Chapter 2. Installing JBoss Web Server on Red Hat Enterprise Linux from archive files


You can install JBoss Web Server on Red Hat Enterprise Linux from archive files or RPM packages. If you want to install JBoss Web Server from archive files, you can download and extract the JBoss Web Server archive files from the Red Hat Customer Portal.

When you install JBoss Web Server from an archive file, you can manage the product in different ways. For example, you can use a system daemon at system startup or manage JBoss Web Server from a command line.

2.1. Prerequisites

  • You have installed a supported Java Development Kit (JDK) by using the YUM package manager or from a compressed archive.
  • Your system is compliant with Red Hat Enterprise Linux package requirements.

2.1.1. Installing a JDK by using the YUM package manager

You can use the YUM package manager to install a Java Development Kit (JDK). For a full list of supported JDKs, see JBoss Web Server operating systems and configurations.

Procedure

  1. Subscribe your Red Hat Enterprise Linux system to the appropriate channel:

    • OpenJDK:

      • rhel-7-server-rpms
      • rhel-8-server-rpms
      • rhel-9-server-rpms
    • IBM:

      • rhel-7-server-supplementary-rpms
      • rhel-8-server-supplementary-rpms
      • rhel-9-server-supplementary-rpms
    Important

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 is no longer supported and subsequently was removed from the documentation.

  2. As the root user, execute the command to install a 1.8 JDK:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    # yum install java-1.8.0-<VENDOR>-devel

    Replace <VENDOR> with ibm or openjdk

  3. Run the following commands as the root user to ensure the correct JDK is in use:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    # alternatives --config java
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    # alternatives --config javac

    These commands return lists of available JDK versions with the selected version marked with a plus (+) sign. If the selected JDK is not the desired one, change to the desired JDK as instructed in the shell prompt.

    Important

    All software that use the java and javac commands uses the JDK set by alternatives. Changing Java alternatives may impact on the running of other software.

2.1.2. Installing a JDK from a compressed archive

You can install a Java Development Kit (JDK) from a compressed archive such as a .zip or .tar file. For a full list of supported JDKs, see JBoss Web Server operating systems and configurations.

Procedure

  1. If the JDK was downloaded from the vendor’s website (Oracle or OpenJDK), use the installation instructions provided by the vendor and set the JAVA_HOME environment variable.
  2. If the JDK was installed from a compressed, archive, set the JAVA_HOME environment variable for Tomcat:

    1. In the bin directory of Tomcat (JWS_HOME/tomcat/bin), create a file named setenv.sh.
    2. In the setenv.sh file, enter the JAVA_HOME path definition. For example:

      Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
      $ cat JWS_HOME/tomcat/bin/setenv.sh
      
      export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/jre-1.8.0-openjdk.x86_64

2.1.3. Red Hat Enterprise Linux package requirements

Before you install JBoss Web Server on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, you must ensure that your system is compliant with the following package requirements.

Note

The package requirements vary depending on the version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux you are using.

  • On Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 8 or 9, if you want to use OpenSSL or Apache Portable Runtime (APR), you must install the openssl and apr packages that Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides.

    • To install the openssl package, enter the following command as the root user:

      Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
      # yum install openssl
    • To install the apr package, enter the following command as the root user:

      Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
      # yum install apr
  • You must remove the tomcatjss package before you install the tomcat-native package. The tomcatjss package uses an underlying Network Security Services (NSS) security model rather than the OpenSSL security model.

    To remove the tomcatjss package, enter the following command as the root user:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    # yum remove tomcatjss
Note
  • On Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, JBoss Web Server uses the openssl and apr packages that Red Hat JBoss Core Services provides.
  • On Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions 8 and 9, JBoss Web Server does not provide openssl and apr packages. JBoss Web Server uses the openssl and apr packages that Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides. If you want to use OpenSSL or APR on Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 8 or 9, you must install the openssl and apr packages from the operating system, as described earlier in this section.

