This too shall pass.
A post over at TechCrunch pretty much sums up my feeling of the music industry today. Things have gotten completely ridiculous, with the RIAA now suing their customer base, strongarming them into settling out of court, and doing all of this based on IP addresses, for crying out loud.
People want music the way it should be – free and good! When will they understand that?
After managing to get Tomcat5.5 working with Apache2 using mod_jk, my next venture was to enable SSL using a self-signed certificate in Tomcat. This proved to be quite a task.
The system I’m setting up is running RedHat Enterprise Linux 4.4. I installed all the official RedHat RPM’s to get Tomcat and Apache talking together with mod_jk (see Part I of this tutorial).
After 4 days of banging my head on my keyboard, I noticed that when I would run:
#java -version
It spit out this:
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build pxi32dev-20061002a (SR3) )
IBM J9 VM (build 2.3, J2RE 1.5.0 IBM J9 2.3 Linux x86-32 j9vmxi3223-20061001 (JIT enabled)
J9VM - 20060915_08260_lHdSMR
JIT - 20060908_1811_r8
GC - 20060906_AA)
JCL - 20061002
This let me know that I am supposed to be using IBM’s version of java, which apparently is the default on my RedHat system, not Sun’s version. I think somewhere along the way I downloaded Sun’s jvm, and I assumed that I was supposed to be using it’s keytool to generate an SLL certificate for Tomcat, but such is not the case. This caused me much confusion, but here’s how I ended up fixing it:
1. Generate Keystore file
(NOTE: all of this assumes you already have Apache configured with SSL. I used OpenSSL, which I don’t go into here, but there are loads of resources online for you, and it’s relatively easy to do).
Assuming you have the default RedHat java rpm already installed, run this:
# /usr/lib/jvm/java-1.5.0-ibm-1.5.0.3/jre/bin/keytool -genkey -alias tomcat -keyalg RSA
NOTE: I used Tomcat’s default password of ‘changeit’ when prompted.
The keystore file gets dropped in the home directory of whatever user you are logged in as. I was root, so I then moved the keystore file to the tomcat home directory:
# mv /root/.keystore /etc/tomcat5/
# chown tomcat.tomcat /etc/tomcat5/.keystore
2. Next you have to edit Tomcat’s server.xml file
# nano /etc/tomcat5/server.xml
Uncomment the SSL connector and set it up like so:
<!-- Define a SSL HTTP/1.1 Connector on port 8443 -->
<connector port="8443" maxHttpHeaderSize="8192"
maxThreads="150" minSpareThreads="25" maxSpareThreads="75"
enableLookups="false" disableUploadTimeout="true"
acceptCount="100" scheme="https" secure="true"
clientAuth="false" algorithm="IbmX509" sslProtocol="SSL"
keystoreFile="/etc/tomcat5/.keystore"
keystorePass="changeit" />
Note that I added algorithm=”IbmX509″ and I changed sslProtocol=”TLS” to sslProtocol=”SSL”. This is necessary to get things working with IBM’s jvm.
3. Restart everything
# service tomcat5 stop
# service tomcat5 start
# apachectl restart
If you were following along from my last article, then browse to:
https://yoursite.com:8443/hello.jsp
If all went well, you should see the hello.jsp page showing you the system time!
“An epic journey of compassion and liberty that embodies the semantic markup movement in modern web design in an unprecedented paradigm shift to right angled HTML elements.”
Truly a sight to behold. Read this article three times, for it will change your life.
I just got through setting up Tomcat5.5, Apache2, and mod_jk on a RedHat Enterprise AS4.4 machine at work. In the past, I have done this by compiling each component separately and fingling with config files until it all worked. But I wanted to stick with RedHat-approved RPM’s from the RedHat network to ease updates and patch management, and to allow the organization to have support options.
I had a lot of trouble finding any documentation on how to do this anywhere, so I thought I’d throw it out here for anyone in a similar situation in search of help.
The following are my notes, sprinkled with a little help I got from a RedHat support tech.
First, I had to enable the following channel within the RedHat Network for this system:
–Red Hat Application Server v. 2 (AS v. 4 for i386)
If you don’t have a RHEL license for updating your system, you will need one.
Once those channels were enabled, I installed the following packages using up2date at the command line:
# up2date tomcat5
# up2date tomcat5-webapps
# up2date tomcat5-admin-webapps
# up2date mod_jk-ap20
With the packages installed, I set out to configure a virtual host to pass requests to Tomcat as needed by using the mod_jk connector. The following steps explain how to do this for a web site called example.com using IP address 123.123.123.123. Substitute your domain and IP accordingly.
Step 1. – Add mod_jk to Apache
In /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf add this:
LoadModule jk_module modules/mod_jk.so
<ifmodule mod_jk.c>
JkWorkersFile "/etc/httpd/conf/workers.properties"
JkLogFile "/etc/httpd/logs/mod_jk.log"
JkLogLevel info
JkLogStampFormat "[%a %b %d %H:%M:%S %Y]"
</ifmodule>
That loads the module into Apache, tells apache where the worker is that will handle jsp/servlets, and tells Apache where to record log entries for mod_jk.
