JBoss for Administrators

Prerequisites:

Basic working knowledge of the Windows or Linux (Unix-based) operating system. The student must have experience with the following:

Creating directories, files and modifying access rights to the file store
Installing a JDK
Configuring environment variables, such as JAVA_HOME, for an Operating system
Launching Java applications and executing an OS-dependent script that launches a Java application.
Creating and expanding a Java archive file (the jar utility)
No prior knowledge of J2EE or the JBoss Application Server is required. Some familiarity with supporting Java applications with XML configurations, however, is strongly recommended

Course Description:

This course is targeted at systems administrators who wish to become proficient in administering JBoss Application Server instances. This course focuses on installation and deployment issues with the JBoss Application Server as well as configuring the server for production usage. Students who attend this course and pass the related certification exam will become Certified JBoss Administrators.

JBoss for Administrators is targeted toward application support individuals, such as system administrators, configuration management and quality assurance personnel who wish to become proficient in configuring and administrating the JBoss application server (3.2.x and 4.x series) and the applications deployed on the application server

This course includes the following modules:

State of the Union

• Introduction to Professional Open Source methodology and to JBoss Inc.s role in leading the innovation of Open Source middleware development. Short introduction to JBoss Inc. service offerings, current product roadmaps, JBoss Enterprise Middleware System (JEMS) and the road ahead.

JBoss Application Server Architecture

• This module gives you an overview into application servers ? why are application servers used as part of the enterprise infrastructure, what a typical server side application might look like, and what are the points of interest for an administrator to tune and configure in a typical application server scenario. We define J2EE, Servlets and EJBs, JCA, and JBoss Microkernel. A good introduction for systems administrators who have no prior experience with application servers

Installing JBoss Application Server

• We walk you through a basic JBoss installation scenario. How to find the correct JBoss distribution for your needs, what considerations need to be taken into account when choosing a Java virtual machine for your JBoss application server, operating system and hardware considerations, and setting up the environment for the JBoss application server to run. We will familiarize you with the default JBoss application server directory structure in order for you to quickly find the correct locations for different service configuration files, log directories, library directories and so on. This chapter will help you get up and running with a new JBoss installation quickly.

JBoss Basic Deployments

• In this module we start you off with simple application deployments to JBoss application server. We introduce the different J2EE and JBoss package types, different deployment options, basic hot-deployment, redeployment and undeployment. This section familiarizes you with how applications and services are added and removed to and from the application server, and where different package configuration files are located

Installation of JBoss ON

• This module introduces the student to JBoss Operations Network. Students will learn how JBoss ON enables administration and monitoring of several JEMS deployments across an enterprise and how deployed services across multiple servers and nodes can be managed from a single interface. JBoss ON architecture overview is covered in this section along with installation instructions and troubleshooting

JBoss ON User Interface

• Introduction to both the graphical, web-based user interface of JBoss ON, and the command-line tools to configure and monitor JEMS product instances and deployed services through via JBoss Operations Network. Monitoring with JBoss ON. In this section the students are familiarized with detailed instructions how to monitor specific server products via JBoss Operations Network. We will cover in detail how to monitor and manage JBoss AS instances, stand-alone Tomcat server instances and Apache HTTPD server instances

JBoss Production Installation

• This chapter goes deeper into JBoss installation issues, focusing on items you need to be aware of when installing the application server for full production usage. We cover the different physical socket ports the default JBoss services open and how to change them or disable unused service access points. We will also cover topics on how to run your JBoss application server behind a firewall and Apache web servers and the issues you have to consider in these installation topologies

JBoss Production Deployments

• This chapter helps you prepare your JBoss installation further for production usage. We will see how to configure production grade databases as the backend for your JBoss instance and how to deal with several deployment scenarios. You will learn how to order JBoss service deployments, how deploy applications in a JBoss cluster, and how to configure multiple instance of JBoss application server to run on a single physical machine

Introduction to JBoss and J2EE Security Concepts

• This chapter explains the common models how security is implemented in J2EE applications and JBoss application server. We introduce the basic concepts, the relevant configuration files to create security domains, and the tools to create security certificates for secure socket communication. Essential information for anyone to get started on security related topics on JBoss application server

Securing JBoss Services

• In this chapter we look deeper into the JBoss service configuration to ensure your JBoss server instance is running securely. We see how to enable HTTPS access to the web tier, how to authenticate access to data sources from within the application server, how to encrypt, authenticate and authorize messaging and EJB communication across public networks. Critical information for any administrator before production deployment of JBoss application server

Middleware Clustering

• This chapter introduces you to the concepts and technologies used in the JBoss application server to achieve load-balancing and failover functionality. We will see how JBoss provides high-availability features at the different layers of the middleware stack and what the relevant system administration configuration options are. We will also look at the cluster topologies including native web server nodes and mod_jk connectivity to JBoss application server instances