tutorial:adm:server_preparation_win

Server preparation - Windows

This tutorial shows you how to prepare the server for test or production use of CzechIdM. If you are looking for a much quicker way of installing CzechIdM, use the demo setup described here Getting Started

  • 1 server (can be virtualized) for everything: backend, frontend and database.
  • OS Windows, ideally W2012 and newer
  • PostgreSQL - installed from EnterpriseDB
  • Java - installed from Oracle JDK
  • Apache Tomcat - installed by Tomcat .exe installer
  • Services start via system services (services.msc)

Prerequisities - Basic installation of Windows Server 2012.

  • Install the Telnet Client system feature through Programs and Features. This is optional but greatly helps with debugging network problems.
  • Install Firefox. Also optional, but greatly helps with debugging IdM webapp problems.
  • Install Git Bash. This will be essential when configuring IdM and checking its logs.
    • Use checkout-windows, commit unix style endings. It does not really matter, we will not use the git command for anything.:)
    • Do not enable integration with windows cmd.
  • Disable unnecessary windows services.
  • Disable Microsoft IIS if installed.

On Windows, we use EnterpriseDB PostgreSQL distribution. Recommended version is 12.x.

  • For installation, basically follow the official guide.
  • Set location for binaries to C:\PostgreSQL\9.6.
  • Set location for database to C:\PostgreSQL\9.6\data.
  • Install all components (pgAdmin, StackBuilder, etc.).
  • Leave the locale at [Default locale], we will set locale explicitly when creating a database.
  • After installation, check the Windows services - the postgresql-x86_64 service should be there, configured with autostart.
    • To enter services menu, get to the Start→Run and invoke services.msc.

Edit the PostgreSQL configuration file C:\PostgreSQL\9.6\data\postgresql.conf to make it listen on 127.0.0.1 only. Adjust the database sizing as necessary. The following example is for 6GB RAM. Do not hasten to overwrite your PgSQL configuration out of hand! When in doubt, use a calculator.

listen_addresses = '127.0.0.1'		# what IP address(es) to listen on;
port = 5432				# (change requires restart)
max_connections = 150			# (change requires restart)
superuser_reserved_connections = 3	# (change requires restart)
shared_buffers = 512MB			# min 128kB
work_mem = 12815kB			# min 64kB
maintenance_work_mem = 384MB
dynamic_shared_memory_type = windows	# the default is the first option
wal_level = hot_standby
wal_buffers = 16MB			# min 32kB, -1 sets based on shared_buffers
max_wal_size = 2GB
min_wal_size = 1GB
checkpoint_completion_target = 0.7	# checkpoint target duration, 0.0 - 1.0
max_wal_senders = 5
wal_keep_segments = 32
max_replication_slots = 5
effective_cache_size = 4608MB
default_statistics_target = 100		# range 1-10000
logging_collector = on
log_directory = 'C:/POSTGR~1/data/logs/pg96'
log_filename = 'postgresql-%a.log'
log_truncate_on_rotation = on 
log_checkpoints = on
log_line_prefix =  '%t [%p]: [%l-1] user=%u,db=%d,app=%a,client=%h '
log_lock_waits = on
log_temp_files = 0
log_timezone = 'Europe/Belgrade'
update_process_title = off
track_io_timing = on
log_autovacuum_min_duration = 0
datestyle = 'iso, mdy'
timezone = 'Europe/Belgrade'
lc_messages = 'English_United States.1252'			# locale for system error message
lc_monetary = 'English_United States.1252'			# locale for monetary formatting
lc_numeric = 'English_United States.1252'			# locale for number formatting
lc_time = 'English_United States.1252'				# locale for time formatting
default_text_search_config = 'pg_catalog.english'

Configure the authentication in the C:\PostgreSQL\9.6\data\pg_hba.conf to accept passwords. The basic configuration file should then look like this:

# TYPE  DATABASE        USER            CIDR-ADDRESS            METHOD

# IPv4 local & remote connections:
host    all             all             127.0.0.1/32            md5
host    all             all             0.0.0.0/0               md5
# IPv6 local connections:
host    all             all             ::1/128                 md5
If you install the database onto a server distinct from the one on which the CzechIdM application itself (Tomcat etc.) is deployed, don't forget to configure PostgreSQL to allow remote SSL connection from that server.

