how to configure reverse proxy rules properly?

[ronv]

Hi,

I'm trying to configure reverse proxy rules in vhost.conf. I have Apache-2.2.8 on Ubuntu-8.04, monitored by Plesk-10.4.4.

What I'm trying to achieve is define a reverse proxy rule that defers all traffic to -say- http://mydomain/tomcat/ to the Tomcat server running on port 8080. I have mod_proxy loaded in Apache. As far as I understand mod_proxy docs, entering following rules in /var/www/vhosts/mydomain/conf/vhost.conf should work:

ProxyRequests off
RewriteRule ^/tomcat/(.*)$ http://mydomain:8080/$1 [P]

Yet, I am getting a HTTP 403: Forbidden error when requesting above URL.

I have made mod_rewrite log extensively, and find following entries in the logs:

81.241.230.23 - - [19/Mar/2012:16:42:59 +0100] [mydomain/sid#b06ab8][rid#1024af8/initial] (2) init rewrite engine with requested uri /tomcat/testApp/
81.241.230.23 - - [19/Mar/2012:16:42:59 +0100] [mydomain/sid#b06ab8][rid#1024af8/initial] (3) applying pattern '^/tomcat/(.*)$' to uri '/tomcat/testApp/'
81.241.230.23 - - [19/Mar/2012:16:42:59 +0100] [mydomain/sid#b06ab8][rid#1024af8/initial] (2) rewrite '/tomcat/testApp/' -> 'http://mydomain:8080/testApp/'
81.241.230.23 - - [19/Mar/2012:16:42:59 +0100] [mydomain/sid#b06ab8][rid#1024af8/initial] (2) forcing proxy-throughput with http://mydomain:8080/testApp/
81.241.230.23 - - [19/Mar/2012:16:42:59 +0100] [mydomain/sid#b06ab8][rid#1024af8/initial] (1) go-ahead with proxy request proxy:http://mydomain:8080/testApp/ [OK]

This suggests that the rewrite and proxy part is processed ok; still the proxied request produces 403. Addressing the testApp directly via <http://mydomain:8080/testApp> does work, and the same setup does work on my local computer.

Is there something else (Plesk-related, perhaps?) I should configure?

Many thanks for any pointers!

Ron

 

[ronv]

Ok,

I've got one step further: I found out that the 403 error was probably caused by the proxy directive in /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/proxy.conf:

<IfModule mod_proxy.c>
ProxyRequests Off
<Proxy *>
AddDefaultCharset off
Order deny,allow
Deny from all
#Allow from .example.com
</Proxy>
ProxyVia On
</IfModule>

Either changing that to allow it from .mydomain, or adding that in a proxy directive in /var/www/vhosts/mydomain/conf/vhost.conf, at least changes the error from 403 (forbidden) to 500 (internal server error).

Yet, I cant find any further pointers as to where things go wrong. Nothing in any Apache nor Tomcat logs.

As I said before, exactly the same configuration does work locally on my computer, so I'm sure it has to do with Plesk.

Does anyone know what could be the issue?

Ron