17.5. Configuring JBoss to work with mod_jk

Finally, we must configure the JBoss Tomcat instances on all clustered nodes so that they can expect requests forwarded from the mod_jk loadbalancer.
On each clustered JBoss node, we have to name the node according to the name specified in workers.properties. For instance, on JBoss instance node1, edit the JBOSS_HOME/server/all/deploy/jboss-web.deployer/server.xml file (replace /all with your own server name if necessary). Locate the <Engine> element and add an attribute jvmRoute: 
<Engine name="jboss.web" defaultHost="localhost" jvmRoute="node1">
... ...
</Engine>
You also need to be sure the AJP connector in server.xml is enabled (i.e., uncommented). It is enabled by default. 
 
<!-- Define an AJP 1.3 Connector on port 8009 --> 
<Connector port="8009" address="${jboss.bind.address}" protocol="AJP/1.3" 
emptySessionPath="true" enableLookups="false" redirectPort="8443" />
Then, for each JBoss Tomcat instance in the cluster, we need to tell it that mod_jk is in use, so it can properly manage the jvmRoute appended to its session cookies so that mod_jk can properly route incoming requests. Edit the JBOSS_HOME/server/all/deploy/jboss-web.deployer/META-INF/jboss-service.xml file (replace /all with your own server name). Locate the <attribute> element with a name of UseJK, and set its value to true: 
<attribute name="UseJK">true</attribute>
At this point, you have a fully working Apache+mod_jk load-balancer setup that will balance call to the Servlet containers of your cluster while taking care of session stickiness (clients will always use the same Servlet container).

Note

For more updated information on using mod_jk 1.2 with JBoss Tomcat, please refer to the JBoss wiki page at http://wiki.jboss.org/wiki/Wiki.jsp?page=UsingMod_jk1.2WithJBoss.