Chapter 63. HTTP4


HTTP4 Component

Available as of Camel 2.3
The http4: component provides HTTP based endpoints for calling external HTTP resources (as a client to call external servers using HTTP).
Maven users will need to add the following dependency to their pom.xml for this component:
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.apache.camel</groupId>
    <artifactId>camel-http4</artifactId>
    <version>x.x.x</version>
    <!-- use the same version as your Camel core version -->
</dependency>
camel-http4 vs camel-http
Camel-http4 uses Apache HttpClient 4.x while camel-http uses Apache HttpClient 3.x.

URI format

http4:hostname[:port][/resourceUri][?options]
Will by default use port 80 for HTTP and 443 for HTTPS.
You can append query options to the URI in the following format, ?option=value&option=value&...
camel-http4 vs camel-jetty
You can only produce to endpoints generated by the HTTP4 component. Therefore it should never be used as input into your Camel Routes. To bind/expose an HTTP endpoint via a HTTP server as input to a Camel route, use the Jetty Component instead.

HttpComponent Options

Name Default Value Description
maxTotalConnections 200 The maximum number of connections.
connectionsPerRoute 20 The maximum number of connections per route.
cookieStore null Camel 2.11.2/2.12.0: To use a custom org.apache.http.client.CookieStore. By default the org.apache.http.impl.client.BasicCookieStore is used which is an in-memory only cookie store. Notice if bridgeEndpoint=true then the cookie store is forced to be a noop cookie store as cookies shouldn't be stored as we are just bridging (eg acting as a proxy).
httpClientConfigurer null Reference to a org.apache.camel.component.http.HttpClientConfigurer in the Registry.
clientConnectionManager null To use a custom org.apache.http.conn.ClientConnectionManager.
httpBinding null To use a custom org.apache.camel.component.http.HttpBinding.
httpContext null Camel 2.9.2: To use a custom org.apache.http.protocol.HttpContext when executing requests.
sslContextParameters null Camel 2.8: To use a custom org.apache.camel.util.jsse.SSLContextParameters. See Using the JSSE Configuration Utility.
x509HostnameVerifier BrowserCompatHostnameVerifier Camel 2.7: You can refer to a different org.apache.http.conn.ssl.X509HostnameVerifier instance in the Registry such as org.apache.http.conn.ssl.StrictHostnameVerifier or org.apache.http.conn.ssl.AllowAllHostnameVerifier.
connectionTimeToLive -1 Camel 2.11.0: The time for connection to live, the time unit is millisecond, the default value is always keep alive.

