattern used to format the date-time record. The pattern must be a Java SimpleDateFormatter pattern. Use the time-zone option to specify the time zone used to format the date and/or time data if the date-format option is defined. This value must be a valid java.util.TimeZone. | date-time={key="<keyname>", date-format="<date-time format>"} date-time={key="@timestamp", date-format="yyyy-MM-dd’T’HH:mm:ssSSS"} |
host-and-port | The host and port queried by the request. Default label: hostAndPort Use the key option to change the label for this property. | host-and-port{} host-and-port={key="port-host"} |
local-ip | The IP address of the local connection. Use the key option to change the label for this property. Default label: localIp Use the key option to change the label for this property. | local-ip{} local-ip{key=”localIP”} |
local-port | The port of the local connection. Default label: localPort Use the key option to change the label for this property. | local-port{} local-port{key=”LocalPort”} |
local-server-name | The name of the local server that processed the request. Default label: localServerName Use the key option to change the label for this property. | local-server-name {} local-server-name {key=LocalServerName} |
path-parameter | One or more path or URI parameters included in the request. The names property is a comma-separated list of names used to resolve the exchange values. Use the key-prefix property to make the keys unique. If the key-prefix is specified, the prefix is prepended to the name of each path parameter in the output. | path-parameter{names={store,section}} path-parameter{names={store,section}, key-prefix=”my-”} |
predicate | The name of the predicate context. The names property is a comma-separated list of names used to resolve the exchange values. Use the key-prefix property to make the keys unique. If the key-prefix is specified, the prefix is prepended to the name of each path parameter in the output. | predicate{names={store,section}} predicate{names={store,section}, key-prefix=”my-”} |
query-parameter | One or query parameters included in the request. The names property is a comma-separated list of names used to resolve the exchange values. Use the key-prefix property to make the keys unique. If the key-prefix is specified, the prefix is prepended to the name of each path parameter in the output. | query-parameter{names={store,section}} query-parameter{names={store,section}, key-prefix=”my-”} |
query-string | The query string of the request. Default label: queryString Use the key option to change the label for this property. Use the include-question-mark property to specify whether the query string should include the question mark. By default, the question mark is not included. | query-string{} query-string{key=”QueryString”, include-question-mark=”true”} |
relative-path | The relative path of the request. Default label: relativePath Use the key option to change the label for this property. | relative-path{} relative-path{key=”RelativePath”} |
remote-host | The remote host name. Default label: remoteHost Use the key option to change the label for this property. | remote-host{} remote-host{key=”RemoteHost”} |
remote-ip | The remote IP address. Default label: remoteIp Use the key options to change the label for this property. Use the obfuscated property to obfuscate the IP address in the output log record. The default value is false. | remote-ip{} remote-ip{key=”RemoteIP”, obfuscated=”true”} |
remote-user | Remote user that was authenticated. Default label: remoteUser Use the key options to change the label for this property. | remote-user{} remote-user{key=”RemoteUser”} |
request-header | The name of a request header. The key for the structured data is the name of the header; the value is the value of the named header. The names property is a comma-separated list of names used to resolve the exchange values. Use the key-prefix property to make the keys unique. If the key-prefix is specified, the prefix is prepended to the name of the request headers in the log output. | request-header{names={store,section}} request-header{names={store,section}, key-prefix=”my-”} |
request-line | The request line. Default label: requestLine Use the key option to change the label for this property. | request-line{} request-line{key=”Request-Line”} |
request-method | The request method. Default label: requestMethod Use the key option to change the label for this property. | request-method{} request-method{key=”RequestMethod”} |
request-path | The relative path for the request. Default label: requestPath Use the key option to change the label for this property. | request-path{} request-path{key=”RequestPath”} |
request-protocol | The protocol for the request. Default label: requestProtocol Use the key option to change the label for this property. | request-protocol{} request-protocol{key=”RequestProtocol”} |
request-scheme | The URI scheme of the request. Default label: requestScheme Use the key option to change the label for this property. | request-scheme{} request-scheme{key=”RequestScheme”} |
request-url | The original request URI. Includes host name, protocol, and so forth, if specified by the client. Default label: requestUrl Use the key option to change the label for this property. | request-url{} request-url{key=”RequestURL”} |
