Using Apache with mod_proxy

This page describes how to integrate Confluence into an Apache website, using mod_proxy.

The content on this page relates to platforms which are not supported for Confluence. Consequently, Atlassian can not guarantee providing any support for it. Please be aware that this material is provided for your information only and using it is done so at your own risk.

There are some common situations where you might do this:

You have an existing Apache-based website, and want to add Confluence to the mix (eg. http://www.example.com/confluence).
You have two or more Java applications, each running in their own application server on different ports, eg. http://localhost:8080/confluence and http://localhost:8081/jira. By setting up Apache with mod_proxy, you can have both available on the regular HTTP port (80), eg. at http://www.example.com/confluence and http://www.example.com/jira. If you are running JIRA and Confluence, we recommend this setup. It allows each app to be restarted, managed and debugged separately.

This page describes how to configure mod_proxy. We describe two options:

If you want a URL like http://www.example.com/confluence/, go to the simple configuration.
If you want a URL like http://confluence.example.com/, go to the complex configuration.

Simple configuration

Set the context path

First, set your Confluence application path (the part after hostname and port) correctly. Say you want Confluence available at http://www.example.com/confluence/, and you currently have it running at http://localhost:8080/. The first step is to get Confluence available at http://localhost:8080/confluence/.

To do this in Tomcat (bundled with Confluence), edit conf/server.xml, locate the "Context" definition:

<Context path="" docBase="../confluence" debug="0" reloadable="true">

and change it to:

<Context path="/confluence" docBase="../confluence" debug="0" reloadable="true">

Then restart Confluence, and ensure you can access it at http://localhost:8080/confluence/

Configure mod_proxy

Now enable mod_proxy in Apache, and proxy requests to the application server by adding the example below to your Apache httpd.conf (note: the files may be different on your system; the JIRA docs describe the process for Ubuntu/Debian layout):

# Put this after the other LoadModule directives
LoadModule proxy_module /usr/lib/apache2/modules/mod_proxy.so
LoadModule proxy_http_module /usr/lib/apache2/modules/mod_proxy_http.so

# Put this in the main section of your configuration (or desired virtual host, if using Apache virtual hosts)
ProxyRequests Off
ProxyPreserveHost On

<Proxy *>
    Order deny,allow
    Allow from all
</Proxy>

ProxyPass /confluence http://localhost:8080/confluence
ProxyPassReverse /confluence http://localhost:8080/confluence
<Location /confluence>
    Order allow,deny
    Allow from all
</Location>

Note to Windows Users

Set the URL for redirection

You will need to modify the server.xml file in your tomcat's conf directory and set the URL for redirection.

Locate this code segment

    <Connector port="8080" maxHttpHeaderSize="8192"
               maxThreads="150" minSpareThreads="25" maxSpareThreads="75"
               enableLookups="false" redirectPort="8443" acceptCount="100"
               connectionTimeout="20000" disableUploadTimeout="true" />

And append the following segment:

    <Connector port="8080" maxHttpHeaderSize="8192"
               maxThreads="150" minSpareThreads="25" maxSpareThreads="75"
               enableLookups="false" redirectPort="8443" acceptCount="100"
               connectionTimeout="20000" disableUploadTimeout="true"
               proxyName="www.example.com" proxyPort="80"/>

Replace www.example.com with the URL you wish to be redirected to.

Complex configuration

A complex configuration involves using the mod_proxy_html filter to modify the proxied content en-route. This is required if the Confluence path differs between Apache and the application server. For example:

Externally accessible (Apache) URL	http://confluence.example.com/
Application server URL	http://app-server.internal.example.com:8080/confluence/

Notice that the application path in the URL is different in each. On Apache, the path is /, and on the application server the path is /confluence.

For this configuration, you need to install the mod_proxy_html module, which is not included in the standard Apache distribution.

Alternative solutions are discussed below.

# Put this after the other LoadModule directives
LoadModule proxy_module modules/mod_proxy.so
LoadModule proxy_http_module modules/mod_proxy_http.so
LoadModule proxy_html_module modules/mod_proxy_html.so

<VirtualHost *>
    ServerName confluence.example.com
    
    # Put this in the main section of your configuration (or desired virtual host, if using Apache virtual hosts)
    ProxyRequests Off
    ProxyPreserveHost On

    <Proxy *>
        Order deny,allow
        Allow from all
    </Proxy>
    
    ProxyPass / http://app-server.internal.example.com:8080/confluence
    ProxyPassReverse / http://app-server.internal.example.com:8080/confluence
    
    ProxyHTMLURLMap / /confluence/
    
    <Location />
        Order allow,deny
        Allow from all
    </Location>
</VirtualHost>

The ProxyHTMLURLMap configuration can become more complex if you have multiple applications running under this configuration. The mapping should also be placed in a Location block if the web server URL is a subdirectory and not on a virtual host. The Apache Week tutorial has more information how to do this.

Adding SSL

If you're running Apache in front of Tomcat, it's a good idea to terminate your SSL configuration at Apache, then forward the requests to Tomcat over HTTP. You can set up Apache to terminate the SSL connection and use the ProxyPass and ProxyPassReverse directives to pass the connection through to Tomcat (or the appropriate application server) which is running Confluence.

Create a new SSL host by creating a virtual host on 443
The standard http connection on apache could be used to redirect to https if you want or it could just be firewalled.
Within the VirtualHost definition:
1. define the SSL options (SSLEngin and SSLCertificateFile)
2. define the ProxyPass and ProxyPassReverse directives to pass through to Tomcat.

Because of how the ProxyPass and ProxyPassReverse directives work, you should not need to modify the tomcat installation at all.

Most of the relevant Apache Config:


Listen 443

NameVirtualHost *:443
<VirtualHost *:443>
    SSLEngine On
    SSLCertificateFile /etc/apache2/ssl/apache.pem
    ProxyPass / http://localhost:8080/
    ProxyPassReverse / http://localhost:8080/
</VirtualHost>

More information

The mod_proxy_html site has documentation and examples on the use of this module in the complex configuration.
Apache Week has a tutorial that deals with a complex situation involving two applications and ProxyHTMLURLMap.
Using Apache with virtual hosts and mod_proxy shows how to configure the special case where you want JIRA and Confluence running on separate application servers on virtual host subdomains.

Alternatives

If Tomcat is your application server, you have two options:

use mod_jk to send the requests to Tomcat
use Tomcat's virtual hosts to make your Confluence application directory the same on the app server and the web server, removing the need for the URL mapping.

If your application server has an AJP connector, you can:

use mod_jk to send the requests to your application server.

All Versions

Confluence 3.1 Documentation

Using Apache with mod_proxy

Simple configuration

Set the context path

Configure mod_proxy

Set the URL for redirection

Complex configuration

Adding SSL

More information

Alternatives

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Table of Contents

Description

Getting the correct modules for apache

Proxying requests

Correcting the HTML

Fixing cookies

Summary

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