HttpEndpoint Options

Name Default Value Description
throwExceptionOnFailure true Option to disable throwing the HttpOperationFailedException in case of failed responses from the remote server. This allows you to get all responses regardless of the HTTP status code.
bridgeEndpoint false If true, HttpProducer will ignore the Exchange.HTTP_URI header, and use the endpoint's URI for request. You may also set the throwExcpetionOnFailure to be false to let the HttpProducer send all fault responses back. Also if set to true HttpProducer and CamelServlet will skip the gzip processing if the content-encoding is "gzip".
clearExpiredCookies true Camel 2.11.2/2.12.0: Whether to clear expired cookies before sending the HTTP request. This ensures the cookies store does not keep growing by adding new cookies which is newer removed when they are expired.
cookieStore null Camel 2.11.2/2.12.0: To use a custom org.apache.http.client.CookieStore. By default the org.apache.http.impl.client.BasicCookieStore is used which is an in-memory only cookie store. Notice if bridgeEndpoint=true then the cookie store is forced to be a noop cookie store as cookies shouldn't be stored as we are just bridging (eg acting as a proxy).
disableStreamCache false DefaultHttpBinding will copy the request input stream into a stream cache and put it into the message body if this option is false to support multiple reads, otherwise DefaultHttpBinding will set the request input stream directly in the message body.
headerFilterStrategy null Camel 2.10.4: Reference to a instance of org.apache.camel.spi.HeaderFilterStrategy in the Registry. t will be used to apply the custom headerFilterStrategy on the new create HttpEndpoint.
httpBindingRef null Deprecated and will be removed in Camel 3.0: Reference to a org.apache.camel.component.http.HttpBinding in the Registry. Use the httpBinding option instead.
httpBinding null To use a custom org.apache.camel.component.http.HttpBinding.
httpClientConfigurerRef null Deprecated and will be removed in Camel 3.0: Reference to a org.apache.camel.component.http.HttpClientConfigurer in the Registry. Use the httpClientConfigurer option instead.
httpClientConfigurer null Reference to a org.apache.camel.component.http.HttpClientConfigurer in the Registry.
httpContextRef null Deprecated and will be removed in Camel 3.0:Camel 2.9.2: Reference to a custom org.apache.http.protocol.HttpContext in the Registry. Use the httpContext option instead.
httpContext null Camel 2.9.2: To use a custom org.apache.http.protocol.HttpContext when executing requests.
httpClient.XXX null
Setting options on the BasicHttpParams. For instance httpClient.soTimeout=5000 will set the SO_TIMEOUT to 5 seconds. Look on the setter methods of the following parameter beans for a complete reference: AuthParamBean, ClientParamBean, ConnConnectionParamBean, ConnRouteParamBean, CookieSpecParamBean, HttpConnectionParamBean and HttpProtocolParamBean
Since Camel 2.13.0: httpClient is changed to configure the HttpClientBuilder and RequestConfig.Builder, please check out API document for a complete reference.
clientConnectionManager null To use a custom org.apache.http.conn.ClientConnectionManager.
transferException false If enabled and an Exchange failed processing on the consumer side, and if the caused Exception was send back serialized in the response as a application/x-java-serialized-object content type (for example using Jetty or SERVLET Camel components). On the producer side the exception will be deserialized and thrown as is, instead of the HttpOperationFailedException. The caused exception is required to be serialized.
sslContextParametersRef null Deprecated and will be removed in Camel 3.0:Camel 2.8: Reference to a org.apache.camel.util.jsse.SSLContextParameters in the Registry. Important: Only one instance of org.apache.camel.util.jsse.SSLContextParameters is supported per HttpComponent. If you need to use 2 or more different instances, you need to define a new HttpComponent per instance you need. See further below for more details. See Using the JSSE Configuration Utility. Use the sslContextParameters option instead.
sslContextParameters null Camel 2.11.1: Reference to a org.apache.camel.util.jsse.SSLContextParameters in the Registry. Important: Only one instance of org.apache.camel.util.jsse.SSLContextParameters is supported per HttpComponent. If you need to use 2 or more different instances, you need to define a new HttpComponent per instance you need. See further below for more details. See Using the JSSE Configuration Utility.
x509HostnameVerifier BrowserCompatHostnameVerifier Camel 2.7: You can refer to a different org.apache.http.conn.ssl.X509HostnameVerifier instance in the Registry such as org.apache.http.conn.ssl.StrictHostnameVerifier or org.apache.http.conn.ssl.AllowAllHostnameVerifier.
urlRewrite null Camel 2.11:Producer only Refers to a custom org.apache.camel.component.http4.UrlRewrite which allows you to rewrite urls when you bridge/proxy endpoints. See more details at UrlRewrite and How to use Camel as a HTTP proxy between a client and server.
maxTotalConnections
null
Camel 2.14: The maximum number of total connections that the connection manager has. If this option is not set, camel will use the component's setting instead.
connectionsPerRoute
null
Camel 2.14: The maximum number of connections per route. If this option is not set, camel will use the component's setting instead.
authenticationPreemptive
false
Camel 2.11.3/2.12.2: If this option is true, camel-http4 sends preemptive basic authentication to the server.
The following authentication options can also be set on the HttpEndpoint:

Setting Basic Authentication and Proxy

Before Camel 2.8.0
Name Default Value Description
username null Username for authentication.
password null Password for authentication.
domain null The domain name for authentication.
host null The host name authentication.
proxyHost null The proxy host name
proxyPort null The proxy port number
proxyUsername null Username for proxy authentication
proxyPassword null Password for proxy authentication
proxyDomain null The proxy domain name
proxyNtHost null The proxy Nt host name
Name Default Value Description
authUsername null Username for authentication
authPassword null Password for authentication
authDomain null The domain name for authentication
authHost null The host name authentication
proxyAuthHost null The proxy host name
proxyAuthPort null The proxy port number
proxyAuthScheme null The proxy scheme, will fallback and use the scheme from the endpoint if not configured.
proxyAuthUsername null Username for proxy authentication
proxyAuthPassword null Password for proxy authentication
proxyAuthDomain null The proxy domain name
proxyAuthNtHost null The proxy Nt host name