resolved-path | The resolved path. Default Label: resolvedPath Use the key option to change the label for this property. | resolved-path{} resolved-path{key=”ResolvedPath”} |
response-code | The response code. Default label: responseCode Use the key option to change the label for this property. | response-code{} response-code{key=”ResponseCode”} |
response-header | The name of a response header. The key for the structured data is the name of the header; the value is the value of the named header. The names property is a comma-separated list of names used to resolve the exchange values. Use the key-prefix property to make the keys unique. If the key-prefix is specified, the prefix is prepended to the name of the request headers in the log output. | response-header{names={store,section}} response-header{names={store,section}, key-prefix=”my-”} |
response-reason-phrase | The text reason for the response code. Default label: responseReasonPhrase Use the key option to change the label for this property. | response-reason-phrase{} response-reason-phrase{key=”ResponseReasonPhrase”} |
response-time | The time used to process the request. Default label: responseTime Use the key option to change the label for this property. The default time unit is MILLISECONDS. Available time units include: * NANOSECONDS * MICROSECONDS * MILLISECONDS * SECONDS | response-time{} response-time{key=”ResponseTime”, time-unit=SECONDS} |
secure-exchange | Indicates whether the exchange was secure. Default label: secureExchange Use the key option to change the label for this property. | secure-exchange{} secure-exchange{key=”SecureExchange”} |
ssl-cipher | The SSL cipher for the request. Default label: sslCipher Use the key option to change the label for this property. | ssl-cipher{} ssl-cipher{key=”SSLCipher”} |
ssl-client-cert | The SSL client certificate for the request. Default label: sslClientCert Use the key option to change the label for this property. | ssl-client-cert{} ssl-client-cert{key=”SSLClientCert”} |
ssl-session-id | The SSL session id of the request. Default label: sslSessionId Use the key option to change the label for this property. | ssl-session-id{} stored-response |
The stored response to the request. Default label: storedResponse Use the key option to change the label for this property. | stored-response{} stored-response{key=”StoredResponse”} | thread-name |
The thread name of the current thread. Default label: threadName Use the key option to change the label for this property. | thread-name{} thread-name{key=”ThreadName”} | transport-protocol |
You can use the metadata
attribute to configure additional arbitrary data to include in the access log record. The value of the metadata
attribute is a set of key:value pairs that defines the data to include in the access log record. The value in a pair can be a management model expression. Management model expressions are resolved when the server is started or reloaded. Key-value pairs are comma-separated.
The following CLI command demonstrates an example of a complex console log configuration, including additional log data, customization of log data, and additional metadata:
/subsystem=undertow/server=default-server/host=default-host/setting=console-access-log:add(metadata={"@version"="1", "qualifiedHostName"=${jboss.qualified.host.name:unknown}}, attributes={bytes-sent={}, date-time={key="@timestamp", date-format="yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ssSSS"}, remote-host={}, request-line={}, response-header={key-prefix="responseHeader", names=["Content-Type"]}, response-code={}, remote-user={}})
The resulting access log record would resemble the following additional JSON data (Note: the example output below is formatted for readability; in an actual record, all data would be output as a single line):
{ "eventSource":"web-access", "hostName":"default-host", "@version":"1", "qualifiedHostName":"localhost.localdomain", "bytesSent":1504, "@timestamp":"2019-05-02T11:57:37123", "remoteHost":"127.0.0.1", "remoteUser":null, "requestLine":"GET / HTTP/2.0", "responseCode":200, "responseHeaderContent-Type":"text/html" }
The following command illustrates updates to the log data after activating the console access log:
/subsystem=undertow/server=default-server/host=default-host/setting=console-access-log:write-attribute(name=attributes,value={bytes-sent={}, date-time={key="@timestamp", date-format="yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ssSSS"}, remote-host={}, request-line={}, response-header={key-prefix="responseHeader", names=["Content-Type"]}, response-code={}, remote-user={}})
The following command illustrates updates to the custom metadata after activating the console access log:
/subsystem=undertow/server=default-server/host=default-host/setting=console-access-log:write-attribute(name=metadata,value={"@version"="1", "qualifiedHostName"=${jboss.qualified.host.name:unknown}})
15.2. Configuring a servlet container
A servlet container provides all servlet, JavaServer Pages Jakarta Server Pages, and WebSocket-related configuration, including session-related settings. While most servers will only need a single servlet container, it is possible to configure multiple servlet containers by adding additional servlet-container
elements. Having multiple servlet containers enables behavior such as allowing multiple deployments to be deployed to the same context path on different virtual hosts.