Install the Oracle JDK (minimal version is 1.8). You can download it from here. Be sure to download the JDK, and not only JRE.

Install the Java into a standard directory in Program Files. Having finished the installation, it is necessary to set up JAVA_HOME and PATH variables. Open the sysdm.cpl (Win+r ant type sysdm.cpl) dialogue and navigate to > Advanced > Environment Variables. Add system-wide variable JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_152 (adjust the path accordingly to the Java version you just installed). Add the %JAVA_HOME%\bin to the PATH. Then run java -version from the windows cmd to check if it is working properly.

Download and install the latest 8.5 branch of Apache Tomcat from here. Use the Windows installer.

  • Leave the installation paths on default.
  • Let the setup create admin user for the Tomcat console.
  • Modify the JRE path to make it point to installe Oracle JDK.
  • Do not install the example application.
  • Let the setup create a Tomcat windows service.
Installers for Tomcat 8.5.43 and older configure the service to run as Local System which is an account with elevated privileges. Reconfigure this to Local Service on the service configuration "LogOn" tab.

You can also use Tomcat 8.5.45 and newer, those installers set the service account to Local Service themselves.

After installation, run the Monitor Tomcat application from the Start menu (or run Tomcat8w.exe from the Tomcat bin directory - usually C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat 8.5\bin). Configure following settings:

  • initial memory pool: 512MB (example for about 5GB RAM).
  • maximum memory pool: 4096MB (example for about 5GB RAM).
  • Add C:\CzechIdM\etc;C:\CzechIdM\lib;C:\CzechIdM\lib*; to the beginning of the CLASSPATH.

Configure addresses the server will listen on. Open the server.xml configuration file in the Tomcat installation. Make these changes:

  • Add address="127.0.0.1" to the 8080/tcp and 8009/tcp connectors. This will make Tomcat listen only on localhost.
  • Change port number 8005 to -1 at the Shutdown Port setting. This will effectively turn off the shutdown port.
  • In the section for Connector protocol="HTTP/1.1" on port 8080, add the maxSwallowSize="-1" property.
  • Uncomment the section Connector protocol="AJP/1.3" for the port 8009 and adjust the address parameter: address="127.0.0.1" and add secretRequired="false". It should look like this:
    <Connector protocol="AJP/1.3"
               address="127.0.0.1"
               port="8009"
               redirectPort="8443"
               secretRequired="false"
               />    
The parameter secretRequired="false" can be used on isolated installations. E.g. apache and tomcat run on the same dedicated host and tomcat listens on localhost only. secretRequired and secret were introduced in Tomcat 8.5.51

Use the services.msc dialogue to set the Apache Tomcat StartupType to Automatic (Delayed Start). This will make the application container start after the PostgreSQL database.

For production use, we strongly advise to remove all Tomcat's management applications from the container.
  • Locate the webapps folder in the Tomcat installation and delete everything that is inside.

For roles and advanced management configuration, please see the relevant chapters in the Server Preparation - Linux tutorial.

Apache httpd as a reverse proxy

It is possible to open Apache Tomcat to the network directly, but somewhat inconvenient. You want the users to access CzechIdM on user-friendly ports 80/tcp or 443/tcp. So we use Apache httpd as a reverse proxy and add a few security features along the way. Apache httpd will allow access to data via https on port 443/tcp and http on port 80/tcp. Communication via http protocol is enabled, but we redirect all communication to https. Communication between Apache httpd and Tomcat takes place on local machine via AJP protocol. In httpd, there will be mod_security installed (optional but recommended), which serves as an application firewall.

The configuration example is written for the server which allows access to its services under the name "demo.czechidm.com".