Message Headers

Name Type Description
Exchange.HTTP_URI String URI to call. Will override existing URI set directly on the endpoint.
Exchange.HTTP_PATH String Request URI's path, the header will be used to build the request URI with the HTTP_URI.
Exchange.HTTP_QUERY String URI parameters. Will override existing URI parameters set directly on the endpoint.
Exchange.HTTP_RESPONSE_CODE int The HTTP response code from the external server. Is 200 for OK.
Exchange.HTTP_CHARACTER_ENCODING String Character encoding.
Exchange.CONTENT_TYPE String The HTTP content type. Is set on both the IN and OUT message to provide a content type, such as text/html.
Exchange.CONTENT_ENCODING String The HTTP content encoding. Is set on both the IN and OUT message to provide a content encoding, such as gzip.

Message Body

Camel will store the HTTP response from the external server on the OUT body. All headers from the IN message will be copied to the OUT message, so headers are preserved during routing. Additionally Camel will add the HTTP response headers as well to the OUT message headers.

Response code

Camel will handle according to the HTTP response code:
  • Response code is in the range 100..299, Camel regards it as a success response.
  • Response code is in the range 300..399, Camel regards it as a redirection response and will throw a HttpOperationFailedException with the information.
  • Response code is 400+, Camel regards it as an external server failure and will throw a HttpOperationFailedException with the information.
    throwExceptionOnFailure
    The option, throwExceptionOnFailure, can be set to false to prevent the HttpOperationFailedException from being thrown for failed response codes. This allows you to get any response from the remote server. There is a sample below demonstrating this.

HttpOperationFailedException

This exception contains the following information:
  • The HTTP status code
  • The HTTP status line (text of the status code)
  • Redirect location, if server returned a redirect
  • Response body as a java.lang.String, if server provided a body as response

Calling using GET or POST

The following algorithm is used to determine whether the GET or POST HTTP method should be used: 1. Use method provided in header. 2. GET if query string is provided in header. 3. GET if endpoint is configured with a query string. 4. POST if there is data to send (body is not null). 5. GET otherwise.

How to get access to HttpServletRequest and HttpServletResponse

You can get access to these two using the Camel type converter system using NOTE You can get the request and response not just from the processor after the camel-jetty or camel-cxf endpoint.
HttpServletRequest request = exchange.getIn().getBody(HttpServletRequest.class);
HttpServletRequest response = exchange.getIn().getBody(HttpServletResponse.class);

Configuring URI to call

You can set the HTTP producer's URI directly form the endpoint URI. In the route below, Camel will call out to the external server, oldhost, using HTTP.
from("direct:start")
	    .to("http4://oldhost");
And the equivalent Spring sample:
<camelContext xmlns="http://activemq.apache.org/camel/schema/spring">
  <route>
    <from uri="direct:start"/>
    <to uri="http4://oldhost"/>
  </route>
</camelContext>
You can override the HTTP endpoint URI by adding a header with the key, Exchange.HTTP_URI, on the message.
from("direct:start")
  .setHeader(Exchange.HTTP_URI, constant("http://newhost"))
  .to("http4://oldhost");
In the sample above Camel will call the http://newhost despite the endpoint is configured with http4://oldhost. If the http4 endpoint is working in bridge mode, it will ignore the message header of Exchange.HTTP_URI.

