1. The App Server, Web Server and Everything in Between
Hari Krishna Kallae, Adobe
Immanuel Noel, Adobe
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.

2. ColdFusion
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
And
Tomcat
Agenda
ColdFusion and Tomcat
 Request flow in Built-in Webserver
 Modifications to the Bundled Tomcat
 ColdFusion updates
 Configuration Tweaks
Web Servers and Connectors
 Apache
 IIS
 Other Web Servers
2

3. ColdFusion
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
And
Tomcat
Agenda
ColdFusion and Tomcat
 Request flow in Built-in Webserver
 Modifications to the Bundled Tomcat
 ColdFusion updates
 Configuration Tweaks
Web Servers and Connectors
 Apache
 IIS
 Other Web Servers
3

4. ColdFusion and Tomcat
ColdFusion 9 ColdFusion 10+
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential. 4

5. Request Flow in the Built-In WebServer
Request 1 Request 2
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
Tomcat – The Built in Web Server
ColdFusion
5
Request 3
server.xm
l
web.xml

6. Modifications to the bundled Tomcat
 Directory Structure
 CGI scope variables support
 SES (Search Engine Safe) URL support
 Session replication in cluster
 Multiple webroot support
 Output buffer size
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
6

7. Modifications to the bundled Tomcat: Directory Structure
Directory structure matches earlier versions
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7
Exceptions:
 “Instance” replaces “Multi-Server”
 Server.xml replaces jrun.xml
 JRE isolated from instances, to enable common access across instances
 Connector specific files isolated from the core server

8. Modifications to the bundled Tomcat: CGI scope variables
Many CGI scopes were not supported as Tomcat did not
had a way to query the webserver
AUTH_TYPE
CERT_FLAGS
CGI Scope
HTTP_COOKIE
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AUTH_PASSWORD
HTTP_CONNECTION
SERVER_PORT
HTTPS_SERVER_SUBJECT
SERVER_NAM
E
CERT_COOKIE
HTTPS_SECRETKEYSIZE

9. Modifications to the bundled Tomcat: SES URL Support
http://domain.com/index.cfm/about/contact/
ColdFusion Page: index.cfm
CGI.PATH_INFO: /about/contact/
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10. Modifications to the bundled Tomcat: Session Replication in Cluster
Session replication
Instance 1 Instance 2 Instance 3
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
Sticky session
Session replication
Cluster
10
Sticky session

11. Modifications to the bundled Tomcat: Multiple webroot support
Request 1 Request 2
Tomcat
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Request 3
ColdFusion
File
exists in
CF
webroot
Yes
No
External Web Server

12. Modifications to the bundled Tomcat: Output buffer size
 Vanilla Tomcat connector performance was low due to limitations
in Output buffer size
 Tomcat connector (AJP) was built to work with 8kb packet size
data
 In ColdFusion the Output buffer size was increased to 64kb in AJP
which shown a 15% increase in the performance
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
12

13. Update to ColdFusion in October 2014
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13
ColdFusion 10
Tomcat upgraded to 7.0.54
Connector upgraded to
1.2.40
Apache 2.4 Support
ColdFusion 9, 9.0.1, 9.0.2
Security fixes
ColdFusion 10
JDK 8 Support, Security fixes, 60+ bug
fixes
ColdFusion 11
Security fixes

14. Configuration Tweaks
Server.xml
Web.xml
Logging
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15. Server.xml: Web Server Configuration
<!-- internal webserver start -->
<Connector port="8500" protocol="HTTP/11"
connectionTimeout="20000"
redirectPort="8447" />
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15
<!-- internal webserver end -->
<!-- begin connector -->
<Connector port="8014" protocol="AJP/13"
redirectPort="8447" tomcatAuthentication="false" />
<!-- end connector -->

16. Server.xml: Default Webroot
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<Context path="/"
docBase="<cf_home>wwwroot"
WorkDir="<cf_home>runtimeconfCatalinalocalhosttmp">
</Context>
 Do not forget to copy CFIDE and WEB-INF folders present in
<cf_home>cfusionwwwroot to the new webroot folder

17. Server.xml: Virtual Directory
To add a virtual directory, uncomment context tag in server.xml
<Context path="/"
docBase="<cf_home>wwwroot"
WorkDir="<cf_home>runtimeconfCatalinalocalhosttmp"
aliases="/myWebroot=C:newwebrootVD“ >
</Context>
Multiple virtual directories can be created with aliases
aliases=“/aliasPath1=docBase1,/aliasPath2=docBase2”
Do not forget to copy WEB-INF folder present in
<cf_home>cfusionwwwroot to the new webroot folder
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
17
Virtual
Directo
ry

18. Web.xml: Directory Browsing
C:ColdFusion11cfusionruntimeconfweb.xml
<servlet>
<servlet-name>default</servlet-name>
<servlet-class> org.apache.catalina.servlets.DefaultServlet
</servlet-class>
<init-param>
<param-name>listings</param-name>
<param-value>false</param-value>
</init-param>
<load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup>
</servlet>
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
18