Step 2. – create a new file called /etc/httpd/conf/workers.properties and add this to it:
[channel.socket:example.com:8009]
port=8009
host=example.com
[uri:example.com/*.jsp]
worker=ajp13:example.com:8009
Step 3. Create a virtual host in /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf like so:
<virtualhost 123.123.123.123:80>
ServerAdmin webmaster@example.com
ServerName www.example.com
DocumentRoot /var/www/html
JkMount /*.jsp ajp13
JkMount /servlet/* ajp13
# Deny direct access to WEB-INF
</virtualhost>
Step 4. Set up Tomcat5 by adding this to /etc/tomcat5/server.xml just before the very last </Engine> tag at the bottom of the document:
<host name="example" appBase="/var/www/html" unpackWARs="true" autoDeploy="true">
<context path="" docBase="" debug="0" reloadable="true"/>
<alias>www.example.com</alias>
<valve className="org.apache.catalina.valves.AccessLogValve" directory="logs" prefix="web1_access_log." suffix=".txt" pattern="common" resolveHosts="false"/>
</host>
Still with me? We are almost done.
Step 6. Create a sample jsp file called /var/www/html/test.jsp and add this to it:
Time: < %= new java.util.Date() %>
Step 7. Start up the services
# apachectl start
# service tomcat5 start
Step 8. Try it!
Browse to http://www.example.com/test.jsp
If all went well, you should see the system’s current date and time when you load the web page. Congrats. Hope it works for you!
Please don’t send me Microsoft Word Documents. ‘Nuff said.
The Origami Boulder Company sells finely crafted works of art.
The 419 Eater details a hilarious scamming of the scammer in this effort to fight back against infamous Nigerian Scams (419’s).
Me and Jeremy getting mad props for Channel 18 on Mefi Music
Another Chatham family right-time-right-place newspaper appearance.
On those Interwebs, you have to know how to ask questions the smart way.
Sometimes, it’s useful to know how to snatch an expiring domain.
Another useful thing is A List of Every Website Statistic Publicly Available.
Sit back and laugh as you make your best friend talk to his/her ex boyfriend/girlfriend on the phone.
Joey’s history of bands in Louisville is good. That’s pretty much how I remember it too.
From The “That’s So Disgusting” Department
Found a rather hilarious writeup about my Fingernail and Toenail Collection today over at I Am Such a Child. The pics aren’t working on that page, but you should be able to follow along.
I was contacted by MyHeavy.com about doing a video of myself performing my toenail licking ritual and submitting it to their site. June had originally mentioned that idea a couple of months ago, and I’ve just been waiting until the moment feels right. Stay tuned.
From The Online Web Tools Department
Check out this huge list of online generators for generating things such as 3-column CSS layout and accessible forms.
From The Tooting My Own Horn Department
Someone has erected a Myspace page for Crain. Nice job of collecting stuff.
From The Crucial Apps Department
If you use multiple monitors on your PC, then you must get Multi Monitor Taskbar, a freebie tool that puts a taskbar at the bottom of your second monitor, saving you mouse mileage and window confusion. It also has a nifty clipboard memory tool built in.
It is with mixed feelings that I announce this blog post is a paid review of ReviewMe.com.
On the one hand, I enjoy writing reviews, particularly of new Internet services, and I really like the idea of being paid to hang out on the Internet all day. Heck – that’s why I started some of the other sites I have started, such as TheBestofYoutube.com. Not that I’m making much more than enough to buy a Diet Coke per day off these ventures (yet).
On the other hand, it’s pretty much a sellout when you come here to see me writing for dollars. But can you blame me? If I even do any more of these, I promise to try and keep paid posts informative and objective. OK?
I saw a review of ReviewMe and thought I’d take it for a spin. It’s basically a site that is recruiting bloggers from everywhere to register and write reviews. If you have a product or service to sell, you can use ReviewMe to start generating an instant buzz about what it is you are trying to push. It’s really a pretty ingenious idea, really, brought to life through a snazzy Web2.0-style site that is easy to use and figure out.
My first impression of the service though, is that unless you are already a well-established blog writer online, your chances of making much money from ReviewMe are pretty slim. I submitted this blog and my Dumpworthy blog but the latter got rejected by ReviewMe for not being popular enough. The irony is that Dumpworthy is a review site. Go figure.
They seem to judge worthy blogs on the amount of linkbacks, traffic, and existing posts. Not a bad idea to weed out the cruft. Still, this site only received one out of 5 stars, so I am wondering if I will ever get contacted about writing any reviews. Were this blog more targeted to technology or something, I might get a higher score.
I think the ReviewMe service will probably become wildly popular though, as it is simple and effective, and it looked like you could make at least $40 per review. This gets the gears turning in my head for starting a new site that will be more focused, and might attract more potential reviews.
Perhaps this warrants a follow up review of ReviewMe in a few months; once I see if it works out at all.
A common task I always find myself doing in Firefox is searching through my boatloads of bookmarks (1100+) for something I remember the look of, but not the name or URL of. I tend to remember things visually, so this is a common problem I run into.
I’ve looked around for a Firefox extension that would do the following, but haven’t found anything. Does anyone know of a bookmark extension that would provide the following functionality?
Yeah, so that’s probably asking quite a lot…but hey! This would be a killer extension if it did half of what I listed.
Any takers?
You probably know Internet Explorer 7 came out last week. Woohoo. Hoorah.
But did you know Firefox 2.0 comes out tomorrow??? Yeeehawww!!!
As a special treat for you dear readers of this blog, here is a secret link to grab Firefox 2.0. It’s sitting there waiting to be announced, but you can get it now!
Enjoy.
I’m ready to start taking on more web design clients now that the big push to get FriendsForFamilies.com is over.
I thought I’d take the opportunity to do a redesign of my business site, Asheville Technologies.
I spent a long time trying to come up with a sharp look that remained down-to-earth at the same time. I wanted to emphasize the way I approach web sites, working to make something unique for each client, and building it from the ground-up.
Let me know what you think!