Configuring URI Parameters

The http producer supports URI parameters to be sent to the HTTP server. The URI parameters can either be set directly on the endpoint URI or as a header with the key Exchange.HTTP_QUERY on the message.
from("direct:start")
 .to("http4://oldhost?order=123&detail=short");
Or options provided in a header:
from("direct:start")
  .setHeader(Exchange.HTTP_QUERY, constant("order=123&detail=short"))
  .to("http4://oldhost");

How to set the http method (GET/POST/PUT/DELETE/HEAD/OPTIONS/TRACE) to the HTTP producer

The HTTP4 component provides a way to set the HTTP request method by setting the message header. Here is an example:
from("direct:start")
  .setHeader(Exchange.HTTP_METHOD, constant(org.apache.camel.component.http4.HttpMethods.POST))
  .to("http4://www.google.com")
  .to("mock:results");
The method can be written a bit shorter using the string constants:
.setHeader("CamelHttpMethod", constant("POST"))
And the equivalent Spring sample:
<camelContext xmlns="http://activemq.apache.org/camel/schema/spring">
  <route>
    <from uri="direct:start"/>
    <setHeader headerName="CamelHttpMethod">
        <constant>POST</constant>
    </setHeader>
    <to uri="http4://www.google.com"/>
    <to uri="mock:results"/>
  </route>
</camelContext>

Using client timeout - SO_TIMEOUT

See the HttpSOTimeoutTest unit test.

Configuring a Proxy

The HTTP4 component provides a way to configure a proxy.
from("direct:start")
  .to("http4://oldhost?proxyAuthHost=www.myproxy.com&proxyAuthPort=80");
There is also support for proxy authentication via the proxyAuthUsername and proxyAuthPassword options.

Using proxy settings outside of URI

To avoid System properties conflicts, you can set proxy configuration only from the CamelContext or URI. Java DSL :
 context.getProperties().put("http.proxyHost", "172.168.18.9");
 context.getProperties().put("http.proxyPort" "8080");
Spring XML
   <camelContext>
       <properties>
           <property key="http.proxyHost" value="172.168.18.9"/>
           <property key="http.proxyPort" value="8080"/>
      </properties>
   </camelContext>
Camel will first set the settings from Java System or CamelContext Properties and then the endpoint proxy options if provided. So you can override the system properties with the endpoint options.
Notice in Camel 2.8 there is also a http.proxyScheme property you can set to explicit configure the scheme to use.

Configuring charset

If you are using POST to send data you can configure the charset using the Exchange property:
exchange.setProperty(Exchange.CHARSET_NAME, "ISO-8859-1");

Sample with scheduled poll

This sample polls the Google homepage every 10 seconds and write the page to the file message.html:
from("timer://foo?fixedRate=true&delay=0&period=10000")
    .to("http4://www.google.com")
    .setHeader(FileComponent.HEADER_FILE_NAME, "message.html")
    .to("file:target/google");

URI Parameters from the endpoint URI

In this sample we have the complete URI endpoint that is just what you would have typed in a web browser. Multiple URI parameters can of course be set using the & character as separator, just as you would in the web browser. Camel does no tricks here.
// we query for Camel at the Google page
template.sendBody("http4://www.google.com/search?q=Camel", null);

URI Parameters from the Message

Map headers = new HashMap();
headers.put(Exchange.HTTP_QUERY, "q=Camel&lr=lang_en");
// we query for Camel and English language at Google
template.sendBody("http4://www.google.com/search", null, headers);
In the header value above notice that it should not be prefixed with ? and you can separate parameters as usual with the & char.

Getting the Response Code

You can get the HTTP response code from the HTTP4 component by getting the value from the Out message header with Exchange.HTTP_RESPONSE_CODE.
Exchange exchange = template.send("http4://www.google.com/search", new Processor() {
  public void process(Exchange exchange) throws Exception {
    exchange.getIn().setHeader(Exchange.HTTP_QUERY, constant("hl=en&q=activemq"));
  }
});
Message out = exchange.getOut();
int responseCode = out.getHeader(Exchange.HTTP_RESPONSE_CODE, Integer.class);

Disabling Cookies

To disable cookies you can set the HTTP Client to ignore cookies by adding this URI option: httpClient.cookiePolicy=ignoreCookies

Advanced Usage

If you need more control over the HTTP producer you should use the HttpComponent where you can set various classes to give you custom behavior.

Using the JSSE Configuration Utility

As of Camel 2.8, the HTTP4 component supports SSL/TLS configuration through the Camel JSSE Configuration Utility. This utility greatly decreases the amount of component specific code you need to write and is configurable at the endpoint and component levels. The following examples demonstrate how to use the utility with the HTTP4 component.

