Installing JBoss Web Server by using the Red Hat Ansible Certified Content Collection

Red Hat JBoss Web Server 5.7

Automating deployments of JBoss Web Server 5.7 with the Red Hat Ansible Certified Content Collection 1.2

Red Hat Customer Content Services

Abstract

Install and use the Red Hat Ansible Certified Content Collection to automate deployments of JBoss Web Server.

Preface

The Red Hat Ansible Certified Content Collection for Red Hat JBoss Web Server is a prepackaged Ansible content collection that Red Hat provides. You can use the Red Hat Ansible Certified Content Collection to automate the installation and configuration of the Red Hat JBoss Web Server product. You can also add customized tasks to your playbook to automate the deployment of JBoss Web Server applications either at the same time as the automated product installation or later.

Important

The Red Hat Ansible Certified Content Collection is a Technology Preview feature only. Technology Preview features are not supported with Red Hat production service level agreements (SLAs) and might not be functionally complete. Red Hat does not recommend using them in production. These features provide early access to upcoming product features, enabling customers to test functionality and provide feedback during the development process.

For more information about the support scope of Red Hat Technology Preview features, see Technology Preview Features Support Scope.

Note

The rest of this document refers to the Red Hat Ansible Certified Content Collection for Red Hat JBoss Web Server as the JBoss Web Server collection.

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Chapter 1. Automation of JBoss Web Server deployments by using an Ansible collection

Ansible is an information technology (IT) automation engine that you can use to automate and simplify cloud provisioning, configuration management, application deployment, intraservice orchestration, and other tasks across your IT enterprise.

An Ansible collection is a standardized distribution format for reusable Ansible content such as playbooks, roles, modules, and plug-ins. Red Hat provides a series of prepackaged Red Hat Ansible Certified Content Collections. You can use these Red Hat Ansible Certified Content Collections to enable the automated deployment of various Red Hat Runtimes products such as Red Hat JBoss Web Server in your system.

1.1. Ansible concepts and benefits

Ansible includes various elements such as playbooks, roles, content collections, and automation execution environments. Using Ansible to automate IT processes, workflows, and infrastructure lifecycles provides multiple benefits to your enterprise. If you are unfamiliar with Ansible architecture or you want more information about the benefits of using Ansible, refer to the following Additional resources links.

Additional resources

1.2. JBoss Web Server collection

For general information about the JBoss Web Server collection, refer to the Ansible Collection - redhat.jws page in Red Hat Automation Hub. The Ansible Collection - redhat.jws page includes information about the roles that the collection contains. You can click the name of a role to view details about the purpose of this role, any requirements or dependencies, and the list of variables and default settings that the role uses to complete automation tasks.

Additional resources

Chapter 2. Installing the JBoss Web Server collection

As a first step toward automating deployments of Red Hat JBoss Web Server by using Ansible, you must download and install the JBoss Web Server collection from the Red Hat Automation Hub. The JBoss Web Server collection is named redhat.jws in the Red Hat Automation Hub. Before you install the JBoss Web Server collection, you must ensure that your system complies with certain prerequisites.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed the ansible-core package version 2.12 or later on a control node in your system by installing Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.x.

    For more information about installing Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, see the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Installation Guide.

  • You have updated the ansible.cfg file to use Red Hat automation hub as your primary source of Ansible collections. For more information about updating the ansible.cfg file, see Getting started with automation hub.

Procedure

  • On your Ansible control node, enter the following command: 

    $ ansible-galaxy collection install redhat.jws
    Note

    If the preceding command produces a Failed to find collection redhat.jws:* error message, ensure that you have updated the ansible.cfg file correctly to use the Red Hat Automation Hub, as described in Getting started with automation hub.

    The preceding command produces the following output: 

    Starting galaxy collection install process

Process install dependency map

Starting collection install process

[...]

redhat.jws:1.2.x was installed successfully

[...]

    In the preceding output, 1.2.x represents the full version number of the installed collection (for example, 1.2.1).

