You are viewing a plain text version of this content. The canonical link for it is here.
Posted to users@tomcat.apache.org by Dean Hoover <kb...@gmail.com> on 2011/09/14 19:14:15 UTC
Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5
Hello,
I am running Tomcat 5.5 in support of a internal-use only JSPWiki site.
To consolidate, I decided to move our internal calendars (using the iCal
.ics extension) from our very old Win2k server to the root directory of
Tomcat as well.
The problem I am having is that we are unable to modify (add/remove calendar
entries) after the move. We can read them just fine. I figure there is an
issue of permissions, and have Googled many sites that tell me to change the
catalina.policy file and add the ability for that directory to have read and
write access. I've even used the AllPermissions setting, but with no
success.
I tried running "catalina.sh start -debug", but I don't get anything
substantial from the log files, either.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Dean Hoover
Waukesha, Wisconsin
Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5
Posted by Christopher Schultz <ch...@christopherschultz.net>.
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
Dean,
On 9/14/2011 1:14 PM, Dean Hoover wrote:
> I am running Tomcat 5.5 in support of a internal-use only JSPWiki
> site.
Time to upgrade. It's 7.0.21 time.
> To consolidate, I decided to move our internal calendars (using the
> iCal .ics extension) from our very old Win2k server to the root
> directory of Tomcat as well.
>
> The problem I am having is that we are unable to modify (add/remove
> calendar entries) after the move. We can read them just fine.
You should look at your old configuration to see what was enabling the
writes to those files. I suspect that WebDAV is involved. Tomcat does
support WebDAV:
http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-7.0-doc/api/org/apache/catalina/servlets/WebdavServlet.html
> I figure there is an issue of permissions, and have Googled many
> sites that tell me to change the catalina.policy file and add the
> ability for that directory to have read and write access. I've
> even used the AllPermissions setting, but with no success.
catalina.policy is only for use with a SecurityManager.
You may still have a file and/or directory permissions problem.
Something I would also caution you about: if you undeploy your webapp,
Tomcat will delete all the files in the deployment directory, probably
including your calendar files. So.... maybe you want to put those
somewhere else when you configure WebDAV.
- -chris
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.10 (MingW32)
Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org/
iEYEARECAAYFAk5yZ6QACgkQ9CaO5/Lv0PB9PgCgr6BUM3WJSM/9tVydfVjMGKFL
iAMAnRv9t7yYbSvGb2z4LX9m2CnSRHtT
=W+0c
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: users-unsubscribe@tomcat.apache.org
For additional commands, e-mail: users-help@tomcat.apache.org
Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5
Posted by André Warnier <aw...@ice-sa.com>.
I forgot to add :
Since previously the application was running on a Win2K server, it may be that this Win2K
server just "shared" (windows-like) the directory where the .ics files were located, and
this being in a local LAN, that the client were just writing the files there via a Windows
network file mechanism (and nothing to do with HTTP thus).
That sounds quite unsafe and limited, but in a small intranet may be acceptable.
If such was the case (and again the client setup should contain a hint), then maybe all
that's missing is to "share" the new directory under Tomcat where you put the files.
Tomcat won't be involved in the writing part, so it should not stand in the way, at least
as long as when a client writes there, the permissions don't prevent Tomcat from reading
the files (for the "download" part).
Don't take this as a recommendation of how to do it.
André Warnier wrote:
> Right.
> There should be some setting/parameter corresponding to the Thunderbird
> plugin, which indicates /how/ it is trying to write files to the server.
> In Options..Advanced..Config Editor ?
> I find some traces there in my Thunderbird setup, of parameters starting
> with "SyncKolab".. (That may be something else though)
>
> The point which several people were trying to make here is :
> Any "sane" webserver setup will never allow a user to /upload/ files to
> the server, just by specifying their URL. That is because it is
> potentially a very big security hole.
