Integration of APEX, ORDS, Tomcat, and Apache HTTP Server (APEXOTA)

Part 3 - Configurations

Configure Tomcat 9

• Create new Tomcat service

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  cd C:\APEXOTA\tomcat9\bin
  C:\APEXOTA\tomcat9\bin>service.bat install tomcat9
  
  Installing the service 'tomcat9' ...
  Using CATALINA_HOME:    "C:\APEXOTA\tomcat9"
  Using CATALINA_BASE:    "C:\APEXOTA\tomcat9"
  Using JAVA_HOME:        "C:\APEXOTA\jre21"
  Using JRE_HOME:         "C:\APEXOTA\jre21"
  Using JVM:              "C:\APEXOTA\jre21\bin\server\jvm.dll"
  The service 'tomcat9' has been installed.
  

• Modify the Connector block in Tomcat C:\APEXOTA\tomcat9\conf\server.xml:

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  <Connector port="8080" protocol="HTTP/1.1"
         connectionTimeout="20000"
         address="127.0.0.1"
         maxParameterCount="1000"/>
  

  • This change allows that only localhost (127.0.0.1) can access the service through port 8080. In the next section we'll make the configuration of redirecting all tomcat traffic to Apache Server through proxy.

  • Add Context docBase under Host node for the APEX static file url /i/ alias:

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  <Host name="localhost"  appBase="webapps" unpackWARs="true" autoDeploy="true">
      ...
    <Context docBase="C:/APEXOTA/apex/images/" path="/i/" />
  </Host>
  

• Start tomcat9 services

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  C:\APEXOTA\tomcat9\bin>net start tomcat9
  
  The Apache Tomcat 9.0 tomcat9 service is starting.
  The Apache Tomcat 9.0 tomcat9 service was started successfully.
  

  • Open any browser to http://localhost:8080/apex

  • It will go to the landing page for using the first time. Enter FREEPDB1 in Oracle APEX box and click Go

• In the login page, use this info to sign in

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  WORKSPACE = INTERNAL
  USERNAME = admin
  PASSWORD = Welcome!23
  

  

•  

• Make sure everything looks fine. Then stop the Tomcat 9 service.

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C:\APEXOTA\tomcat9\bin>net stop tomcat9
The Apache Tomcat 9.0 tomcat9 service is stopping.
The Apache Tomcat 9.0 tomcat9 service was stopped successfully.

• Remove or comment out the Context docBase. The static file serving will be handled by Apache in the next part.

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    <Host name="localhost"  appBase="webapps" unpackWARs="true" autoDeploy="true">
        ...
   <!-- <Context docBase="C:/APEXOTA/apex/images/" path="/i/" /> -->
    </Host>
  

Configure Apache 2.4

• Change the config file C:\APEXOTA\Apache24\conf\httpd.conf

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  ServerName xxx.yyy.zzz:80 (your server nmame)
  ServerRoot "C:/APEXOTA/Apache24" (Change to correct path)
  DocumentRoot "C:/APEXOTA/Apache24/htdocs" (Change to correct path)
  <Directory "C:/APEXOTA/Apache24/htdocs"> (Change to correct path)
  LoadModule proxy_module modules/mod_proxy.so  (uncomment it)
  LoadModule proxy_http_module modules/mod_proxy_http.so (uncomment it)
  

• Add proxy settings that the web traffic from URL Path apex is redirected to Tomcat

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  <Location "/apex/">
    ProxyPreserveHost On
    ProxyPass "http://127.0.0.1:8080/apex/"
    ProxyPassReverse "http://127.0.0.1:8080/apex/"
  </Location>
  

   

• Create Apache HTTP Windows Service. Start Tomcat9 again and then Apache Server service

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  C:\APEXOTA\apache24\bin>httpd.exe -k install
  Installing the 'Apache2.4' service
  The 'Apache2.4' service is successfully installed.
  Testing httpd.conf....
  Errors reported here must be corrected before the service can be started.
  
  C:\APEXOTA\apache24\bin>net start Tomcat9
  The Apache Tomcat 9.0 tomcat9 service is starting.
  The Apache Tomcat 9.0 tomcat9 service was started successfully.
  
  C:\APEXOTA\apache24\bin>net start Apache2.4
  The Apache2.4 service is starting.
  The Apache2.4 service was started successfully.
  

• open URL http://localhost/apex/ . You should able to log on the APEX internal workspace again.

Configure Apache 2.4 to use SSL

• For this server, create a private key file (server.pem) and generate a certificate singing request for this server. Get this request signed by a trusted certificate authority and save this certificate as server.crt.

• Create folder ssl under C:\APEXOTA\apache24\conf. Put these 2 files to this folder.

• Change httpd.conf for SSL configuration:

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    #Listen 80  <-- comment out
    Listen 443
    
    LoadModule ssl_module modules/mod_ssl.so (uncomment it)
    
    <VirtualHost [outgoing ip address]:443>
      ServerName [your server name]
      SSLEngine on
      SSLCertificateFile    C:/APEXOTA/apache24/conf/ssl/server.crt
      SSLCertificateKeyFile C:/APEXOTA/apache24/conf/ssl/server.pem
    </VirtualHost>
  

• The Apache is https, but the proxy to Tomcat is http. So we need to add an option in C:\APEXOTA\ords\bin\global\settings.xml:

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    <entry key="security.externalSessionTrustedOrigins">http://[server name],https://[server name]</entry>
  

  • Without this directive you will get The request cannot be processed because this resource does not support Cross Origin Sharing requests error.

• Restart Apache Server. Change the URL to https://[servername]/apex/.

• In this FREE technology stack, you can integrate these applications through different services:

  • APEX application backed by Oracle database

  • Servlet webapp (e.g. Springboot) hosted in Tomcat

  • Angular frontend served by Apache http server.

  • Add a PHP CMS site (e.g. Wordpress, Joomla) under Apache http server using the mod_php module

  • ORDS provides REST API to give or receive JSON data to different components

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