Verification

  • On your Ansible control node, enter the following command: 

    $ ansible-galaxy collection list

    The preceding command displays the list of installed collections. For example: 

    Collection                 Version
-------------------------- -------
redhat.jws                 1.2.x

    In the preceding example, 1.2.x represents the full version number of the installed collection (for example, 1.2.1).

Additional resources

Chapter 3. Defining variable settings

The JBoss Web Server collection provides a comprehensive set of variables and default values that you can manually update to suit your setup requirements. These variable settings provide all the information that the JBoss Web Server collection requires to complete an automated and customized installation of Red Hat JBoss Web Server on your target hosts.

For a full list of variables that the JBoss Web Server collection provides, see the information page for the jws role in the Red Hat Automation Hub. The information page for the jws role lists the names, descriptions, and default values for all the variables that you can define.

Note

You can define variables in multiple ways. By default, the JBoss Web Server collection includes an example playbook.yml file that links to a vars.yml file in the same /playbooks folder. For illustrative purposes, the instructions in this section describe how to define variables in the vars.yml file that the collection provides. You can use a different way to define variables if you prefer.

You can define variables to automate the following tasks:

You can also automate the deployment of web applications by adding customized tasks to the playbook, as described in Enabling the automated deployment of JBoss Web Server applications on your target hosts.

3.1. Enabling the automated installation of JBoss Web Server archive files

By default, the JBoss Web Server collection is configured to install JBoss Web Server from product archive files. Before you use the JBoss Web Server collection to install Red Hat JBoss Web Server, you must obtain and copy the JBoss Web Server archive files to your Ansible control node. After you copy the archive files, you can set the jws_version variable to specify the product version that you want to install. If you decide to change the names of the archive files on your local host, you can also define variables to specify the appropriate file names.

After you obtain and set installation details for the product archive files, the JBoss Web Server collection automatically extracts these files and installs the product on your target hosts when you subsequently run the playbook.

Note

If the JBoss Web Server archive files are not already available on your system, you can download the archive files manually from the Red Hat Customer Portal, as described in Step 1 of this procedure.

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. If you want to download the JBoss Web Server archive files from the Red Hat Customer portal, perform the following steps:

    1. On your Ansible control node, open a browser and log in to the Product Downloads page in the Red Hat Customer Portal.
    2. From the list of products, select Red Hat JBoss Web Server.
    3. On the Software Downloads page, from the Version drop-down list, select the version of JBoss Web Server that you want to install.

    4. On the Releases tab, click Download next to each archive file that you want to download.

      For more information about any specific product archive files that you must download, refer to the Red Hat JBoss Web Server Installation Guide.

      Note

      You do not need to extract the product archive files. The JBoss Web Server collection automatically handles extracting the archive files.

  2. To enable the automated installation of the product archive files, perform the following steps:

    1. On your Ansible control node, open the vars.yml file.

    2. To specify the JBoss Web Server version that you want to install, set the jws_version variable to the appropriate baseline version.

      For example: 

      [...]
jws_version: 5.7.0
      Note

      Ensure that the value you specify for the jws_version variable matches the version of the product archive files that you want to install. For example, to install the baseline archive files for JBoss Web Server 5.7, specify a value of 5.7.0.

    3. If you also want to install the native JBoss Web Server archive for the operating system that is on your target hosts, set the jws_native variable to True.

      For example: 

      [...]
jws_native: True
      Note

      By default, the jws_native variable is set to False, which means the JBoss Web Server collection installs the main application server archive only.

      If you set the jws_native variable to True, ensure that you have also obtained and copied the appropriate native archive file to your Ansible control node.

    4. If you changed the names of the copied archive files on your Ansible control node, set the zipfile_name and jws_native_zipfile variables to specify the files that you want to install.

      For example: 

      [...]
zipfile_name: <application_server_file>
jws_native_zipfile: <native_file>

      In the preceding example, replace <application_server_file> and <native_file> with the appropriate archive file names.

