Use Apache Load Balancer with session affinity for Domino webservers.

Because we can not use IBM WebSphere plugin in IHS for IBM Domino webservers anymore, i decided to use Apache and it’s Reverse Proxy configuration to load balance the Domino servers and ( finally ) configure session affinity for some of my applications.

Link to unsupported statement: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21988633

Link to supported technotes how to install the WebSphere plugin for Domino use: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21104930

It is all very confusing.

So, this is how it’s setup:

• Frontend webserver: CentOS 7.x.x with Apache 2.4.x listening on port 80 and 443
• Backend webserver: IBM Domino 9.0.1.x on Linux listening on port 8181
• Directory structure:
  • Main configuration
    /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf
    Added extra lines:

    • Listen 80

    • NameVirtualHost *:80

    • NameVirtualHost *:443

    • IncludeOptional websites.d/*.conf      ( where i put my website configurations )

  • Customizations
    /etc/httpd/conf.d/ssl.conf
    I totally commented out the <VirtualHost> section. I use one for every single website.
  • Balancer configuration as a shared configfile
    /etc/httpd/custom/balancer.conf
    This configuration file will be used in every website configuration and is included inside every <VirtualHost>.This file contains the following configuration:

    Header add Set-Cookie "ROUTEID=.%{BALANCER_WORKER_ROUTE}e; path=/" env=BALANCER_ROUTE_CHANGED
    <Proxy "balancer://webcluster">
     BalancerMember "http://10.100.100.11:8181" route=Domino1
     BalancerMember "http://10.100.100.12:8181" route=Domino2
     ProxySet stickysession=ROUTEID
    </Proxy>
    ProxyPreserveHost On
    ProxyPass /server-status !
    ProxyPass "/" "balancer://webcluster" stickysession=ROUTEID
    ProxyPassReverse "/" "balancer://webcluster"

  • SSL configuration including all patches
    /etc/httpd/ssl/options-ssl-apache.conf
    

    SSLEngine on
    
    # Intermediate configuration, tweak to your needs
    SSLProtocol all -SSLv2 -SSLv3
    SSLCipherSuite ECDHE-ECDSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-RSA-CHACHA20-POLY1305:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:DHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-DES-CBC3-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-DES-CBC3-SHA:EDH-RSA-DES-CBC3-SHA:AES128-GCM-SHA256:AES256-GCM-SHA384:AES128-SHA256:AES256-SHA256:AES128-SHA:AES256-SHA:DES-CBC3-SHA:!DSS
    SSLHonorCipherOrder on
    SSLOptions +StrictRequire
    
    # Always ensure Cookies have "Secure" set (JAH 2012/1)
    Header edit Set-Cookie (?i)^(.*)(;\s*secure)??((\s*;)?(.*)) "$1; Secure$3$4"

  • Website configuration
    /etc/httpd/websites.d/websiteangioni.conf      ( example )
    This file contains the entire configuration for my website and it’s clustered IBM Domino webservers. With HTTP-HTTPS rewrite and session affinity.

    <VirtualHost *:80>
     DocumentRoot /var/www/html/error
     ServerName www.angioni.nl
     ServerAlias *.angioni.nl
     CustomLog "| /usr/sbin/rotatelogs -l /logs/angioni/%Y-%m-%d.access.log 86400" combined
     ErrorLog "| /usr/sbin/rotatelogs -l /logs/angioni/%Y-%m-%d.error.log 86400"
     RewriteEngine on
     LogLevel alert rewrite:trace2 alias:debug
    
     RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
     RewriteRule ^ https://%{SERVER_NAME}%{REQUEST_URI} [END,QSA,R=permanent]
    
    </VirtualHost>
    
    <IfModule mod_ssl.c>
     <VirtualHost *:443>
     include /etc/httpd/custom/*.conf
    
     ServerName www.angioni.nl
     ServerAlias *.angioni.nl
     CustomLog "| /usr/sbin/rotatelogs -l /logs/angioni/%Y-%m-%d.access.log 86400" combined
     ErrorLog "| /usr/sbin/rotatelogs -l /logs/angioni/%Y-%m-%d.error.log 86400"
    
     SSLCertificateFile /etc/httpd/ssl/__angioni_nl_ee.crt
     SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/httpd/ssl/angioni.key
     SSLCertificateChainFile /etc/httpd/ssl/digicert.crt
    
     Include /etc/httpd/ssl/options-ssl-apache.conf
    
    <Location /server-status>
     SetHandler server-status
     Order deny,allow
     Deny from all
     Allow from <my own ipaddress>
     Allow from 127.0.0.1
     </Location>
     </VirtualHost>
    </IfModule>

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