Much of the configuration provided by the servlet container can be individually overridden by deployed applications using their web.xml
file.
15.2.1. The default undertow subsystem configuration
JBoss EAP provides a servlet container by default. This reference provides the default configuration of the Undertow subsystem, including the servlet container.
<subsystem xmlns="{UndertowSubsystemNamespace}"> <buffer-cache name="default"/> <server name="default-server"> ... </server> <servlet-container name="default"> <jsp-config/> <websockets/> </servlet-container> ... </subsystem>
15.2.2. Managing servlet containers using the management CLI and management console
This procedure explains how to manage servlet containers in the Undertow subsystem using the management CLI and the management console. You can update existing servlet containers, create new ones, or delete servlet containers as needed.
Prerequisites
- You have access to the management CLI.
- You have access to the management console.
- You have Permissions to modify server configurations.
Managing servlet containers in the Undertow subsystem using the management Console
You can also configure a servlet container using the management console by navigating to Configuration
Managing servlet containers in the Undertow subsystem using the management CLI
The following examples show how to configure a servlet container using the management CLI
Procedure
- Connect to the management CLI:
Run the following command to update the servlet container’s attribute:
---- /subsystem=undertow/servlet-container=default:write-attribute(name=ignore-flush,value=true) ----
Reload the server to apply the changes: +
---- reload ----
Creating a new servlet container
- Connect to the management CLI:
Run the following command to create a new servlet container:
---- /subsystem=undertow/servlet-container=new-servlet-container:add ----
Reload the server to apply the changes:
---- reload ----
Deleting a servlet container
- Connect to the management CLI.
Run the following command to delete the servlet container:
---- /subsystem=undertow/servlet-container=new-servlet-container:remove ----
Reload the server to apply the changes:
---- reload ----
15.3. Configuring a servlet extension
Servlet extensions allow you to hook into the servlet deployment process and modify aspects of a servlet deployment. This can be useful in cases where you need to add additional authentication mechanisms to a deployment or use native Undertow handlers as part of a servlet deployment.
To create a custom servlet extension, it is necessary to implement the io.undertow.servlet.ServletExtension
interface and then add the name of your implementation class to the META-INF/services/io.undertow.servlet.ServletExtension
file in the deployment. You also need to include the compiled class file of the ServletExtension
implementation. When Undertow deploys the servlet, it loads all the services from the deployments
class loader and then invokes their handleDeployment
methods.
An Undertow DeploymentInfo
structure, which contains a complete and mutable description of the deployment, is passed to this method. You can modify this structure to change any aspect of the deployment.
The DeploymentInfo
structure is the same structure that is used by the embedded API, so in effect a ServletExtension
has the same amount of flexibility that you have when using Undertow in embedded mode.
15.4. Configuring Handlers
JBoss EAP allows you to configure two types of handlers:
- File Handlers
- Reverse-Proxy Handlers
File handlers serve static files. Each file handler must be attached to a location in a virtual host. Reverse-proxy handlers allow JBoss EAP to serve as a high-performance reverse proxy.
15.4.1. The default undertow subsystem configuration for configuring Handlers
JBoss EAP provides a file handler by default. This reference provides the default configuration of the Undertow subsystem for Handlers.
<subsystem xmlns="{UndertowSubsystemNamespace}" default-server="default-server" default-virtual-host="default-host" default-servlet-container="default" default-security-domain="other"> <buffer-cache name="default"/> <server name="default-server"> ... </server> <servlet-container name="default"> ... </servlet-container> <handlers> <file name="welcome-content" path="${jboss.home.dir}/welcome-content"/> </handlers> </subsystem>
15.4.2. Managing file Handlers using the management CLI
This procedure explains how to manage file handlers in the Undertow subsystem using the management CLI. You can update existing file handlers, create new ones, or delete file handlers as needed.
