Does JBoss EAP support the use of WebSockets?

Solution Verified - Updated 7 Aug 2024

Environment

Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP)
- 4.x
- 5.x
- 6.x
- 7.x

Issue

Does JBoss EAP support the use of WebSockets?
If it's not supported with current EAP version then please let us know starting which version of EAP we have/will have Websockets support.
Does JBoss EAP 6.4 support the use of WebSockets as up till EAP 6.3 it seems that WebSockets is NOT SUPPORTED in production environments. We would like to know if WebSockets are still UNSUPPORTED in productions environments for EAP 6.4 or not?
Are websockets via nio or apr recommended?
Are websockets supported with mod_cluster?

Resolution

Content from jcp.org is not included.JSR 356 created a standard API for WebSockets in Java in May, 2013

WebSockets 1.0 protocol provides two way communication between web clients and servers. Communications between clients and the server are event-based, allowing for faster processing and smaller bandwidth compared with polling-based methods.

Support for WebSockets

Red Hat provides production support for `WebSockets` in the following releases

EAP 7.0 and later EAP7 releases
- Refer to the JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP) 7 Supported Configurations
EAP 6.4.x
- NIO HTTP connectors must be used for websockets. The implementation provides full dependency injection support for server endpoints, however, it does not provide CDI services for client endpoints. CDI support is limited to that required by the EE6 platform, and as a result, EE7 features such as interceptors on endpoints are not supported. See JBoss EAP 6.4.0 Release Notes - Section ⁠2.1. New Features.

Unsupported versions

Pre EAP 6.4 releases:
WebSockets was provided in EAP 6.3. as a Technology Preview, but it is not supported in a production environment. Refer to to the This content is not included.EAP 6.3. release notes .

WebSockets with mod_cluster

JBCS httpd 2.4.23/mod_cluster 1.3.5.Final have been tested and certified with websockets against EAP 7. But note there is still a major usability issue from [MODCLUSTER-580](https://issues.jboss.org/browse/MODCLUSTER-580) / [JBCS-425](https://issues.redhat.com/browse/JBCS-425), which means it can only handle ws communication by itself. Any non-ws http request will fail so this still needs further improvement in later releases for most configurations that would need both ws and non-ws http requests. The last currently known issue impacting non-ws http requests with webocket proxying enabled is [JBCS-1075](https://issues.redhat.com/browse/JBCS-1075) and this will be addressed with JBCS httpd 2.4.37 SP8+.

WebSockets with mod_proxy_balancer

There is a module for Apache called `mod_proxy_wstunnel` which handles proxying for webSockets. This module is currently available in JBoss Web Server 3.0 Apache HTTPD and higher. The configuration example is as below:

Uncomment the following lines in httpd.conf:

LoadModule lbmethod_byrequests_module modules/mod_lbmethod_byrequests.so
LoadModule proxy_module modules/mod_proxy.so
LoadModule proxy_wstunnel_module modules/mod_proxy_wstunnel.so
LoadModule proxy_balancer_module modules/mod_proxy_balancer.so

For proxing to a single node, create a new file '$HTTPD_HOME/conf.d/mod_proxy_wstunnel.conf' with the following:

<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
ServerName localhost
ServerAlias localhost


RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP:Connection} upgrade [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP:Upgrade} websocket [NC]
RewriteRule /app(.*) ws://localhost:8080/app$1 [P,L]

ProxyPass /app http://localhost:8080/app
ProxyPassReverse /app http://localhost:8080/app


<Proxy *>
      Order deny,allow
      Allow from all
</Proxy>
</VirtualHost>

To use a balancer, create a new file '$HTTPD_HOME/conf.d/mod_proxy_wstunnel.conf' :

<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
ServerName localhost
ServerAlias localhost

   <Proxy balancer://wscluster>
       BalancerMember ws://127.0.0.1:8080 route=node1
       BalancerMember ws://127.0.0.1:8180 route=node2
       ProxySet stickysession=JSESSIONID|jsessionid
   </Proxy>

   <Proxy balancer://httpcluster>
       BalancerMember http://127.0.0.1:8080 route=node1
       BalancerMember http://127.0.0.1:8180 route=node2
       ProxySet stickysession=JSESSIONID|jsessionid
   </Proxy>

   RewriteEngine On
   RewriteCond %{HTTP:Connection} upgrade [NC]
   RewriteCond %{HTTP:Upgrade} websocket [NC]
   RewriteRule /app(.*) balancer://wscluster/app$1 [P,L]

   ProxyPass /app balancer://httpcluster/app
   ProxyPassReverse /app balancer://httpcluster/app
</VirtualHost>

SBR

JBoss Base AS

Product(s)

Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform

Components

jbossas

Category

Supportability

Tags

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