First, install necessary VCredist library.

Download Apache HTTPd from the apachelounge distribution and unpack it into C:\apache24 folder.

Fire up an elevated shell and install the Apache HTTPd service:

cd C:\apache24\bin
httpd.exe -k install

Open the services.msc and reconfigure "Apache2.4" service:

  • To have StartupType=Automatic (Delayed start).
  • To execute under Local Service user. (On the "Log On" card, set user to Local Service, delete contents of password fields and click Apply.)

Configure the HTTPd in its core config file C:\Apache24\conf\httpd.conf. You can use the following file, just replace values for ServerAdmin and ServerName.

httpd.conf
Define SRVROOT "c:/Apache24"
ServerRoot "${SRVROOT}"
 
Listen 80
 
LoadModule access_compat_module modules/mod_access_compat.so
LoadModule actions_module modules/mod_actions.so
LoadModule alias_module modules/mod_alias.so
LoadModule allowmethods_module modules/mod_allowmethods.so
LoadModule asis_module modules/mod_asis.so
LoadModule auth_basic_module modules/mod_auth_basic.so
LoadModule authn_core_module modules/mod_authn_core.so
LoadModule authn_file_module modules/mod_authn_file.so
LoadModule authz_core_module modules/mod_authz_core.so
LoadModule authz_groupfile_module modules/mod_authz_groupfile.so
LoadModule authz_host_module modules/mod_authz_host.so
LoadModule authz_user_module modules/mod_authz_user.so
LoadModule autoindex_module modules/mod_autoindex.so
LoadModule cgi_module modules/mod_cgi.so
LoadModule deflate_module modules/mod_deflate.so
LoadModule dir_module modules/mod_dir.so
LoadModule env_module modules/mod_env.so
LoadModule filter_module modules/mod_filter.so
LoadModule headers_module modules/mod_headers.so
LoadModule include_module modules/mod_include.so
LoadModule isapi_module modules/mod_isapi.so
LoadModule log_config_module modules/mod_log_config.so
#LoadModule log_debug_module modules/mod_log_debug.so
LoadModule mime_module modules/mod_mime.so
#LoadModule mime_magic_module modules/mod_mime_magic.so
LoadModule negotiation_module modules/mod_negotiation.so
LoadModule proxy_module modules/mod_proxy.so
LoadModule proxy_ajp_module modules/mod_proxy_ajp.so
#LoadModule proxy_balancer_module modules/mod_proxy_balancer.so
#LoadModule proxy_connect_module modules/mod_proxy_connect.so
#LoadModule proxy_express_module modules/mod_proxy_express.so
#LoadModule proxy_html_module modules/mod_proxy_html.so
LoadModule proxy_http_module modules/mod_proxy_http.so
LoadModule proxy_wstunnel_module modules/mod_proxy_wstunnel.so
#LoadModule reqtimeout_module modules/mod_reqtimeout.so
LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so
LoadModule setenvif_module modules/mod_setenvif.so
LoadModule socache_shmcb_module modules/mod_socache_shmcb.so
LoadModule ssl_module modules/mod_ssl.so
LoadModule unique_id_module modules/mod_unique_id.so
#LoadModule vhost_alias_module modules/mod_vhost_alias.so
LoadModule security2_module modules/mod_security2.so
 
<IfModule unixd_module>
# jsme na oknech, tohle se nepouzije
    User daemon
    Group daemon
</IfModule>
 
# 'Main' server configuration
#
ServerAdmin root@demo.czechidm.com
ServerName demo.czechidm.com
 
<Directory />
    AllowOverride none
    Require all denied
</Directory>
 
DocumentRoot "c:/Apache24/htdocs"
<Directory "c:/Apache24/htdocs">
    Options -Indexes -FollowSymLinks -MultiViews
    AllowOverride None
    Require all granted
</Directory>
 