Prerequisites
- You have access to the management CLI.
- You have permissions to modify server configurations.
Procedure
Updating an Existing File Handler
- Connect to the management CLI.
Run the following command to update the file handler’s attribute:
---- /subsystem=undertow/configuration=handler/file=welcome-content:write-attribute(name=case-sensitive,value=true) ----
Reload the server to apply the changes:
---- reload ----
Creating a New File Handler
- Connect to the management CLI.
Run the following command to create a new file handler:
---- /subsystem=undertow/configuration=handler/file=new-file-handler:add(path="${jboss.home.dir}/welcome-content") ----
[WARNING] ==== If you set a file handler's `path` directly to a file instead of a directory, any `location` elements that reference that file handler must not end with a forward slash (`/`). Otherwise, the server will return a `404 - Not Found` response. ====
Deleting a File Handler
- Connect to the management CLI.
Run the following command to delete the file handler:
---- /subsystem=undertow/configuration=handler/file=new-file-handler:remove ----
Reload the server to apply the changes:
---- reload ----
15.5. Configuring Filters
A filter enables some aspect of a request to be modified and can use predicates to control when a filter executes. Some common use cases for filters include setting headers or doing GZIP compression.
A filter is functionally equivalent to a global valve used in JBoss EAP 6.
The following types of filters can be defined:
- custom-filter
- error-page
- expression-filter
- gzip
- mod-cluster
- request-limit
- response-header
- rewrite
15.5.1. Managing file Handlers using the management CLI and management console
This procedure explains how to manage filters in the Undertow subsystem using the management CLI and the management console. You can update existing filters, create new ones, or delete filters as needed.
Prerequisites
- You have access to the management CLI.
- You have access to the management console.
- You have permissions to modify server configurations.
Managing file Handlers using the management console
You can configure a filter using the management console by navigating to Configuration
Managing file Handlers using the management CLI
The following procedure shows how to configure a filter using the management CLI
Procedure
Updating an existing Filter
- Connect to the management CLI.
Run the following command to update the filter’s attribute:
---- /subsystem=undertow/configuration=filter/response-header=myHeader:write-attribute(name=header-value,value="JBoss-EAP") ----
Reload the server to apply the changes:
---- reload ----
Creating a new Filter
- Connect to the management CLI.
Run the following command to create a new filter:
---- /subsystem=undertow/configuration=filter/response-header=new-response-header:add(header-name=new-response-header,header-value="My Value") ----
Deleting a Filter
- Connect to the management CLI.
Run the following command to delete the filter:
---- /subsystem=undertow/configuration=filter/response-header=new-response-header:remove ----
Reload the server to apply the changes:
---- reload ----
15.5.1.1. Configuring the buffer-request Handler
A request from the client or the browser consists of two parts: the header and the body. In a typical situation, the header and the body are sent to JBoss EAP without any delays in between. However, if the header is sent first and then after few seconds, the body is sent, there is a delay sending the complete request. This scenario creates a thread in JBoss EAP to show as waiting
to execute the complete request.
The delay caused in sending the header and the body of the request can be corrected using the buffer-request
handler. The buffer-request
handler attempts to consume the request from a non-blocking IO thread before allocating it to a worker thread. When no buffer-request
handler is added, the thread allocation to the worker thread happens directly. However, when the buffer-request
handler is added, the handler attempts to read the amount of data that it can buffer in a non-blocking manner using the IO thread before allocating it to the worker thread.
You can use the following management CLI commands to configure the buffer-request
handler:
Prerequisites
- You have access to the management CLI.
- You have permissions to modify server configurations.
Procedure
Run the following command to add the
buffer-request
handler:---- /subsystem=undertow/configuration=filter/expression-filter=buf:add(expression="buffer-request(buffers=1)") ----
Attach the handler to your server and host by running:
---- /subsystem=undertow/server=default-server/host=default-host/filter-ref=buf:add ----
Calculate the buffer request size:
`Total_size = num_buffers {MultiplicationSign} buffer_size`
Where:
-
Total_size
is the size of data that will be buffered before the request is dispatched to a worker thread. -
num_buffers
is the number of buffers, set by thebuffers
parameter on the handler (in this example, it’s set to1
). buffer_size
is the size of each buffer, set in theio
subsystem (default is 16KB per request).WarningAvoid configuring very large buffer requests, or else you might run out of memory.