2.2. Downloading and extracting the JBoss Web Server archive file on RHEL

You can download the JBoss Web Server archive file from the Red Hat Customer Portal.

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. Open a browser and log in to the Red Hat Customer Portal.
  2. Click Downloads.
  3. Click Red Hat JBoss Web Server in the Product Downloads list.
  4. Select the correct JBoss Web Server version from the Version drop-down menu.
  5. Click Download for each of the following files, ensuring that you select the correct platform and architecture for your system:

    • The Red Hat JBoss Web Server 5.7 Application Server (jws-5.7.0-application-server.zip).
    • The Red Hat JBoss Web Server 5.7 Native Components for RHEL (jws-5.7.0-application-server-<platform>-<architecture>.zip).
  6. Unzip the downloaded archive files to your installation directory.

    For example:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    # unzip jws-5.7.0-application-server.zip -d /opt/
    # unzip -o jws-5.7.0-application-server-<platform>-<architecture>.zip -d /opt/

The top-level directory for JBoss Web Server is created when you extract the archive. This documentation refers to the top-level directory for JBoss Web Server as JWS_HOME.

2.3. Managing JBoss Web Server by using systemd when installed from an archive file

When you install JBoss Web Server from an archive file on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, you can use a system daemon to perform management tasks. Using the JBoss Web Server with a system daemon provides a method of starting the JBoss Web Server services at system startup. The system daemon also provides start, stop and status check functions.

On Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions 7, 8, and 9, the default system daemon is systemd.

Important

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 is no longer supported and subsequently was removed from the documentation.

Procedure

  1. To determine which system daemon is running, enter the following command:

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    $ ps -p 1 -o comm=

    If systemd is running, the following output is displayed:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    systemd
  2. To set up the JBoss Web Server for systemd, run the .postinstall.systemd script as the root user:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    # cd JWS_HOME/tomcat
    # sh .postinstall.systemd
  3. To control the JBoss Web Server with systemd, you can perform any of the following steps as the root user:

    • To enable the JBoss Web Server services to start at system startup by using systemd:

      Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
      # systemctl enable jws5-tomcat.service
    • To start the JBoss Web Server by using systemd:

      Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
      # systemctl start jws5-tomcat.service
      Note

      The SECURITY_MANAGER variable is now deprecated for JBoss Web Server configurations that are based on archive file installations. Consider the following deprecation comment:

      Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
      # SECURITY_MANAGER has been deprecated. To run tomcat under the Java Security Manager use:
        JAVA_OPTS="-Djava.security.manager -Djava.security.policy==\"$CATALINA_BASE/conf/"catalina.policy\"""
    • To stop the JBoss Web Server by using systemd:

      Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
      # systemctl stop jws5-tomcat.service
    • To verify the status of the JBoss Web Server by using systemd:

      Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
      # systemctl status jws5-tomcat.service
      Note

      Any user can run the status operation.

2.4. JBoss Web Server configuration for managing archive installations from the command line

When you install JBoss Web Server from an archive file on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, you can start and stop JBoss Web Server directly from the command line. Before you can run JBoss Web Server from the command line, you must perform the following series of configuration tasks:

  • Set the JAVA_HOME environment variable for Tomcat.
  • Create a tomcat user and its parent group.
  • Grant the tomcat user access to JBoss Web Server.
Note

When you manage JBoss Web Server by using a system daemon rather than from the command line, the .postinstall.systemd script performs these configuration steps automatically.

2.4.1. Setting the JAVA_HOME environment variable for Apache Tomcat

Before you run JBoss Web Server from the command line for the first time, you must set the JAVA_HOME environment variable for Apache Tomcat.

Procedure

  1. On a command line, go to the JWS_HOME/tomcat/bin directory.
  2. Create a file named setenv.sh.
  3. In the setenv.sh file, enter the JAVA_HOME path definition.

    For example:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/jre-1.8.0-openjdk.x86_64

2.4.2. Creating a Tomcat user and group

Before you run JBoss Web Server from the command line for the first time, you must create a tomcat user account and user group to enable simple and secure user management. On Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the user identifer (UID) for the tomcat user and the group identifier (GID) for the tomcat group both have a reserved value of 53.