19. Logging
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
19

20. C:ColdFusion11cfusionlibNeo-logging.xml
 maxOutLogSize – Log file size
 maxOutFileBackup – Number of Archives
By default ColdFusion uses “MM/dd/yy” format If you wish to change it, you can do
it by changing the columns and patterns to any standard date format
<var name='pattern'>
<string>"%p","%t",%d{"MM/dd/yy","HH:mm:ss"},%a,"%m%x"%n</string>
</var>
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
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Logging

21. © 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
Demo

22. Summary
Modifications to the Tomcat Web Server
ColdFusion Updates
Configuration Tweaks
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
22

23. Revisiting the Agenda…
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
Web
Servers
And
Connectors
ColdFusion and Tomcat
Request flow in Built-in Webserver
Modifications to the Bundled Tomcat
ColdFusion Updates
Configuration Tweaks
Web Servers and Connectors
Apache
IIS
Other Web Servers
23

24. Web Servers & Connectors
ColdFusion + Tomcat
Apache
HTTPD
Web Server
Connector
Internet
Information
Services
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential. 24
Other Web
Servers

25. Connector
ColdFusion + Tomcat
A connection between the ColdFusion server and webservers
Built separately for 14 different configurations
Apache
HTTPD
Web Server
Connector
Internet
Information
Services
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential. 25
Other Web
Servers
Source Available

26. WsConfig Tool
ColdFusion + Tomcat
Apache
HTTPD
Web Server
Connector (WSConfig tool)
Internet
Information
Services
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential. 26
Other Web
Servers

27. The Web Server Configuration Tool
-ws apache
–dir <Apache>/conf/
-bin <Apache>/bin/httpd
–script <Apache>/bin/apachectl
cluster ColdFusion Cluster Name
host IP of the remote ColdFusion server
norestart Avoid restarting the web server
ws32 Configuring a 32bit webserver on a 64bit machine
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27
Independent of
the webserver
WsConfig Parameters:
<cfusion>/runtime/bin/wsconfig
-ws iis
–site All / <Site Name>

28. Web Servers & Connectors
ColdFusion + Tomcat
Apache
HTTPD
Web Server
Connector (WSConfig tool)
Internet
Information
Services
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential. 28
Other Web
Servers

29. The Apache Connector
Apache 2.4 support for CF 10
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
Demo
Setting up the Connector
Modified Apache Configurations
Connector Configurations
29

30. The Apache Connector: Ubuntu
Ubuntu distributes a customized version of Apache
And does a few things differently
./wsconfig –ws apache
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
–dir /etc/apache2
–bin /usr/sbin/apache2ctl
–script /usr/sbin/apache2ctl
./apache2ctl needs to be specified as the Apache Binary
30
Optional

31. Web Servers & Connectors
ColdFusion + Tomcat
Apache
HTTPD
Web Server
Connector (WSConfig tool)
Internet
Information
Services
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential. 31
Other Web
Servers

32. The IIS Connector
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
Demo
Setting up the Connector
Modified IIS Configurations
Connector Configurations
32

33. Configuring with IIS: Tuning
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
1. Connection Pool Size
2. Reuse Connections (max_reuse_connections)
3. Connection Pool Timeout
Values need to specified in server.xml, in addition
to worker.properties
33
The Big
3
worker.properties

34. Web Servers & Connectors
ColdFusion + Tomcat
Apache
HTTPD
Web Server
Connector
Internet
Information
Services
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential. 34
Other Web
Servers

35. Other Configuration Mechanisms
Boncode
An IIS Connector, built by Bilal Soylu
NGinX
A hack
Read: Not (yet) supported by Adobe
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Web Server Market Share
Source: Netcraft
Apache IIS NginX

36. Other Configuration Mechanisms: Boncode
Boncode or ColdFusion Connector - A matter of
Uses the AJP protocol, opposed to the ISAPI route that
ColdFusion connector takes
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
An IIS Connector
preference
36

37. Other Configuration Mechanisms: NginX
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
NginX
37
ColdFusion
Source: Wikipedia

38. References
Connector Source
http://helpx.adobe.com/coldfusion/kb/rhel-connector-configuration.html
IIS Connector Tuning
http://blogs.coldfusion.com/post.cfm/coldfusion-11-iis-connector-tuning
Removing Connectors Manually
http://blog.immanuelnoel.com/2014/07/17/coldfusion-11-manually-remove-connector-configuration/
IIS Boncode Connector
http://boncode.net/connector/webdocs/Tomcat_Connector.htm#_Toc399840617
NginX Reverse Proxy
http://nginx.com/resources/admin-guide/reverse-proxy/
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39. Summary
Modifications to the Tomcat Web Server
Configuration Tweaks
Configuration Internals with Apache and IIS
Configuring with NginX and with Boncode
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
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40. QUESTIONS ?
© 2014 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
Harikrishna Kallae
http://hkallae.wordpress.com
Twitter: @hkallae
Immanuel Noel
http://blog.immanuelnoel.com
Twitter: @ImmanuelNoel