Question Setting up a reverse proxy for solr from within Plesk panel

[Another_Omeka_User]

Hi, I need to set up a reverse proxy for the solr admin console (solr 5.3.1), which is on a separate port (8983) but totally open to the outside world (yikes). I can't just firewall the port or solr basic authentication because a site on port 80 accesses it (php scripts use it search the index); the scripts break and throw errors on the search when either of these methods is employed. So someone suggested I set up a Reverse Proxy instead. I'm totally unfamiliar with how to do this. However, I followed directions online that told me to modify the apache config file (CentOS 7) with the following lines:

<Location /solr >
AuthName "Secure Area"
AuthType Basic
AuthUserFile /path/to/htpasswd/.htpasswd require valid-user
</Location>
ProxyPass /solr http://localhost:8983/solr
ProxyPassReverse /solr http://localhost:8983/solr

And set up the htpasswd, which I did. When I restart the server, nothing changes, I'm never prompted for a password. (It also said I needed to edit the jetty file to default to localhost, which makes sense, but when I do that I get a broken page.)

To be honest, despite reading numerous manuals and blog posts, I don't really understand why this is breaking or even how to tell when/if the proxy is working. So now I wonder if it's possible instead to just set this all up in the Plesk panel because maybe I'm messing something up...

Any suggestions, thoughts, or advice?

 

[garcue]

Hello partner, we installed solr a while ago and the only special thing we had to do is to run a few commands and open the ports that I would use solr for your admin panel.

 

[Another_Omeka_User]

I don't quite understand - the port 8983 is open for the solr admin console/panel. It works fine. The problem is that this means the whole world can also access it if they just add 8983 to the address. I want to make the admin console secure so the outside world can NOT see it, ever.

 

[garcue]

Oh, in that case try to allow in the firewall the access of those ports only from your ip.

I would put the configuration as follows:

<VirtualHost *:8983>
   ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
   DocumentRoot /ROUTE/solr
   ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
   CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined

   <Directory "/route/solr">
       AuthType Basic
       AuthName "Secure Area"
       AuthUserFile /path/to/htpasswd/.htpasswd
       Require valid-user
   </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

have you created the users inside the file with the following command?

htpasswd /etc/apache2/.htpasswd user

remember to restart the apache server after applying config

 

[Another_Omeka_User]

Will the above work if I'm on a VPS? I need to Reverse Proxy because I still want to be able to access the admin console from anywhere. I don't want it ONLY accessible to a single IP.

 

[garcue]

Will the above work if I'm on a VPS? I need to Reverse Proxy because I still want to be able to access the admin console from anywhere. I don't want it ONLY accessible to a single IP.

Yes, it is a service that works at the OS level, it does not matter if it is a vps or a dedicated