<IfModule dir_module>
    DirectoryIndex index.html
</IfModule>
 
<Files ".ht*">
    Require all denied
</Files>
 
ErrorLog "logs/error.log"
LogLevel warn
 
<IfModule log_config_module>
    LogFormat "%h %l %u %t \"%r\" %>s %b \"%{Referer}i\" \"%{User-Agent}i\"" combined
    LogFormat "%h %l %u %t \"%r\" %>s %b" common
    <IfModule logio_module>
      # You need to enable mod_logio.c to use %I and %O
      LogFormat "%h %l %u %t \"%r\" %>s %b \"%{Referer}i\" \"%{User-Agent}i\" %I %O" combinedio
    </IfModule>
    CustomLog "logs/access.log" common
    #CustomLog "logs/access.log" combined
</IfModule>
 
<IfModule alias_module>
    ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ "c:/Apache24/cgi-bin/"
</IfModule>
 
<IfModule cgid_module>
    #Scriptsock cgisock
</IfModule>
 
<Directory "c:/Apache24/cgi-bin">
    AllowOverride None
    Options None
    Require all granted
</Directory>
 
<IfModule headers_module>
    RequestHeader unset Proxy early
</IfModule>
 
<IfModule mime_module>
    TypesConfig conf/mime.types
    AddType application/x-compress .Z
    AddType application/x-gzip .gz .tgz
</IfModule>
 
# Virtual hosts
Include conf/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf
 
# Configure mod_proxy_html to understand HTML4/XHTML1
<IfModule proxy_html_module>
    Include conf/extra/proxy-html.conf
</IfModule>
 
# Secure (SSL/TLS) connections
Include conf/extra/httpd-ssl.conf
 
# Note: The following must must be present to support
#       starting without SSL on platforms with no /dev/random equivalent
#       but a statically compiled-in mod_ssl.
<IfModule ssl_module>
    SSLRandomSeed startup builtin
    SSLRandomSeed connect builtin
</IfModule>
 
# Include modsec
# if you do not want to use it, comment-out the section below
<IfModule mod_security2.c>
    Include conf/extra/modsec.conf
</IfModule>

Configure the HTTP→HTTPS redirect in the C:\Apache24\conf\extra\httpd-vhosts.conf. Replace demo.czechidm.com with the name of your server:

httpd-vhosts.conf
# Virtual Hosts
#
# Required modules: mod_log_config
 
<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName demo.czechidm.com
    ErrorLog "logs/demo.czechidm.com-error.log"
    CustomLog "logs/demo.czechidm.com-access.log" common
 
# this is for stable deployment
    Redirect permanent / https://demo.czechidm.com
 
# this one is for debugging before going live
#    Redirect / https://demo.czechidm.com
</VirtualHost>

Configure the HTTPS virtual host in the C:\Apache24\conf\extra\httpd-ssl.conf file. Change demo.czechidm.com to the name of your server.

In some cases older clients (i.e. IE10 and older, Java6, etc.) will not be able to communicate with IdM due to the SSL settings. If this is your case, you may need to slacken the cipher settings a bit.
httpd-ssl.conf
Listen 443
 
SSLCipherSuite ALL:!ADH:!EXPORT:!SSLv2:RC4+RSA:+HIGH:+MEDIUM:!LOW:!RC4:!3DES+SHA:!IDEA
SSLProxyCipherSuite HIGH:MEDIUM:!MD5:!RC4:!3DES
SSLHonorCipherOrder on 
SSLProtocol all -SSLv2 -SSLv3 -TLSv1 -TLSv1.1
SSLProxyProtocol all -SSLv2 -SSLv3
SSLPassPhraseDialog  builtin
SSLSessionCache        "shmcb:c:/Apache24/logs/ssl_scache(512000)"
SSLSessionCacheTimeout  300
 
 
<VirtualHost _default_:443>
ServerName demo.czechidm.com
ServerAdmin root@demo.czechidm.com
ErrorLog "c:/Apache24/logs/demo.czechidm.com_ssl-error.log"
TransferLog "c:/Apache24/logs/demo.czechidm.com_ssl-access.log"
CustomLog "c:/Apache24/logs/demo.czechidm.com_ssl-request.log" "%t %h %{SSL_PROTOCOL}x %{SSL_CIPHER}x \"%r\" %b"
 
