Server Side Java

mod_jserv

What is mod_jserv

Quoting java.apache.org

Apache JServ is a 100% pure Java servlet engine fully compliant with the JavaSoft Java Servlet APIs 2.0 specification. Since we believe in the great value complete portability between different servlet platforms, together with portability of Java binary code, we worked very close with JavaSoft and other JVM implementers to provide correct interpretations or Java specifications both for servlets and for the Java language itself.

From the authors point of view:

mod_jserv is very comfortable to maintain

Unfortunately mod_jserv is no longer actively developed, only bugfixes if bugs where found. Tomcat is the successor of mod_jserv As soon as the author gets enough time and experience with Tomcat he will extend this HOWTO.

JSDK2.0 is out of Date too. It is needed for mod_jserv only.

Prerequisites

JSDK 2.0 (mod_jserv req.)

What is JSDK

It is the API from Sun Microsystems for developing Servlets

Building and installing

Since JSDK is closed source there is nothing to build.

Notice: The filename “jsdk20-solaris2-sparc.tar.Z” suggests to be a binary for sparc platform -> ignore it, it will work on all platforms


cd /usr/local/ 

uncompress jsdk20-solaris2-sparc.tar.Z
tar -xvf jsdk20-solaris2-sparc.tar

Building and installing


cd /usr/local

tar -xvzf ApacheJServ-1.1.2.tar.gz
cd ApacheJServ-1.1.2

./configure \
--prefix=/usr/local/jserv \
--with-apxs=/usr/local/apache/bin/apxs \
--with-JSDK=/usr/local/JSDK2.0 \
--enable-EAPI \

make
make install

It is important to use flag --enable-EAPI if apache is compiled with mod_ssl!

jakarta-tomcat

What is Tomcat

Quoting jakarta.apache.org

Tomcat is the servlet container that is used in the official Reference Implementation for the Java Servlet and JavaServer Pages technologies. The Java Servlet and JavaServer Pages specifications are developed by Sun under the Java Community Process.

From the authors point of view:

Tomcat is the successor of jserv which is no longer developed. Tomcat supports the latest jsp and servlet-APIs defined by sun. Unfortunately Tomcat is very difficult to build from source, because it is using its own building-system called "ant". There is also a very long list of prerequisites if you want to build from source. See http://jakarta.apache.org/tomcat/tomcat-4.0-doc/BUILDING.txt for more details - Good luck, and give some feedback to the author.

In the meantime the HOWTO is providing some basic support for Tomcat installed from binaries.

The Author is searching for some volunteers who tries to build Tomcat from source and tells what steps are required

Prerequisites

Java2

What is Java2>

Quoting java.sun.com

Too much for this HOWTO, please see http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/docs/relnotes/features.html

Download the binaries

Go to http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/ ,choose your platform and follow the steps on the site.

Installing the binaries

Execute the binary:

chmod +x j2sdk-1_3_1_02-linux-i386.bin

./2sdk-1_3_1_02-linux-i386.bin

Notice: There is a newer version of java available, if you do not care about possible instability you can downloads version 1.4.0

After accepting the license, unpack the stuff and move the resulting directory to "/usr/lib"

Installing the binaries


cd /usr/local

tar -xvzf jakarta-tomcat-4.0.3.tar.gz

cd jakarta-tomcat-4.0.3

cd bin

rm *.bat

echo export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/java/ >> /etc/profile
. /etc/profile

Now you should be able to startup tomcat:

/usr/local/apache/jakarta-tomcat-4.0.3/bin/startup.sh

You should now be able to connect to: http://localhost:8080/index.html

For the further steps like installing your servlets and jsp-files, you are responsible by yourself...

Notice: Since the author is NOT a Java-Programmer he will not be able to help you with Java-Problems! The author is an experienced Sysadmin and could you give some hints: Be sure your CLASSPATH Variable is set right. This is the most common error done. Have fun, and as mentioned above, the author welcomes some feedback to be able to provide more information to the community.