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Configuring Kinetic Task to Run in an IIS/Tomcat Web Environment

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There are many different web servers out there and just as many different ways to configure a web environment.  One such configuration is running an Apache Tomcat instance behind Microsoft’s IIS Web Server.  IIS is the default web server on a Windows server and runs on port 80.  Requests made to this webserver where the port number is omitted are automatically routed to IIS as long as the service is running.  A Tomcat instance will run on a different port, such as 8080.  Requests for web applications running in the Tomcat instance must include its port number. When IIS is configured to handle requests for a Tomcat instance, port numbers are no longer required.  This is accomplished by configuring the Apache Tomcat Connector extension.  In order to have Kinetic Task run in this manner there needs to be a modification or two to the Tomcat Connector configuration files.  The following article describes how to make these changes.

Details

 

*Note:  This article assumes that you already have the Apache Tomcat Connector configured and that your IIS/Tomcat environment is running properly.  If you need assistance in getting this part set up before moving on, please see the “How To” page here on the Apache website.

 

The Apache Connector uses two files that we are concerned with when configuring Kinetic Request to work in this environment.  Both files should be located in the <tomcat_home>/conf  directory.  The files are:

  • workers.properties - holds the definition of a Tomcat worker.  If your system is already up and running, the chances are you may not have to modify this file
  • uriworkermap.properties - holds rules that handle the forwarding of requests by IIS to Tomcat.  This file will need to be modified

 

The first thing you need to do is open the uriworkermap.properties file.  Inside you should see some lines like this:

/admin/*=wlb

/manager/*=wlb

/examples/*=wlb

/arsys/*=wlb

The word between the two forward slashes represents a web application’s context, such as mid-tier’s “arsys” context.  The asterisk (*) following the second forward slash is saying that anything after that context uses this mapping.  The “wlb” is the part that tells the Apache Connector which Tomcat worker to use.  In the case of the above examples, “wlb” is the name of worker defined in the workers.properties file.


The easiest way to configure Kinetic Task to work in this environment is to add a line to this file that includes the “kineticTask” context and sets it to use the worker that the other apps are using. This assumes that your IIS instance is front-ending a single Tomcat instance and that you have installed Kinetic Task in that instance.  Using the “wlb” worker from the above examples, the Kinetic Task context line would be:

/kineticTask/*=wlb

 

If your environment has one IIS server front-ending multiple Tomcat instances, or your company standards are to use a different Tomcat worker for each application, you will need to open up the workers.properties file and verify that the worker you chose is the correct one.  You have chosen the correct one if the worker’s 'type' is "ajp13" and its 'host' and 'port' values point to the Tomcat instance that Kinetic Task is installed in.  If not, you will need to define a new worker using these credentials.  Information on how to define workers can be found here on Apache’s website.

 

Once the uriworkermap.properties file has been updated (along with the workers.properties file if necessary) you are done.  Test to see if everything is working by opening a web browser and pointing it to http://<you_webserver>/kineticTask/.  If everything is setup correctly you should see the Kinetic Powered Welcome page.