      Note

      If you have not changed the file names, you do not need to define zipfile_name and jws_native_zipfile variables. The JBoss Web Server collection uses the value of the jws_version variable to determine the default file names automatically.

  3. Save your changes to the vars.yml file.

3.2. Enabling the automated installation of JBoss Web Server patch updates

If product patch updates are available for the appropriate JBoss Web Server version, you can also use the JBoss Web Server collection to install the latest cumulative patches on your target hosts. You can use the same steps to enable the automated installation of patch updates regardless of whether you want to install the updates at the same time as the 5.7.0 version or later.

By default, the JBoss Web Server collection is configured to install JBoss Web Server patch updates from product archive files. First, you must obtain and copy the archive files for the latest patch updates to your Ansible control node. You must then set a jws_apply_patches variable to True. After you obtain and enable automated installation of the latest patch updates, the JBoss Web Server collection automatically extracts these files and installs the updates on your target hosts when you subsequently run the playbook.

Note

If copies of the archive files for the latest patch updates are not already available in your system, you can download the archive files manually from the Red Hat Customer Portal, as described in Step 1 of this procedure.

Important

You cannot use cumulative patch updates to install the baseline (X.X.0) version of a product. For example, installing a 5.7.2 patch installs versions 5.7.1 and 5.7.2 but cannot install the baseline 5.7.0 version. In this situation, you must ensure that the appropriate baseline version of the product is also installed either at the same time or previously.

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. If you want to download the archive files for the latest JBoss Web Server patch updates from the Red Hat Customer Portal, perform the following steps:

    1. On your Ansible control node, open a browser and log in to the Product Downloads page in the Red Hat Customer Portal.
    2. From the list of products, select Red Hat JBoss Web Server.
    3. On the Software Downloads page, from the Version drop-down list, select the version of JBoss Web Server that you have installed.

    4. Click the Patches tab and then click Download next to each archive file that you want to download for the latest patch update.

      For more information about any specific product archive files that you must download, refer to the Red Hat JBoss Web Server Installation Guide.

      Note

      Patch updates are cumulative. You do not need to download archive files for any previous patch updates that are not currently installed.

      You do not need to extract the archive files. The JBoss Web Server collection automatically handles extracting the archive files.

  2. To enable automated installation of the product patch updates, perform the following steps:

    1. On your Ansible control node, open the vars.yml file.

    2. Set the jws_apply_patches variable to True.

      For example: 

      [...]
jws_version: 5.7.0
jws_native: True
[...]
jws_apply_patches: True
      Note

      Ensure that the jws_version variable is set to the appropriate baseline product version (for example, 5.7.0).

      If the jws_native variable is set to True, ensure that you have also obtained and copied the appropriate native archive files for the latest patch update to your Ansible control node.

      Setting the jws_apply_patches variable to True enables the JBoss Web Server collection to install the most recent supported cumulative patch for the baseline product version that is specified in the jws_version variable. Based on the preceding example, the JBoss Web Server collection automatically installs the latest cumulative patch updates for the 5.7 release when you subsequently run the playbook.

  3. Save your changes to the vars.yml file.

3.3. Ensuring that a JDK is installed on the target hosts

JBoss Web Server requires that a Java Development Kit (JDK) is already installed as a prerequisite on your target hosts to ensure that JBoss Web Server is successfully executed. A JDK includes a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and Java Virtual Machine (JVM), which must be available on any host where you want to run JBoss Web Server. For a full list of JDK versions that JBoss Web Server supports, see JBoss Web Server 5 Supported Configurations.

By default, the JBoss Web Server collection does not install a JDK automatically, based on the assumption that you have already installed a supported JDK on the target hosts. However, for the sake of convenience, you can configure the JBoss Web Server collection to install a supported version of Red Hat OpenJDK automatically on each target host.