Note

You must perform all steps in this procedure as the root user.

Procedure

  1. On a command line, go to the JWS_HOME directory.
  2. Create the tomcat user group:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    # groupadd -g 53 -r tomcat
  3. Create the tomcat user in the tomcat user group:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    # useradd -c "tomcat" -u 53 -g tomcat -s /sbin/nologin -r tomcat

The preceding commands set both the UID and the GID to 53. If you subsequently want to change the UID and GID values, see Changing the UID and GID for the tomcat user and group.

2.4.3. Granting the Tomcat user access to JBoss Web Server

Before you run JBoss Web Server from the command line for the first time, you must grant the tomcat user access to JBoss Web Server by assigning ownership of the Tomcat directories to the tomcat user.

Note

You must perform all steps in this procedure as the root user.

Procedure

  1. Go to the JWS_HOME directory.
  2. Assign ownership of the Tomcat directories to the tomcat user:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    # chown -R tomcat:tomcat tomcat/
  3. Ensure that the tomcat user has execute permissions for all parent directories:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    # chmod -R u+X tomcat/

Verification

  • Verify that the tomcat user is the owner of the directory:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    # ls -l

2.5. Starting JBoss Web Server from the command line when installed from an archive file

When you install JBoss Web Server from an archive file on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, you can start JBoss Web Server directly from the command line.

Procedure

  • Enter the following command as the tomcat user:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    $ sh JWS_HOME/tomcat/bin/startup.sh

2.6. Stopping JBoss Web Server from the command line when installed from an archive file

When you install JBoss Web Server from an archive file on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, you can stop JBoss Web Server directly from the command line.

Procedure

  • Enter the following command as the tomcat user:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    $ sh JWS_HOME/tomcat/bin/shutdown.sh

2.7. SELinux policies for JBoss Web Server

You can use Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux) policies to define access controls for JBoss Web Server. These policies are a set of rules that determine access rights to the product.

2.7.1. SELinux policy information for jws5-tomcat

The SELinux security model is enforced by the kernel and ensures that applications have limited access to resources such as file system locations and ports. SELinux policies ensure that any errant processes that are compromised or poorly configured are restricted or prevented from running.

The jws5-tomcat-selinux packages in your JBoss Web Server installation provide a jws5_tomcat policy. The following table contains information about the supplied SELinux policy.

Table 2.1. RPMs and default SELinux policies
NamePort InformationPolicy Information

jws5_tomcat

Four ports in http_port_t (TCP ports 8080, 8005, 8009, and 8443) to allow the tomcat process to use them

The jws5_tomcat policy is installed, which sets the appropriate SELinux domain for the process when Tomcat executes. It also sets the appropriate contexts to allow Tomcat to write to the following directories:

  • /var/opt/rh/jws5/lib/tomcat
  • /var/opt/rh/jws5/log/tomcat
  • /var/opt/rh/jws5/cache/tomcat
  • /var/opt/rh/jws5/run/tomcat.pid

Additional resources

2.7.2. Installing SELinux policies for a JBoss Web Server archive installation

In this release, the archive packages provide SELinux policies. The tomcat folder of the jws-5.7.0-application-server-<platform>-<architecture>.zip archive includes the .postinstall.selinux file. If required, you can run the .postinstall.selinux script.

Procedure

  1. Install the selinux-policy-devel package:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    yum install -y selinux-policy-devel
  2. Run the .postinstall.selinux script:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    cd <JWS_home>/tomcat/
    sh .postinstall.selinux
  3. Add access permissions to the required ports for JBoss Web Server:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    semanage port -a -t http_port_t -p tcp <port>
    Note

    The JBoss Web Server has access to ports 8080, 8009, 8443 and 8005 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems.

    When additional ports are required for JBoss Web Server, use the preceding semanage command to provide the necessary permissions, and replace <port> with the required port.