-
Reload the server to apply the changes:
---- reload ----
15.5.1.2. Understanding the SameSite attribute
Use the SameSite
attribute to define the accessibility of a cookie within the same site. This attribute helps prevent cross-site request forgery attacks because browsers do not send the cookie with cross-site requests.
You can configure the SameSite
attribute for cookies with SameSiteCookieHandler
in the undertow
subsystem. With this configuration, you do not need to change your application code.
15.5.1.3. SameSiteCookieHandler parameters
The following table details the parameters of SameSiteCookieHandler
:
Parameter Name | Presence | Description |
---|---|---|
| Optional |
Adds a |
| Optional |
Indicates if the |
| Optional |
Accepts a regex pattern for the cookie name. If not specified, the attribute |
| Optional |
Verifies if client applications are incompatible with the
If you use this default value and set the
To prevent issues with incompatible clients, this parameter skips setting the |
| Mandatory |
Specifies the
To improve security against cross-site request forgery attacks, some browsers set the default |
SameSiteCookieHandler
adds the attribute SameSite=<specified-mode>
to cookies that match cookie-pattern
or to all cookies when cookie-pattern
is not specified. The cookie-pattern
is matched according to the value set in case-sensitive
.
Before configuring the SameSite
attribute, consider the following points:
-
Review your application to identify whether the cookies require the
SameSite
attribute and whether those cookies need to be secured. -
Setting the
SameSite
attribute mode toNone
for all cookies can make the application more susceptible to attacks.
15.5.1.4. Configuring SameSiteCookieHandler using an expression Filter
This procedure explains how to configure SameSiteCookieHandler
on the server using an expression-filter
.
Prerequisites
- You have access to the management CLI.
- You have permissions to modify server configurations.
Procedure
Create a new
expression-filter
with theSameSiteCookieHandler
:---- /subsystem=undertow/configuration=filter/expression-filter=addSameSiteLax:add(expression="path-prefix('/mypathprefix') -> samesite-cookie(Lax)") ----
Enable the
expression-filter
in theundertow
web server:---- /subsystem=undertow/server=default-server/host=default-host/filter-ref=addSameSiteLax:add ----
15.5.1.5. Configuring SameSiteCookieHandler using a configuration file
This procedure explains how to configure SameSiteCookieHandler
in your application by adding the undertow-handlers.conf
file.
Prerequisites
- Access to your application’s source code.
- Permissions to modify application files.
Procedure
-
Add an
undertow-handlers.conf
file to your WAR’sWEB-INF
directory. In the
undertow-handlers.conf
file, add the following command with a specificSameSiteCookieHandler
parameter:---- samesite-cookie(mode=<mode>) ----
Replace `<mode>` with one of the valid values: `Strict`, `Lax`, or `None`.
You can also configure other `SameSiteCookieHandler` parameters, such as `cookie-pattern`, `case-sensitive`, `enable-client-checker`, or `add-secure-for-none`.
- Save the file and redeploy your application if necessary.
15.6. Configure the default welcome web application
JBoss EAP includes a default Welcome
application, which displays at the root context on port 8080
by default.
There is a default server preconfigured in Undertow that serves up the welcome content.
Default Undertow Subsystem Configuration
<subsystem xmlns="{UndertowSubsystemNamespace}" default-server="default-server" default-virtual-host="default-host" default-servlet-container="default" default-security-domain="other"> ... <server name="default-server"> <http-listener name="default" socket-binding="http" redirect-socket="https" enable-http2="true"/> <https-listener name="https" socket-binding="https" security-realm="ApplicationRealm" enable-http2="true"/> <host name="default-host" alias="localhost"> <location name="/" handler="welcome-content"/> <http-invoker security-realm="ApplicationRealm"/> </host> </server> ... <handlers> <file name="welcome-content" path="${jboss.home.dir}/welcome-content"/> </handlers> </subsystem>
The default server, default-server
, has a default host, default-host
, configured. The default host is configured to handle requests to the server’s root, using the <location>
element, with the welcome-content
file handler. The welcome-content
handler serves up the content in the location specified in the path
property.