Consider the following guidelines for installing a JDK when you use the JBoss Web Server collection:

  • If you want to install a supported version of Red Hat OpenJDK on your target hosts, you can set the jws_java_version variable to the appropriate JDK version (for example, 1.8.0, 11, or 17). The JBoss Web Server collection automatically installs the specified OpenJDK version on each target host when you subsequently run the playbook.
  • If you want to install a supported version of IBM JDK or Oracle JDK, you must install the JDK manually on each target host or you can automate this process by using your own playbook. For more information about manually installing a version of IBM JDK or Oracle JDK, see the Red Hat JBoss Web Server Installation Guide. In this situation, you do not need to set a variable.
  • If you already have a supported JDK installed on your target hosts, you do not need to set a variable.
Note

Use the following procedure if you want to enable the JBoss Web Server collection to install Red Hat OpenJDK on target hosts where a supported JDK is not already installed.

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. On your Ansible control node, open the vars.yml file.

  2. Set the jws_java_version variable to the appropriate OpenJDK version that you want to install.

    For example: 

    [...]
jws_java_version: 1.8.0

    Based on the preceding example, the JBoss Web Server collection automatically installs OpenJDK 8 on each target host when you run the playbook.

    Note

    Alternatively, if you want the JBoss Web Server collection to install Red Hat OpenJDK version 11 or 17, set the jws_java_version variable to a value of 11 or 17, as appropriate.

  3. Save your changes to the vars.yml file.

3.4. Ensuring that a product user and group are created on the target hosts

JBoss Web Server requires that a product user account and user group are already created as a prerequisite on your target hosts. By default, the JBoss Web Server collection handles this requirement by creating a tomcat user account and a tomcat group automatically on each target host. However, if you want the JBoss Web Server collection to create a different user account and group, you can modify the behavior of the JBoss Web Server collection to suit your setup requirements.

The product user account is also assigned ownership of the Tomcat directories to run the Tomcat service.

Note

Use the following procedure if you want to enable the JBoss Web Server collection to create a different user account and group rather than the tomcat default values.

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. On your Ansible control node, open the vars.yml file.

  2. Set the jws_user and jws_group variables to the appropriate product user name and group name that you want to create.

    For example: 

    [...]
jws_user: myuser
jws_group: myuser

    Based on the preceding example, the JBoss Web Server collection automatically creates a myuser user account and group instead of creating the default tomcat user account and group.

  3. Save your changes to the vars.yml file.

3.5. Enabling the automated integration of JBoss Web Server with systemd

You can optionally enable the JBoss Web Server collection to set up JBoss Web Server as a service that a system daemon can manage. By default, the JBoss Web Server collection is not configured to integrate JBoss Web Server with a system daemon. If you enable this feature, the JBoss Web Server collection sets up JBoss Web Server as a jws5‑tomcat service automatically on each target host. However, if you want to use a different service name, you can modify the behavior of the JBoss Web Server collection to suit your setup requirements.

When you integrate JBoss Web Server with a system daemon, the system daemon can automatically start the JBoss Web Server services at system startup. The system daemon also provides functions to start, stop, and check the status of the product. The default system daemon is systemd.

Note

This configuration task is optional but recommended.

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. On your Ansible control node, open the vars.yml file.

  2. To enable integration with systemd, set the jws_systemd_enabled variable to True.

    For example: 

    [...]
jws_systemd_enabled: True

  3. If you want JBoss Web Server to use a service name other than jws5‑tomcat, set the jws_service_name variable to the appropriate value.

    For example: 

    [...]
jws_service_name: jws

    Based on the preceding example, the JBoss Web Server collection sets up the product as a jws service on each target host when you run the playbook.

    Note

    If you do not set the jws_service_name variable, the JBoss Web Server collection sets up the product as a jws5‑tomcat service automatically.

  4. Save your changes to the vars.yml file.

3.6. Enablement of automated JBoss Web Server configuration tasks

The JBoss Web Server collection provides a comprehensive set of variables to enable the automated configuration of a JBoss Web Server installation. By default, the JBoss Web Server collection configures JBoss Web Server to listen for nonsecure HTTP connections on port 8080.