  4. Start Tomcat:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    <JWS_home>/tomcat/bin/startup.sh
  5. Check the context of the running process expecting jws5_tomcat:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    ps -eo pid,user,label,args | grep jws5_tomcat | head -n1
  6. Verify the contexts of the Tomcat directories. For example:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    ls -lZ <JWS_home>/tomcat/logs/
Note

By default, the SElinux policy that JBoss Web Server provides is not active and the Tomcat processes run in the unconfined_java_t domain. This domain does not confine the processes.

If you choose not to enable the SELinux policy that is provided, you can take the following security measures:

  • Restrict file access for the tomcat user, so that the tomcat user only has access to the files and directories that are necessary for the JBoss Web Server runtime.
  • Do not run Tomcat as the root user.
Note

When JBoss Web Server is installed from an archive file, Red Hat does not officially support the use of network file sharing (NFS). If you want your JBoss Web Server installation to use an NFS-mounted file system, you are responsible for ensuring that SELinux policies are modified correctly to support this type of deployment.

2.8. Changing the UID and GID for the tomcat user and group

On Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the user identifer (UID) for the tomcat user and the group identifier (GID) for the tomcat group both have a reserved value of 53. Depending on your setup requirements, you can change the UID and GID for the tomcat user and group to some other value.

Warning

To avoid SELinux conflicts, use UID and GID values that are less than 500. If SELinux is set to enforcing mode, UID and GID values greater than 500 might cause unexpected issues.

Procedure

  1. If JBoss Web Server is already running, stop JBoss Web Server as the tomcat user. For more information, see Stopping JBoss Web Server from the command line when installed from an archive file.
  2. To view the current UID and GID for the tomcat user and group, enter the following command as the root user:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    id tomcat

    The preceding command displays the user account and group details. For example:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    uid=53(tomcat) gid=53(tomcat) groups=53(tomcat)
  3. To assign a new GID to the tomcat group, enter the following command as the root user:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    groupmod -g <new_gid> tomcat

    For example:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    groupmod -g 410 tomcat
  4. To assign a new UID to the tomcat user, enter the following command as the root user:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    usermod -u <new_uid> -g <new_gid> tomcat

    For example:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    usermod -u 401 -g 410 tomcat
  5. To reassign file and directory permissions to the new UID, enter the following command as the root user:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    # find / -not -path '/proc*' -uid <original_uid> | perl -e '$ug = @ARGV[0]; foreach $fn (<STDIN>) { chomp($fn);$m = (stat($fn))[2];chown($ug,-1,$fn);chmod($m,$fn)}' <new_uid>

    In the preceding command, replace <original_uid> with the old UID and replace <new_uid> with the new UID. For example, to reassign file and directory permissions from UID 53 to UID 401, enter the following command:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    # find / -not -path '/proc*' -uid 53 | perl -e '$ug = @ARGV[0]; foreach $fn (<STDIN>) { chomp($fn);$m = (stat($fn))[2];chown($ug,-1,$fn);chmod($m,$fn)}' 401
  6. To reassign file and directory permissions to the new GID, enter the following command as the root user:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    # find / -not -path '/proc*' -gid <original_gid> | perl -e '$ug = @ARGV[0]; foreach $fn (<STDIN>) { chomp($fn);$m = (stat($fn))[2];chown(-1,$ug,$fn);chmod($m,$fn)}' <new_gid>

    In the preceding command, replace <original_gid> with the old GID and replace <new_gid> with the new GID. For example, to reassign file and directory permissions from GID 53 to GID 410, enter the following command:

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
    # find / -not -path '/proc*' -gid 53 | perl -e '$ug = @ARGV[0]; foreach $fn (<STDIN>) { chomp($fn);$m = (stat($fn))[2];chown(-1,$ug,$fn);chmod($m,$fn)}' 410
  7. To restart JBoss Web Server as the tomcat user, see Starting JBoss Web Server from the command line when installed from an archive file.
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