Apache webtier

To load balance Oracle WebCenter Portal domain clusters, you can install Apache webtier and configure it for non-SSL and SSL termination access of the application URL. Follow these steps to set up Apache webtier as a load balancer for an Oracle WebCenter Portal domain in a Kubernetes cluster:

  1. Build the Apache webtier image
  2. Create the Apache plugin configuration file
  3. Prepare the certificate and private key
  4. Install the Apache webtier Helm chart
  5. Verify domain application URL access
  6. Uninstall Apache webtier

Build the Apache webtier image

To build the Apache webtier Docker image, refer to the sample.

Create the Apache plugin configuration file

  1. The configuration file named custom_mod_wl_apache.conf should have all the URL routing rules for the Oracle WebCenter Portal applications deployed in the domain that needs to be accessible externally. Update this file with values based on your environment. The file content is similar to below.
Click here to see the sample content of the configuration file custom_mod_wl_apache.conf for wcp-domain domain
  1. Update persistentVolumeClaimName in <$WORKDIR>/weblogic-kubernetes-operator/kubernetes/samples/charts/apache-samples/custom-sample/input.yamlwith Persistence Volume which contains your own custom_mod_wl_apache.conf file. Use the PV/PVC created at the time of preparing environment, Copy the custom_mod_wl_apache.conf file to existing PersistantVolume.

Prepare the certificate and private key

  1. (For the SSL termination configuration only) Run the following commands to generate your own certificate and private key using openssl.

     $ cd <$WORKDIR>/weblogic-kubernetes-operator/kubernetes/samples/charts/apache-samples/custom-sample
 $ export VIRTUAL_HOST_NAME=WEBLOGIC_HOST
 $ export SSL_CERT_FILE=WEBLOGIC_HOST.crt
 $ export SSL_CERT_KEY_FILE=WEBLOGIC_HOST.key
 $ sh certgen.sh

    NOTE: Replace WEBLOGIC_HOST with the name of the host on which Apache webtier is to be installed.

    Click here to see the output of the certifcate generation

  2. Prepare input values for the Apache webtier Helm chart.

    Run the following commands to prepare the input value file for the Apache webtier Helm chart.

    $ base64 -i ${SSL_CERT_FILE} | tr -d '\n'
$ base64 -i ${SSL_CERT_KEY_FILE} | tr -d '\n'
$ touch input.yaml

    Update virtualHostName with the value of the WEBLOGIC_HOST in file <$WORKDIR>/weblogic-kubernetes-operator/kubernetes/samples/charts/apache-samples/custom-sample/input.yaml

    Click here to see the snapshot of the sample input.yaml file

Install the Apache webtier Helm chart

  1. Install the Apache webtier Helm chart to the domain wcpns namespace with the specified input parameters:

    $ cd ${WORKDIR}/weblogic-kubernetes-operator/kubernetes/samples/charts
$ kubectl create namespace apache-webtier
$ helm install  apache-webtier --values apache-samples/custom-sample/input.yaml --namespace wcpns apache-webtier --set image=oracle/apache:12.2.1.3

  2. Check the status of the Apache webtier:

     $ kubectl get all -n wcpns | grep apache

    Sample output of the status of the apache webtier:

    pod/apache-webtier-apache-webtier-65f69dc6bc-zg5pj   1/1     Running     0          22h
service/apache-webtier-apache-webtier   NodePort       10.108.29.98     <none>        80:30305/TCP,4433:30443/TCP   22h
deployment.apps/apache-webtier-apache-webtier   1/1     1            1           22h
replicaset.apps/apache-webtier-apache-webtier-65f69dc6bc   1         1         1       22h

Verify domain application URL access

Once the Apache webtier load balancer is up, verify that the domain applications are accessible through the load balancer port 30305/30443. The application URLs for domain of type wcp are:

Note: Port 30305 is the LOADBALANCER-Non-SSLPORT and Port 30443 is LOADBALANCER-SSLPORT.

Non-SSL configuration
 http://${LOADBALANCER-HOSTNAME}:${LOADBALANCER-Non-SSLPORT}/console
 http://${LOADBALANCER-HOSTNAME}:${LOADBALANCER-Non-SSLPORT}/em
 http://${LOADBALANCER-HOSTNAME}:${LOADBALANCER-Non-SSLPORT}/webcenter
 http://${LOADBALANCER-HOSTNAME}:${LOADBALANCER-Non-SSLPORT}/webcenterhelp
 http://${LOADBALANCER-HOSTNAME}:${LOADBALANCER-Non-SSLPORT}/rest
 http://${LOADBALANCER-HOSTNAME}:${LOADBALANCER-Non-SSLPORT}/rsscrawl
SSL configuration
https://${LOADBALANCER-HOSTNAME}:${LOADBALANCER-SSLPORT}/webcenter
https://${LOADBALANCER-HOSTNAME}:${LOADBALANCER-SSLPORT}/console
https://${LOADBALANCER-HOSTNAME}:${LOADBALANCER-SSLPORT}/em
https://${LOADBALANCER-HOSTNAME}:${LOADBALANCER-SSLPORT}/rsscrawl
https://${LOADBALANCER-HOSTNAME}:${LOADBALANCER-SSLPORT}/webcenterhelp
https://${LOADBALANCER-HOSTNAME}:${LOADBALANCER-SSLPORT}/rest

Uninstall Apache webtier

$ helm delete apache-webtier -n wcpns