Other product features such as the following are disabled by default:

  • Support for secure HTTPS connections
  • Mod_cluster support for load-balancing HTTP server requests to the JBoss Web Server back end
  • The password vault for storing sensitive data in an encrypted Java keystore
  • Support for SELinux policies

To enable a wider set of product features, you can define variables to modify the behavior of the JBoss Web Server collection to suit your setup requirements.

Note

The following subsections describe only a subset of the automated configuration updates that the JBoss Web Server collection can perform. These example updates focus on enabling support for HTTPS connections, enabling mod_cluster support, enabling the password vault, and enabling SELinux policies.

For a full list of variables that the JBoss Web Server collection provides, refer to the information page for the jws role in Red Hat automation hub. For more information about configuring and using JBoss Web Server features, refer to the Red Hat JBoss Web Server documentation page.

3.6.1. Enabling the automated configuration of HTTPS support in JBoss Web Server

You can configure JBoss Web Server to support secure encrypted connections between web clients and the web server over the HTTPS protocol.

Consider the following guidelines for enabling HTTPS support when you use the JBoss Web Server collection:

  • If you want to enable HTTPS support, you must ensure that a Java keystore exists on each target host before you subsequently run the playbook. The JBoss Web Server collection does not provide or create a Java keystore automatically. In this situation, you must create a new keystore on your target hosts or copy an existing keystore file to each target host, as described in Step 1 of the following procedure.
  • To enable HTTPS support, you can set a jws_listen_https_enabled variable to True.
  • When you enable HTTPS support, the JBoss Web Server collection updates the server.xml file on each target host with the appropriate path and password settings for the Java keystore. By default, the JBoss Web Server collection configures these path and password settings in the server.xml file with values of /etc/ssl/keystore.jks and changeit, respectively. However, if you want to use a different keystore path or keystore password, you can modify the behavior of the JBoss Web Server collection to suit your setup requirements.

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. If you want to create a Java keystore, perform the following steps:

    1. Log in to the target host where you want to create the keystore.

      Note

      Ensure that a JDK is already installed and the JAVA_HOME variable is already set on the target host.

    2. To create the keystore, enter the following command: 

      $JAVA_HOME/bin/keytool -genkeypair -alias tomcat -keyalg RSA -keystore <path_to_keystore>

      In the preceding command, replace <path_to_keystore> with the full path to the keystore file that you want to create. If you do not specify the -keystore option, the command creates the keystore file in some default location that depends on the version of the JDK you have installed. For example, if you are using Red Hat OpenJDK, the default location for the keystore is /etc/ssl/keystore.jks.

      The preceding command generates a keystore file that contains a pair of public and private keys and a single self-signed certificate for server authentication. The key pair and self-signed certificate are stored in a single keystore entry that is identified by the -alias option (for example, tomcat).

    3. When the keytool command prompts you for the following information, enter the appropriate values for your setup:

      • Keystore password (by default, changeit)
      • General information about the certificate
      • Key password for the certificate (by default, the keystore password)
    Note

    Alternatively, rather than create a new keystore, you can use the Linux scp command to copy an existing keystore file between different hosts.

  2. To enable support for HTTPS connections, perform the following steps:

    1. On your Ansible control node, open the vars.yml file.

    2. Set the jws_listen_https_enabled variable to True.

      For example: 

      [...]
jws_listen_https_enabled: True

    3. If the Java keystore on each target host is located in a path other than /etc/ssl/keystore.jks, set the jws_listen_https_keystore_file variable to the appropriate value.

      For example: 

      [...]
jws_listen_https_keystore_file: <keystore_path>

      In the preceding example, replace <keystore_path> with the full path to the keystore file that is on each target host.

      Note

      If you do not set the jws_listen_https_keystore_file variable, the JBoss Web Server collection automatically configures the certificateKeystoreFile setting in the server.xml file with a value of /etc/ssl/keystore.jks.

    4. If the Java keystore on each target host uses a password other than changeit, set the jws_listen_https_keystore_password variable to the appropriate value.