SSLEngine on
 
SSLCertificateFile "c:/Apache24/conf/server.crt"
SSLCertificateKeyFile "c:/Apache24/conf/server.key"
#SSLCertificateChainFile "c:/Apache24/conf/server-chain.crt"
 
SSLVerifyClient none
 
<FilesMatch "\.(cgi|shtml|phtml|php)$">
    SSLOptions +StdEnvVars
</FilesMatch>
<Directory "c:/Apache24/cgi-bin">
    SSLOptions +StdEnvVars
</Directory>
 
BrowserMatch "MSIE [2-5]" nokeepalive ssl-unclean-shutdown downgrade-1.0 force-response-1.0
 
# workaround for bad font handling in IE 11
<LocationMatch "/idm/.*(\.ttf|\.woff2|\.eot)$">
        Header set Cache-Control "no-cache, public, must-revalidate, proxy-revalidate" 
</LocationMatch>
 
ProxyRequests     off
ProxyPreserveHost on
ProxyAddHeaders on
ProxyPass / ajp://127.0.0.1:8009/
ProxyPassReverse / ajp://127.0.0.1:8009/
 
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule "^/$"  "/idm/" [R]
 
<IfModule mod_security2.c>
        SecRuleRemoveById 981173
        SecRuleRemoveById 960015
        SecRuleRemoveById 950109
 
        # Allow Czech signs
        SecRuleRemoveById 981318
        SecRuleRemoveById 981242
        SecRuleRemoveById 960024
        SecRuleRemoveById 981245
 
        # Too restrictive for login format
        SecRuleRemoveById 960035
 
        # Needed by Websockets 
        <Location "/idm/api/v1/websocket-info/">
                SecRuleRemoveById 970901
        </Location>
 
        # These break Certificate Authority module
        <Location "/idm/api/v1/crt/certificates/action/validate">
                SecRuleRemoveById 960915
                SecRuleRemoveById 200003
        </Location>
 
	# Modsec can throw false positives on some files due to multipart boundary check
	<Location "/idm/api/v1/attachments/upload">
		SecRuleRemoveById 960915
		SecRuleRemoveById 200003
	</Location>
 
        # do not log request/response body
        SecAuditLogParts ABFHZ
</IfModule>
 
<IfModule mod_deflate.c>
        # Compress HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Text, XML and fonts
        AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/javascript
        AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/rss+xml
        AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/vnd.ms-fontobject
        AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font
        AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-opentype
        AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-otf
        AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-truetype
        AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-ttf
        AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-javascript
        AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xhtml+xml
        AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xml
        AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/opentype
        AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/otf
        AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/ttf
        AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE image/svg+xml
        AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE image/x-icon
        AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/css
        AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html
        AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/javascript
        AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/plain
        AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/xml
        AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/json
        AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/hal+json
 
        # Remove browser bugs (only needed for really old browsers)
        BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4 gzip-only-text/html
        BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4\.0[678] no-gzip
        BrowserMatch \bMSIE !no-gzip !gzip-only-text/html
        Header append Vary User-Agent
</IfModule>
 
</VirtualHost>

Supply SSL certificate and key in x509 PEM form to c:/Apache24/conf/server.key and c:/Apache24/conf/server.crt files. Apache HTTPd will not start without those files. If you need to generate some ad-hoc certificates, use for example this guide. You can easily invoke the openssl tool from the Git Bash prompt.

Self-signed cert and key for testing purposes can be created like this:

openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:4096 -keyout server.key -out server.crt -days 365 -nodes

Download the mod_security module from the Apache Lounge project. Unpack the zip and perform following actions:

  • Copy the mod_security2.so int C:\Apache24\modules directory.
  • Copy yajl.dll into C:\Apache24\bin directory.