Programmatic configuration of the component

KeyStoreParameters ksp = new KeyStoreParameters();
ksp.setResource("/users/home/server/keystore.jks");
ksp.setPassword("keystorePassword");

KeyManagersParameters kmp = new KeyManagersParameters();
kmp.setKeyStore(ksp);
kmp.setKeyPassword("keyPassword");

SSLContextParameters scp = new SSLContextParameters();
scp.setKeyManagers(kmp);

HttpComponent httpComponent = getContext().getComponent("https4", HttpComponent.class);
httpComponent.setSslContextParameters(scp);

Spring DSL based configuration of endpoint

...
  <camel:sslContextParameters
      id="sslContextParameters">
    <camel:keyManagers
        keyPassword="keyPassword">
      <camel:keyStore
          resource="/users/home/server/keystore.jks"
          password="keystorePassword"/>
    </camel:keyManagers>
  </camel:sslContextParameters>...
...
  <to uri="https4://127.0.0.1/mail/?sslContextParametersRef=sslContextParameters"/>...

Configuring Apache HTTP Client Directly

Basically camel-http4 component is built on the top of Apache HttpClient. Please refer to SSL/TLS customization for details or have a look into the org.apache.camel.component.http4.HttpsServerTestSupport unit test base class. You can also implement a custom org.apache.camel.component.http4.HttpClientConfigurer to do some configuration on the http client if you need full control of it.
However if you just want to specify the keystore and truststore you can do this with Apache HTTP HttpClientConfigurer, for example:
KeyStore keystore = ...;
KeyStore truststore = ...;

SchemeRegistry registry = new SchemeRegistry();
registry.register(new Scheme("https", 443, new SSLSocketFactory(keystore, "mypassword", truststore)));
And then you need to create a class that implements HttpClientConfigurer, and registers https protocol providing a keystore or truststore per example above. Then, from your camel route builder class you can hook it up like so:
HttpComponent httpComponent = getContext().getComponent("http4", HttpComponent.class);
httpComponent.setHttpClientConfigurer(new MyHttpClientConfigurer());
If you are doing this using the Spring DSL, you can specify your HttpClientConfigurer using the URI. For example:
<bean id="myHttpClientConfigurer"
 class="my.https.HttpClientConfigurer">
</bean>

<to uri="https4://myhostname.com:443/myURL?httpClientConfigurer=myHttpClientConfigurer"/>
As long as you implement the HttpClientConfigurer and configure your keystore and truststore as described above, it will work fine.

Using HTTPS to authenticate gotchas

An end user reported that he had problem with authenticating with HTTPS. The problem was eventually resolved by providing a custom configured org.apache.http.protocol.HttpContext:
1. Create a (Spring) factory for HttpContexts:
public class HttpContextFactory {

  private String httpHost = "localhost";
  private String httpPort = 9001;

  private BasicHttpContext httpContext = new BasicHttpContext();
  private BasicAuthCache authCache = new BasicAuthCache();
  private BasicScheme basicAuth = new BasicScheme();

  public HttpContext getObject() {
    authCache.put(new HttpHost(httpHost, httpPort), basicAuth);

    httpContext.setAttribute(ClientContext.AUTH_CACHE, authCache);

    return httpContext;
  }

  // getter and setter
}
2. Declare an HttpContext in the Spring application context file:
<bean id="myHttpContext" factory-bean="httpContextFactory" factory-method="getObject"/>
3. Reference the context in the http4 URL:
<to uri="https4://myhostname.com:443/myURL?httpContext=myHttpContext"/>

Using different SSLContextParameters

The HTTP4 component only support one instance of org.apache.camel.util.jsse.SSLContextParameters per component. If you need to use 2 or more different instances, then you need to setup multiple HTTP4 components as shown below. Where we have 2 components, each using their own instance of sslContextParameters property.
<bean id="http4-foo" class="org.apache.camel.component.http4.HttpComponent">
   <property name="sslContextParameters" ref="sslContextParams1"/>
   <property name="x509HostnameVerifier" ref="hostnameVerifier"/>
</bean>

<bean id="http4-bar" class="org.apache.camel.component.http4.HttpComponent">
   <property name="sslContextParameters" ref="sslContextParams2"/>
   <property name="x509HostnameVerifier" ref="hostnameVerifier"/>
</bean>
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