Using Apache with virtual hosts and mod_proxy
Note: This page documents a configuration of Apache, rather than of Confluence itself. Atlassian will support Confluence with this configuration, but we cannot guarantee to help you debug problems with Apache. Please be aware that this material is provided for your information only, and that you use it at your own risk.
Introduction
The Apache web server is often used in front of an application server to improve performance in high-load environments. Mod_proxy simply redirects requests for certain URLs to another web server, so it typically requires no additional configuration on the application server.
This page documents a very common configuration request: configuring a JIRA application and Confluence on two Apache virtual hosts, running on different application servers. This is just a special case of mod_proxy configuration.
You can use virtual hosts in your application server if you want to run JIRA applications and Confluence on the same application server.
Apache configuration
For this configuration to work properly, the application paths must be the same on both the application servers and the web server. For both JIRA and Confluence below, this is /.
JIRA external URL | |
|---|---|
JIRA application server URL | |
Confluence external URL | |
Confluence application server URL |
Add the following to your Apache httpd.conf:
# Put this after the other LoadModule directives
LoadModule proxy_module /usr/lib/apache2/modules/mod_proxy.so
LoadModule proxy_http_module /usr/lib/apache2/modules/mod_proxy_http.so
# Put this with your other VirtualHosts, or at the bottom of the file
NameVirtualHost *
<VirtualHost *>
ServerName confluence.example.com
ProxyRequests Off
<Proxy *>
Order deny,allow
Allow from all
</Proxy>
ProxyPass / http://confluence-app-server.internal.example.com:8090/
ProxyPassReverse / http://confluence-app-server.internal.example.com:8090/
<Location />
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
</Location>
</VirtualHost>
<VirtualHost *>
ServerName jira.example.com
ProxyRequests Off
<Proxy *>
Order deny,allow
Allow from all
</Proxy>
ProxyPass / http://jira-app-server.internal.example.com:8080/
ProxyPassReverse / http://jira-app-server.internal.example.com:8080/
<Location />
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
</Location>
</VirtualHost>
Points to note:
- ProxyPass and ProxyPassReverse directives send traffic from the web server to your application server.
- The application path is the same on the application server and on the web server (both are /).
- Because the above configuration uses name-based virtual hosting, you must configure your DNS server to point both names (jira.example.com, confluence.example.com) to your web server.
More information
For different ways to configure mod_proxy, see Using Apache with mod_proxy.
If you use Tomcat, mod_jk provides a different way of connecting Apache via AJP. You can also use the above configuration with just one application server if you use Tomcat's virtual hosts.