Create general mod_security configuration file C:\Apache24\conf\extra\modsec.conf:

modsec.conf
<IfModule mod_security2.c>
    # ModSecurity Core Rules Set configuration
    IncludeOptional conf/modsecurity_win.d/*.conf
    IncludeOptional conf/modsecurity_win.d/activated_rules/*.conf
 
    # Default recommended configuration
    SecRuleEngine On
    SecRequestBodyAccess On
    SecRule REQUEST_HEADERS:Content-Type "text/xml" \
         "id:'200000',phase:1,t:none,t:lowercase,pass,nolog,ctl:requestBodyProcessor=XML"
    SecRequestBodyLimit 13107200
    SecRequestBodyNoFilesLimit 131072
    SecRequestBodyInMemoryLimit 131072
    SecRequestBodyLimitAction Reject
    SecRule REQBODY_ERROR "!@eq 0" \
    "id:'200001', phase:2,t:none,log,deny,status:400,msg:'Failed to parse request body.',logdata:'%{reqbody_error_msg}',severity:2"
    SecRule MULTIPART_STRICT_ERROR "!@eq 0" \
    "id:'200002',phase:2,t:none,log,deny,status:44,msg:'Multipart request body \
    failed strict validation: \
    PE %{REQBODY_PROCESSOR_ERROR}, \
    BQ %{MULTIPART_BOUNDARY_QUOTED}, \
    BW %{MULTIPART_BOUNDARY_WHITESPACE}, \
    DB %{MULTIPART_DATA_BEFORE}, \
    DA %{MULTIPART_DATA_AFTER}, \
    HF %{MULTIPART_HEADER_FOLDING}, \
    LF %{MULTIPART_LF_LINE}, \
    SM %{MULTIPART_MISSING_SEMICOLON}, \
    IQ %{MULTIPART_INVALID_QUOTING}, \
    IP %{MULTIPART_INVALID_PART}, \
    IH %{MULTIPART_INVALID_HEADER_FOLDING}, \
    FL %{MULTIPART_FILE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED}'"
 
    SecRule MULTIPART_UNMATCHED_BOUNDARY "!@eq 0" \
    "id:'200003',phase:2,t:none,log,deny,status:44,msg:'Multipart parser detected a possible unmatched boundary.'"
 
    SecPcreMatchLimit 1000
    SecPcreMatchLimitRecursion 1000
 
    SecRule TX:/^MSC_/ "!@streq 0" \
            "id:'200004',phase:2,t:none,deny,msg:'ModSecurity internal error flagged: %{MATCHED_VAR_NAME}'"
 
    SecResponseBodyAccess Off
#    SecDebugLog /var/log/httpd/modsec_debug.log
#    SecDebugLogLevel 0
    SecAuditEngine RelevantOnly
    SecAuditLogRelevantStatus "^(?:5|4(?!04))"
    SecAuditLogParts ABIJDEFHZ
    SecAuditLogType Serial
    SecAuditLog logs/modsec_audit.log
    SecArgumentSeparator &
    SecCookieFormat 0
    SecTmpDir modsec_tmp
    SecDataDir modsec_lib
</IfModule>

Create empty directories C:\Apache24\modsec_tmp and C:\Apache24\modsec_lib for mod_security working data.

Mod_security will become operational but will have no filtering rules. To obtain filtering rules, please visit Mod Security project homepage. Remember to obtain 2.x version of rules, not the newest 3.x version!

For commercial deployment of CzechIdM, we have prepared a pack of mod_security rules which you need to just unpack into C:\Apache24\conf directory, where it creates a modsecurity_win.d folder full of rules. Mod Security rules package (login required).

Now you can start the Apache HTTPd using its service. If it fails to start, check the Windows EventLog for errors.

It is possible the Apache HTTPd fails to create its logfiles. In that case, there is probably a privilege problem on the logs/ directory (you can confirm this by looking into EventLog). If this is the case, grant the Local Service user a write access to the logs/.