      For example: 

      [...]
jws_listen_https_keystore_password: <keystore_password>

      In the preceding example, replace <keystore_password> with the correct password for the Java keystore that is on each target host.

      Note

      If you do not set the jws_listen_https_keystore_password variable, the JBoss Web Server collection automatically configures the certificateKeystorePassword setting in the server.xml with a value of changeit.

    5. Save your changes to the vars.yml file.

3.6.2. Enabling the automated configuration of mod_cluster support in JBoss Web Server

The mod_cluster connector is a reduced-configuration and intelligent solution for load-balancing Apache HTTP Server requests to the JBoss Web Server back end. The mod_cluster connector also provides features such as real-time load-balancing calculations, application life-cycle control, automatic proxy discovery, and multiple protocol support. To enable mod_cluster support, you can define variables to enable the mod_cluster listener and specify IP address and port values for the mod_cluster instance.

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. On your Ansible control node, open the vars.yml file.

  2. To enable the mod_cluster listener, set the jws_modcluster_enabled variable to True.

    For example: 

    [...]
jws_modcluster_enabled: True

  3. To specify the IP address and port of the mod_cluster instance, set the jws_modcluster_ip and jws_modcluster_port variables to the appropriate values. The default IP address is 127.0.0.1. The default port is 6666.

    For example: 

    [...]
jws_modcluster_ip: <ip_address>
jws_modcluster_port: <port>

    In the preceding example, replace <ip_address> with the appropriate bind address for the mod_cluster instance on the target host, and replace <port> with the appropriate port that the mod_cluster instance uses to listen for incoming requests.

  4. Save your changes to the vars.yml file.

For more information about using mod_cluster, see the HTTP Connectors and Load Balancing Guide.

3.6.3. Enabling the automated configuration of the password vault in JBoss Web Server

You can use the password vault for JBoss Web Server to mask passwords and other sensitive strings, and to store sensitive information in an encrypted Java keystore. When you use the password vault, you can stop storing clear-text passwords in your JBoss Web Server configuration files. JBoss Web Server can use the password vault to search for passwords and other sensitive strings from a keystore. To enable password vault, you can set a series of variables that enable you to specify various files and configuration settings that the password vault uses.

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. On your Ansible control node, open the vars.yml file.

  2. To specify the paths to the vault.keystore, VAULT.dat, and vault.properties files that you created as part of the prerequisite step, set the following variables to the appropriate values.

    For example: 

    [...]
jws_vault_name: ./vault_files/vault.keystore
jws_vault_data: ./vault_files/VAULT.dat
jws_vault_properties: ./vault_files/vault.properties

In the preceding example, ensure that you specify the correct paths that you configured as part of the prerequisite step.

  1. To enable the password vault feature, set the jws_tomcat_vault_enabled variable to True.

    For example: 

    [...]
jws_tomcat_vault_enabled: True

  2. To specify the keystore alias, keystore password, iteration count, and salt values that you configured for the password vault, set the following variables to the appropriate values.

    For example: 

    [...]
jws_tomcat_vault_alias: <keystore_alias>
jws_tomcat_vault_storepass: <keystore_password>
jws_tomcat_vault_iteration: <iteration_count>
jws_tomcat_vault_salt: <salt>

    In the preceding example, ensure that you specify the appropriate values that you configured as part of the prerequisite step.

  3. Save your changes to the vars.yml file.

For more information about using the password vault, refer to the Red Hat JBoss Web Server Installation Guide.

3.6.4. Enabling the automated configuration of SELinux policies in JBoss Web Server

You can use Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux) policies to define access controls for JBoss Web Server. These policies are a set of rules that determine access rights to the product. To enable the use of SELinux policies, you can set a jws_selinux_enabled variable to True.

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. On your Ansible control node, open the vars.yml file.

  2. Set the jws_selinux_enabled variable to True.

    For example: 

    [...]
jws_selinux_enabled: True
  3. Save your changes to the vars.yml file.

For more information about using SELinux policies in JBoss Web Server, refer to the Red Hat JBoss Web Server Installation Guide.

