Building Apache Tomcat Connector module (mod-jk) RPM with FPM on Centos 6.x

The Apache Tomcat Connector module (mod_jk) is not currently in included Centos or EPEL repositories.

To assist in the deployment and management of the Apache mod_jk module a RPM package will be created from the built source using FPM. If you haven't stumbled upon or used FPM I highly recommend taking a look.

Download the latest tomcat-connector source

Tomcat-Connector Source Index.

As of the writing of this article 1.2.40

Verify Build Prerequisites

The following packages will need to be installed in order to correctly build the Apache Tomcat Connector module (mod-jk).

  • Apache 

    sudo yum install httpd

  • Apache Extension Tool (apxs) 

    sudo yum install apache-devel

  • GCC 

    sudo yum instll gcc

Build the Apache Tomcat Connector module (mod-jk)

Extract the downloaded source 

tar -zxvf tomcat-connectors-1.2.40-src.tar.gz

Navigate into the /native subdirectory of the extracted source 

cd tomcat-connectors-1.2.40-src/native

Run the configure script with apxs set 

./configure --with-apxs=/usr/sbin/apxs

Compile/Make the module 

make

At this point the module is built and could be copied directly to a server's /usr/[lib/lib64]/httpd/modules directory to be used or tested.

Create FPM Build Root

FPM will be used to generate an RPM package from a build root source containing the mimiced directory structure and files to be installed on the system.

This means if we want to install the mod_jk.so module file via the rpm into /usr/lib64/httpd/modules we need to create correct directory structure inside the build root directory for FPM to reference.

This can be created anywhere on your file system, but for ease of management and reference I recommend creating the build root in the /native subdirectory of the extracted source

Note! The commands reference below are being run from inside the tomcat-connectors-1.2.40-src/native directory

Create the Apache configureation directory structure inside the FPM build root 

sudo mkdir -p fpm_build_root/etc/httpd/conf.d/

Create the Apache Lib modules directory structure inside the FPM build root 

sudo mkdir -p fpm_build_root/usr/lib64/httpd/modules/

Populate the FPM Build Root

With the FPM build root directory structure(s) create we can create the needed Apache configuration files and copy the newly built module into place

Note! The commands reference below are being run from inside the tomcat-connectors-1.2.40-src/native directory

Create a mod_jk.conf Apache configuration file to load the module and apply come basic settings. The exapmle below is one that has been used in a production environment for basic use 

sudo bash -c 'cat << EOF > fpm_build_root/etc/httpd/conf.d/mod_jk.conf
# Load mod_jk module
# Specify the filename of the mod_jk lib
LoadModule jk_module modules/mod_jk.so

# Where to find workers.properties
JkWorkersFile conf.d/workers.properties

# Where to put jk logs
JkLogFile logs/mod_jk.log

# Set the jk log level [debug/error/info]
JkLogLevel info

# Select the log format
JkLogStampFormat  "[%a %b %d %H:%M:%S %Y]"

# JkRequestLogFormat
JkRequestLogFormat "%w %V %T"

# Add shared memory.
# This directive is present with 1.2.10 and
# later versions of mod_jk, and is needed for
# for load balancing to work properly
JkShmFile logs/jk.shm
EOF'

Create a Apache Tomcat Connetor module (mod-jk) workers.properties file referenced in the mod_jk.conf file. This file will be empty 

touch fpm_build_root/etc/httpd/conf.d/workers.properties

Copy the newly built Apache Tomcat Connector module (mod-jk) into the FPM build root 

sudo cp apache-2.0/mod_jk.so fpm_build_root/usr/lib64/httpd/modules/

Create the Apache Tomcat Connector module (mod-jk) RPM Package

Warning! You must be at the top level of the FPM build root for it to correctly read the directory structures needed to generate the RPM package

Run the FPM to generate the RPM package. Note the -p and -v flags contain the version of the built module 

fpm --iteration=1 --rpm-use-file-permissions --verbose -s dir -t rpm -p /root/mod_jk-1.2.40.rpm -n mod_jk -v 1.2.40 ./

Verify The RPM Package Version/Files

Verify the package version 

rpm -qp /root/mod_jk-1.2.40.rpm

Verify the package files (contents) 

rpm -qp --filesbypkg /root/mod_jk-1.2.40.rpm

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