This default Welcome
application can be replaced with your own web application. This can be configured in one of two ways:
You can also disable the welcome content.
15.6.1. Changing the welcome-content
file Handler
This procedure explains how to change the welcome-content
file handler to point to your own web application.
Prerequisites
- You have access to the management CLI.
- You have permissions to modify server configurations.
Procedure
Modify the existing
welcome-content
file handler’s path to point to your new content:---- /subsystem=undertow/configuration=handler/file=welcome-content:write-attribute(name=path,value="/path/to/your/content") ----
Alternatively, you can create a new file handler to be used by the server’s root:
---- /subsystem=undertow/configuration=handler/file=NEW_FILE_HANDLER:add(path="/path/to/your/content") /subsystem=undertow/server=default-server/host=default-host/location=\/:write-attribute(name=handler,value=NEW_FILE_HANDLER) ----
Reload the server for the changes to take effect:
---- reload ----
15.6.2. Changing the default-web-module
This procedure explains how to map a deployed web application to the server’s root by changing the default-web-module
.
Prerequisites
- You have access to the management CLI.
- You have permissions to modify server configurations.
Procedure
Map your deployed web application to the server’s root.
---- /subsystem=undertow/server=default-server/host=default-host:write-attribute(name=default-web-module,value=your-application.war) ----
- Reload the server for the changes to take effect:
---- reload ----
15.6.3. Disabling the default welcome web application
This procedure explains how to disable the default welcome web application by removing the location
entry for the root context.
Prerequisites
- You have access to the management CLI.
- You have permissions to modify server configurations.
Procedure
Remove the
location
entry/
for thedefault-host
:---- /subsystem=undertow/server=default-server/host=default-host/location=\/:remove ----
Reload the server for the changes to take effect:
---- reload ----
15.7. Configuring HTTP session timeout
The HTTP session timeout defines the period of inactive time needed to declare an HTTP session invalid. For example, when a user accesses an application deployed to JBoss EAP, an HTTP session is created. If that user then attempts to access the application again after the HTTP session timeout period has elapsed, the original HTTP session will be invalidated, and the user will be forced to create a new HTTP session. This may result in the loss of unpersisted data or require the user to reauthenticate.
The HTTP session timeout is typically configured in an application’s web.xml
file. However, a default HTTP session timeout can also be specified within JBoss EAP. The server’s timeout value will apply to all deployed applications unless overridden by an application’s web.xml
file.
The server value is specified in the default-session-timeout
property within the servlet-container
section of the undertow
subsystem. The value of default-session-timeout
is specified in minutes, and the default is 30
.
Prerequisites
- You have access to the management CLI.
- You have permissions to modify server configurations.
Procedure
- Connect to the management CLI.
Set the
default-session-timeout
value.Run the following command to set the `default-session-timeout` value to `60` minutes: ---- /subsystem=undertow/servlet-container=default:write-attribute(name=default-session-timeout, value=60) ----
Reload the server for the changes to take effect.
---- reload ----
15.8. Configuring HTTP-only session management cookies
Session management cookies can be accessed by both HTTP APIs and non-HTTP APIs such as JavaScript. JBoss EAP offers the ability to send the HttpOnly
header as part of the Set-Cookie
response header to the client, usually a browser. In supported browsers, enabling this header tells the browser to prevent accessing session management cookies through non-HTTP APIs. Restricting session management cookies to only HTTP APIs can help mitigate the threat of session cookie theft via cross-site scripting attacks. To enable this behavior, the http-only
attribute should be set to true
.
Using the HttpOnly
header does not actually prevent cross-site scripting attacks by itself; it merely notifies the browser. The browser must also support HttpOnly
for this behavior to take effect.
Using the http-only
attribute only applies the restriction to session management cookies and not to other browser cookies.
The http-only
attribute is set in two places in the undertow
subsystem:
- In the servlet container as a session cookie setting.