Warning

The core Ansible engine does not provide support for SELinux policies. If you want to enable SELinux policies, you must also install a community collection from Ansible Galaxy on your Ansible control node.

To install the community collection on your Ansible control node, enter the following command:

$ ansible-galaxy collection install community.general

3.7. Enabling the automated deployment of JBoss Web Server applications on your target hosts

You can also automate the deployment of web applications on your target JBoss Web Server hosts by adding customized tasks to the playbook. This requires that you place the application .war file in the appropriate directory.

If you want to deploy a new or updated application when JBoss Web Server is already running, the JBoss Web Server collection provides a handler to restart the web server when the application is deployed.

Note

The following procedure assumes that you have created a custom playbook.

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. On your Ansible control node, open your custom playbook.

  2. In the tasks: section of the playbook, add a task to deploy the appropriate web application.

    For example: 

    [...]
  tasks:
    [...]
    - name: "Deploy demo webapp"
      ansible.builtin.get_url:
        url: 'https://url_path/app_name.war'
        dest: "{{ jws_home }}/webapps/app_name.war"
      notify:
        - Restart Tomcat service
[...]

    In the preceding example, replace <url_path> and <app_name> with the correct path and .war file name for the application that you want to deploy.

  3. Save your changes to the playbook.

Additional resources

Chapter 4. Running the playbook

After you define variable settings, you can run the playbook to begin the automated installation process. You can run a playbook by using the ansible-playbook command on the control node or by using the Red Hat Ansible automation controller. The JBoss Web Server collection then handles all installation and deployment tasks automatically.

Note

The following procedure assumes that you have created and updated a custom playbook.

Prerequisites

  • You have defined variable settings.

  • Your playbook includes an appropriate link to the location where you have defined your variables.

    For example: 

    ---
- name: "Red Hat JBoss Web Server installation and configuration"
  hosts: all
  become: true
  vars_files:
    - <path_to_vars_file>/vars.yml
[...]

    The preceding example assumes that you have defined variables in a vars.yml file. Replace <path_to_vars_file> with the appropriate path.

  • A supported operating system is already installed on your target hosts. For a full list of operating system versions that JBoss Web Server supports, refer to JBoss Web Server 5 Supported Configurations.

Procedure

  • Perform either of the following steps:

    • On your Ansible control node, enter the following command: 

      $ ansible-playbook <playbook_name>.yml

      In the preceding command, replace <playbook_name> with the name you have assigned to your playbook.

    • Use the Red Hat Ansible automation controller to run your playbook. For more information about getting started with the automation controller, see the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform documentation page.

Chapter 5. Validating the deployment

After you successfully run the playbook, the JBoss Web Server collection automatically installs Red Hat JBoss Web Server on your target hosts. If you have added customized tasks to the playbook, Ansible also automatically deploys any JBoss Web Server applications on your targets hosts, as appropriate. You can optionally check the status of JBoss Web Server by using the systemctl command on the target host or by using the curl command on a remote host.

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. Optional: On the JBoss Web Server host, enter the following command as the root user: 

    # systemctl status <service_name>

    In the preceding command, replace <service_name> with the correct service name for your JBoss Web Server installation. The default service name is tomcat. For more information about setting up a service name, see Automating the integration of JBoss Web Server with systemd.

    Note

    This step requires that JBoss Web Server is integrated with systemd.

  2. Optional: On a remote host, enter the following command as the root user: 

    # curl http://<target_host>:8080/

    In the preceding command, replace <target_host> with the IP address or host name of the JBoss Web Server host that you want to access. The preceding command assumes that the JBoss Web Server is accessible through the default port 8080 and that the target firewall and network allow remote access to the port.

Note

The JBoss Web Server collection also includes a validate.yml playbook in the /playbooks folder. You can run the validate.yml playbook if you want the JBoss Web Server collection to perform automated validation checks. For more information about the validate.yml playbook, refer to the information page for the jws_validation role in the Red Hat Automation Hub.

Additional resources

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