> (One generally does not want the first miscreant around to deface one's
> server by loading his own pages or applications)
>
> It is /possible/ to allow this (and there are even special HTTP commands
> to do that), but you need to add something to the server, in terms of
> additional modules to handle such uploads, and a special (and careful)
> configuration to go with it.
> It is not sufficient to just put the files somewhere where they can be
> seen and retrieved by a browser, and make them writeable. Thankfully.
> (Note that all this is not specific to Tomcat. Any reasonable webserver
> is like that.)
>
>
> One such fairly standard server add-on, in the case of Tomcat, is the
> DAV application. It is available on the Tomcat website, but not as part
> of the standard download (I think), and it is certainly not installed by
> default.
>
> It is not the only way, and maybe this particular plugin expects the
> webserver to run an application which comes along with the plugin. But
> again, you'd need to install it on the server, it will not be there by
> default.
>
> In any case, one would expect, either in the plugin documentation or in
> the parameters somwhere on the client, to find a hint as to how the file
> upload to the server is supposed to happen.
>
>
> Dean Hoover wrote:
>> Fair enough, Chuck.
>>
>> I don't know exactly what writes the file, but since we are using the
>> Lightning add-on from Thunderbird, I would assume that Lightning is doing
>> the work.
>>
>> As far as how it used to work, everyone would read from the .ics
>> calendar on
>> the old server from Lightning via a web link. Those with the proper
>> access
>> were able to write to it for adding/updating/deleting calendar entries.
>>
>> Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the feedback. It seems that this is a
>> little more involved than I thought, which is fine. I see there are
>> open-source alternatives, so I will pursue those.
>>
>> It's all good. Thanks again.
>>
>> Dean
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Sep 15, 2011 at 9:47 AM, Caldarale, Charles R <
>> Chuck.Caldarale@unisys.com> wrote:
>>
>>>> From: Dean Hoover [mailto:kb7qdi@gmail.com]
>>>> Subject: Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5
>>>> We are not using DAV, just simple iCalendar (.ics) files.
>>> But what _writes_ the files? Unless you have your own servlet to do
>>> this,
>>> or use DAV or a similar file upload mechanism, nothing cause an
>>> update of
>>> data on the server.
>>>
>>>> It was running on an old Win2k server using an even
>>>> older Apache web service before.
>>> Perhaps if you explained more fully how the prior mechanism worked, we
>>> could suggest an alternative for use with Tomcat. So far, we've
>>> really got
>>> nothing to go on.
>>>
>>> - Chuck
>>>
>>>
>>> THIS COMMUNICATION MAY CONTAIN CONFIDENTIAL AND/OR OTHERWISE PROPRIETARY
>>> MATERIAL and is thus for use only by the intended recipient. If you
>>> received
>>> this in error, please contact the sender and delete the e-mail and its
>>> attachments from all computers.
>>>
>>>
>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> To unsubscribe, e-mail: users-unsubscribe@tomcat.apache.org
>>> For additional commands, e-mail: users-help@tomcat.apache.org
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: users-unsubscribe@tomcat.apache.org
> For additional commands, e-mail: users-help@tomcat.apache.org
>
>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: users-unsubscribe@tomcat.apache.org
For additional commands, e-mail: users-help@tomcat.apache.org
Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5
Posted by André Warnier <aw...@ice-sa.com>.
Right.
There should be some setting/parameter corresponding to the Thunderbird plugin, which
indicates /how/ it is trying to write files to the server.
In Options..Advanced..Config Editor ?
I find some traces there in my Thunderbird setup, of parameters starting with
"SyncKolab".. (That may be something else though)
The point which several people were trying to make here is :
Any "sane" webserver setup will never allow a user to /upload/ files to the server, just
by specifying their URL. That is because it is potentially a very big security hole.
(One generally does not want the first miscreant around to deface one's server by loading
his own pages or applications)
It is /possible/ to allow this (and there are even special HTTP commands to do that), but
you need to add something to the server, in terms of additional modules to handle such
uploads, and a special (and careful) configuration to go with it.