- In the host section of the server as a single sign-on property.
15.8.1. Configuring host-only for the Servlet container session cookie
This procedure explains how to configure the http-only
property for the servlet container session cookie in the undertow
subsystem.
Prerequisites
- You have access to the management CLI.
- You have permissions to modify server configurations.
Procedure
Add the session cookie setting to the servlet container.
Run the following command:
---- /subsystem=undertow/servlet-container=default/setting=session-cookie:add ----
Set the
http-only
attribute totrue
.Run the following command:
---- /subsystem=undertow/servlet-container=default/setting=session-cookie:write-attribute(name=http-only,value=true) ----
Reload the server for the changes to take effect.
---- reload ----
15.8.2. Configuring http-only for the host single sign-On
This procedure explains how to configure the http-only
property for the host single sign-on in the undertow
subsystem.
Prerequisites
- You have access to the management CLI.
- You have permissions to modify server configurations.
Procedure
Add the single sign-on setting to the host.
Run the following command:
---- /subsystem=undertow/server=default-server/host=default-host/setting=single-sign-on:add ----
Set the
http-only
attribute totrue
.Run the following command:
---- /subsystem=undertow/server=default-server/host=default-host/setting=single-sign-on:write-attribute(name=http-only,value=true) ----
Reload the server for the changes to take effect.
---- reload ----
15.9. Understanding HTTP/2 in undertow
Undertow allows for the use of the HTTP/2 standard, which reduces latency by compressing headers and multiplexing many streams over the same TCP connection. It also provides the ability for a server to push resources to the client before it has requested them, leading to faster page loads.
Be aware that HTTP/2 only works with clients and browsers that also support the HTTP/2 standard.
Most modern browsers enforce HTTP/2 over a secured TLS connection, known as h2
, and may not support HTTP/2 over plain HTTP, known as h2c
. It is still possible to configure JBoss EAP to use HTTP/2 with h2c
, without using HTTPS and only using plain HTTP with HTTP upgrade. In that case, you can simply enable HTTP/2 in the HTTP listener:
/subsystem=undertow/server=default-server/http-listener=default:write-attribute(name=enable-http2,value=true)
15.9.1. Configuring HTTP/2 in Undertow
This procedure explains how to enable HTTP/2 in Undertow by configuring the HTTPS listener.
Prerequisites
- You have access to the management CLI.
- You have permissions to modify server configurations.
Procedure
Enable HTTP/2 on the HTTPS listener:
---- /subsystem=undertow/server=default-server/https-listener=https:write-attribute(name=enable-http2,value=true) ----
Reload the server to apply the changes:
---- reload ----
In order to utilize HTTP/2 with the elytron
subsystem, you will need to ensure that the configured ssl-context
in the https-listener
of the Undertow is configured as modifiable. This can be achieved by setting the wrap
attribute of the appropriate server-ssl-context
to false
. By default, the wrap
attribute is set to false
. This is required by Undertow to make modifications in the ssl-context
about the ALPN. If the provided ssl-context
is not writable, ALPN cannot be used and the connection falls back to HTTP/1.1.
Additional resources
For more information on the HTTPS listener and configuring Undertow to use HTTPS for web applications, see Configure One-way and Two-way SSL/TLS for Applications in How to Configure Server Security.
15.9.2. ALPN support when using HTTP/2
When using HTTP/2 over a secured TLS connection, a TLS stack that supports the Application-Layer Protocol Negotiation (ALPN) TLS protocol extension is required. Obtaining this stack varies based on the installed JDK.
- As of Java 9, the JDK supports ALPN natively; however, using the ALPN TLS protocol extension support from the OpenSSL provider should also result in better performance when using Java 9 or later.
Instructions for installing OpenSSL to obtain the ALPN TLS protocol extension support are available in Install OpenSSL from JBoss Core Services. The standard system OpenSSL is supported on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, and no additional OpenSSL is required.
Once OpenSSL has been installed, follow the instructions in xref:"configure-jboss-eap-to-use-openssl_configuring-the-web-server-undertow-in-jboss-eap"[Configure JBoss EAP to Use OpenSSL].
