Article

Introducing Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Web Server 6.0

Enhanced Jakarta EE 10 support, ARM64 integration, and improved security features

November 1, 2023
Java
Shaaf, Syed
Technical Marketing - Cloud Native Runtimes @ Red Hat
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This article covers exciting enhancements for developers in the latest Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Web Server 6.0, powered by Apache Tomcat 10.1.8 and Jakarta Enterprise Edition (Jakarta EE) 10.

The JBoss Web Server release supports the following implementations: Jakarta Servlet 6.0, Jakarta Server Pages 3.1, Jakarta Expression Language 5.0, Jakarta Web Socket 2.1, and Jakarta Authentication 3.0.

About JBoss Web Server

JBoss Web Server is a fully integrated and certified set of components for hosting Java web applications. It comprises the Apache Tomcat servlet container and the Apache Tomcat Native Library.

JBoss Web Server also includes the following key components:

  • Apache Tomcat is a servlet container following the Java Servlet Specification. JBoss Web Server contains Apache Tomcat 10.1.
  • The Apache Tomcat Native Library improves Tomcat scalability, performance, and integration with native server technologies.
  • Tomcat-vault is an extension for the JBoss Web Server that is used for securely storing passwords and other sensitive information used by a JBoss Web Server.
  • The mod_cluster library enables communication between the JBoss Web Server and the Apache HTTP Server mod_proxy_cluster module. The mod_cluster library enables you to use the Apache HTTP Server as a load balancer for JBoss Web Server. For more information about configuring mod_cluster or installing and configuring alternative load balancers such as mod_jk and mod_proxy, see the Apache HTTP Server Connectors and Load Balancing Guide.
  • Apache portable runtime (APR) is a runtime that provides an OpenSSL-based TLS implementation for the HTTP connectors. JBoss Web Server provides a distribution of APR for supported Windows platforms only. For Red Hat Enterprise Linux, you can use the APR package that the operating system provides.
  • OpenSSL is a software library that implements the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocols and includes a basic cryptographic library. JBoss Web Server provides a distribution of OpenSSL for supported Windows platforms only. For Red Hat Enterprise Linux, you can use the OpenSSL package that the operating system provides.

Namespace changes

Moving to support Jakarta EE 10, developers should be aware of the namespaces change to jakarta instead of javax. The change does not affect the Javax packages that are already part of the Java Standard Edition (SE). Customers considering migrating from the previous version of JWS 5.x can read the migration guide for more details. 

ARM64 support

Another awesome update for developers is the inclusion of ARM64 support. ARM64 processors boost efficiency, reducing carbon footprints in data centers. They support compute-intensive applications like rich graphics, facilitating the adoption of BYOD (bring your own device) in enterprises and saving costs. With support for ARM, you can now deploy JBoss Web Server on to edge use cases. 

New security features

JBoss Web Server for Red Hat OpenShift also includes enhancements for secure HTTPS connections:

  • JWS_HTTPS_CERTIFICATE_CHAIN is a new variable that specifies the name of the certificate chain file (for example, ca-chain.cert.pem).
  • JWS_HTTPS_CERTIFICATE_DIR is a new variable that specifies the name of the directory where the certificate is stored (for example, cert).
  • JWS_HTTPS_CERTIFICATE now specifies the name of the certificate file (for example, rsa-cert.pem). This supersedes the behavior in previous releases where the JWS_HTTPS_CERTIFICATE variable specified the name of the certificate file within a secret (for example, server.crt).
  • JWS_HTTPS_CERTIFICATE_KEY now specifies the name of the certificate key file (for example, rsa-key.pem). This supersedes the behavior in previous releases where the JWS_HTTPS_CERTIFICATE_KEY variable specified the name of the certificate key file within a secret (for example, server.key).

A couple of other notable changes, such as the introduction of Apache Tomcat 10.1 support, JBoss Web Server no longer supports the use of the Apache Portable Portable (APR) native connector. From JBoss Web Server 6.0 onward, JBoss Web Server only supports the use of the NIO connector or the NIO2 connector. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, JDK 8, and Windows 2016 are no longer supported.

JBoss Web Server 6.0 installation guides

To install JBoss Web Server 6.0 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux or Microsoft Windows, see the following documentation installation guide:

For more details on this release, please review the documentation.