Integration into an external web server

An embedded Tomcat webserver is used in the FirstSpirit server by default as the HTTP server and servlet engine since version . Until version , Jetty (“Jetty Web Server”) has been used.

However, both are not suitable for productive operation and should only be used for testing: on the one hand, they run within the same JavaVM as the FirstSpirit server. On the other hand, complex deployment scenarios, such as use in a reverse proxy scenario, are not supported. In addition, usages of e.g. of PHP or ASP in FirstSpirit projects cannot be evaluated. Instead, an Apache Tomcat should be used as an external web server.

The use of the Apache HTTP server in combination with PHP is described in the following. Other web servers can be integrated using the same principle, as long as they allow forwarding to the servlet engine via HTTP or AJP.

Another configuration option is to balance the load across multiple servlet engines (see balancing on multiple servlet engines).

From FirstSpirit Version 5.2, all internal connections to FirstSpirit servers can be authenticated (for information on the concept, see Authentication of all internal connections to the FirstSpirit server). If the preconfigured standard password is deactivated, an app password must also be provided when configuring the external web server (for information on configuration, see Configuring app passwords in web applications and servlets).

Note about the start order: In order to best ensure a successful start of external web server, FirstSpirit server, and FirstSpirit web applications, the external web server should be started first and the FirstSpirit server afterwards. Background: The external web server (e.g. Apache Tomcat) waits up to 5 minutes for a connection to the FirstSpirit server. The FirstSpirit server can be started within this time interval. The external web server checks every 10 seconds if a connection to the FirstSpirit server can be established. As soon as such a connection is established, the FirstSpirit web applications automatically connect to the server. Moreover, this allows the FirstSpirit server to ensure installation of any necessary web application updates because the external web server has already been started at this time.