15.9.3. Verifying HTTP/2 usage
To verify that Undertow is using HTTP/2, you will need to inspect the headers coming from Undertow. Navigate to your JBoss EAP instance using https, for example https://localhost:8443, and use your browser’s developer tools to inspect the headers. Some browsers, for example Google Chrome, will show HTTP/2 pseudo headers, such as :path
, :authority
, :method
and :scheme
, when using HTTP/2. Other browsers, for example Firefox and Safari, will report the status or version of the header as HTTP/2.0
.
15.10. Understanding the RequestDumping
Handler
The RequestDumping
handler, io.undertow.server.handlers.RequestDumpingHandler
, logs the details of request and corresponding response objects handled by Undertow within JBoss EAP.
While this handler can be useful for debugging, it may also log sensitive information. Please keep this in mind when enabling this handler.
The RequestDumping
handler replaces the RequestDumperValve
from JBoss EAP 6.
You can configure a RequestDumping
handler either at the server level directly in JBoss EAP or within an individual application.
15.10.1. Configuring a RequestDumping
Handler on the server
This procedure explains how to configure a RequestDumping
handler at the server level using an expression filter.
Prerequisites
- You have access to the management CLI.
- You have permissions to modify server configurations.
Procedure
Create a new expression filter with the
RequestDumping
handler:---- /subsystem=undertow/configuration=filter/expression-filter=requestDumperExpression:add(expression="dump-request") ----
Enable the expression filter in the Undertow web server:
---- /subsystem=undertow/server=default-server/host=default-host/filter-ref=requestDumperExpression:add ----
All requests and corresponding responses handled by the Undertow web server will be logged when enabling the RequestDumping
handler as an expression filter in this manner.
15.10.1.1. Configuring a Handler for specific URLs
In addition to logging all requests, you can also use an expression filter to only log requests and corresponding responses for specific URLs. This can be accomplished using a predicate in your expression such as path
, path-prefix
, or path-suffix
. For example, if you want to log all requests and corresponding responses to /myApplication/test
, you can use the expression "path(/myApplication/test) -> dump-request"
instead of the expression "dump-request"
when creating your expression filter. This will only direct requests with a path exactly matching /myApplication/test
to the RequestDumping
handler.
15.10.1.2. Configuring a RequestDumping Handler within an application
This procedure explains how to configure a RequestDumping
handler within an individual application. This limits the scope of the handler to that specific application.
Procedure
-
Create or edit the
WEB-INF/undertow-handlers.conf
file in your application. To log all requests and corresponding responses for this application, add the following line to
undertow-handlers.conf
:---- dump-request ----
Alternatively, to log requests and responses for specific URLs within the application, use a predicate in your expression.
Replace `/test` with the desired path relative to the application's context root.
[source] ---- path(/test) -> dump-request ----
NoteWhen using predicates such as
path
,path-prefix
, orpath-suffix
in expressions defined in the application’sWEB-INF/undertow-handlers.conf
, the value used is relative to the context root of the application.For example, if the application’s context root is
/myApplication
and you use the expressionpath(/test)
, it will log requests todump-request /myApplication/test
.- Redeploy the application if necessary to apply the changes.
15.11. Configuring cookie security
You can use the secure-cookie
handler to enhance the security of cookies that are created over a connection between a server and a client. In this case, if the connection over which the cookie is set is marked as secure, the cookie will have its secure
attribute set to true
.
You can secure the connection by configuring a listener or by using HTTPS. You configure the secure-cookie
handler by defining an expression-filter
in the undertow
subsystem. For more information, see Configuring Filters.
When the secure-cookie
handler is in use, cookies that are set over a secure connection will be implicitly set as secure and will never be sent over an unsecure connection.
15.12. Additional resources
Configuring HTTPS
- For information on configuring HTTPS for web applications, see Configure One-way and Two-way SSL/TLS for Applications in How to Configure Server Security.
- For information on configuring HTTPS for use with the JBoss EAP management interfaces, see How to Secure the Management Interfaces in How to Configure Server Security.
Tuning the Undertow Subsystem
-
For tips on optimizing performance for the
undertow
subsystem, see the Undertow Subsystem Tuning section of the Performance tuning for JBoss EAP.