500 internal error with Apache as reverse proxy for Tomcat + BI 4.2

[former_member856649]

Hello,

We installed a BusinessObjects BusinessIntelligence 4.2 on a Windows 2019 server. It comes with a Tomcat 9.

At present, the service is provided through the URL : http://1.2.3.4/BOE/BI and we would like to hide it behind a reverse proxy, so as it gets visible as http://bo.domain.com .

I read the SAP documentation :

https://help.sap.com/viewer/2e167338c1b24da9b2a94e68efd79c42/4.2.4/en-US/4691128d6e041014910aba7db0e...

and I made this :

In server.xml, I added :

<Connector port="8082"
  maxThreads="150"<br>
  minSpareThreads="25"
  maxSpareThreads="75"
  enableLookups="false"   
  acceptCount="100"
  debug="0"
  connectionTimeout="20000"
  proxyName="reverse-proxy.domain.com"
  proxyPort="80"
  disableUploadTimeout="true" /> 

and in Apache, I added this :

<VirtualHost *:80>
  ServerAdmin noreply@domain.com
  ServerName bo.domain.com

  <Proxy *>
    # if using Apache 2.2 use Order, Allow directives
    #Order Deny,Allow
    #Allow from all
    # if using Apache 2.4 use Require directive
    Require all granted
  </Proxy>

  ProxyPass  /  http://1.2.3.4:8082/BOE/BI
  ProxyPassReverseCookiePath /BI /BOE/BI
  ProxyPassReverse  /  http://1.2.3.4:8082/BOE/BI

  ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/bo_error.log
  CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/bo_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Now, when accessing http://bo.domain.com, I only get :

Http Status 500-Internal Server Error
Internal Server Error

In the Apache log files, I see nothing wrong.

On the BO side, I'm not skilled enough to know where to look, so I tried the different following things :

• restart the tomcat + BOBI server
• reboot the server
• look at the D:\BI42\tomcat\logs\*.log files (yes, it's installed in D:\BI42)
• Raise the error log level to "FINER" in D:\BI42\tomcat\conf\logging.properties
• I followed the procedure involving the removal of tomcat relevant folder, then use the command line wdeploy predeploy then deploy commands (it worked well)

Though before and after trying all these steps, I still get the same 500 internal error, and I see no place I could do more, neither nowhere I could read additional log files.

Please what can I do now?

Nicolas

[denis_konovalov]

nothing you do here is related to BOE side, so there are no settings or changes to apply on BOE side of things.
It is all between your Apache web server and Tomcat.
https://examples.javacodegeeks.com/enterprise-java/tomcat/apache-tomcat-reverse-proxy-configuration-...

[former_member856649]

Hello Denis,

Thank you for your reply.

In the article you mentioned, it's written to setup Tomcat to add a connector listening on port 8081, yet to setup Apache to send its queries to the port 8080, this way :

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

This sounds strange to me (diff ports).

Anyway, I tried many methods (using same port or not, using a connector on a very brand new different port "8888"), and in all cases I still get the 500 internal error.

About the first sentence of your answer, I guess you're advising me to choose a wiser "Assigned Tag", aren't you?
If so, I must admit it's the first time I'm asking for help here, and I still have to learn many things.

Now, though I fully understand that this has to be an issue between Apache and Tomcat, do you know if there's a way to get additional ans detailed logs on the Tomcat side?

Nicolas

[denis_konovalov]

first, set up your proxy to get to tomcat home page.
Does that work. If it does then your basic proxy setup is good and you can troubleshoot further.
https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/notes/1676146 or first pattern book from here https://wiki.scn.sap.com/wiki/display/BOBJ/Business+Intelligence+Platform+-+Pattern+Books+Index

p.s.
no, I did not meant that the tag you selected is wrong.