It is not sufficient to just put the files somewhere where they can be seen and retrieved
by a browser, and make them writeable. Thankfully.
(Note that all this is not specific to Tomcat. Any reasonable webserver is like that.)
One such fairly standard server add-on, in the case of Tomcat, is the DAV application. It
is available on the Tomcat website, but not as part of the standard download (I think),
and it is certainly not installed by default.
It is not the only way, and maybe this particular plugin expects the webserver to run an
application which comes along with the plugin. But again, you'd need to install it on the
server, it will not be there by default.
In any case, one would expect, either in the plugin documentation or in the parameters
somwhere on the client, to find a hint as to how the file upload to the server is supposed
to happen.
Dean Hoover wrote:
> Fair enough, Chuck.
>
> I don't know exactly what writes the file, but since we are using the
> Lightning add-on from Thunderbird, I would assume that Lightning is doing
> the work.
>
> As far as how it used to work, everyone would read from the .ics calendar on
> the old server from Lightning via a web link. Those with the proper access
> were able to write to it for adding/updating/deleting calendar entries.
>
> Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the feedback. It seems that this is a
> little more involved than I thought, which is fine. I see there are
> open-source alternatives, so I will pursue those.
>
> It's all good. Thanks again.
>
> Dean
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 15, 2011 at 9:47 AM, Caldarale, Charles R <
> Chuck.Caldarale@unisys.com> wrote:
>
>>> From: Dean Hoover [mailto:kb7qdi@gmail.com]
>>> Subject: Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5
>>> We are not using DAV, just simple iCalendar (.ics) files.
>> But what _writes_ the files? Unless you have your own servlet to do this,
>> or use DAV or a similar file upload mechanism, nothing cause an update of
>> data on the server.
>>
>>> It was running on an old Win2k server using an even
>>> older Apache web service before.
>> Perhaps if you explained more fully how the prior mechanism worked, we
>> could suggest an alternative for use with Tomcat. So far, we've really got
>> nothing to go on.
>>
>> - Chuck
>>
>>
>> THIS COMMUNICATION MAY CONTAIN CONFIDENTIAL AND/OR OTHERWISE PROPRIETARY
>> MATERIAL and is thus for use only by the intended recipient. If you received
>> this in error, please contact the sender and delete the e-mail and its
>> attachments from all computers.
>>
>>
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>> To unsubscribe, e-mail: users-unsubscribe@tomcat.apache.org
>> For additional commands, e-mail: users-help@tomcat.apache.org
>>
>>
>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: users-unsubscribe@tomcat.apache.org
For additional commands, e-mail: users-help@tomcat.apache.org
Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5
Posted by Dean Hoover <kb...@gmail.com>.
Fair enough, Chuck.
I don't know exactly what writes the file, but since we are using the
Lightning add-on from Thunderbird, I would assume that Lightning is doing
the work.
As far as how it used to work, everyone would read from the .ics calendar on
the old server from Lightning via a web link. Those with the proper access
were able to write to it for adding/updating/deleting calendar entries.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the feedback. It seems that this is a
little more involved than I thought, which is fine. I see there are
open-source alternatives, so I will pursue those.
It's all good. Thanks again.
Dean
On Thu, Sep 15, 2011 at 9:47 AM, Caldarale, Charles R <
Chuck.Caldarale@unisys.com> wrote:
> > From: Dean Hoover [mailto:kb7qdi@gmail.com]
> > Subject: Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5
>
> > We are not using DAV, just simple iCalendar (.ics) files.
>
> But what _writes_ the files? Unless you have your own servlet to do this,
> or use DAV or a similar file upload mechanism, nothing cause an update of
> data on the server.
>
> > It was running on an old Win2k server using an even
> > older Apache web service before.
>
> Perhaps if you explained more fully how the prior mechanism worked, we
> could suggest an alternative for use with Tomcat. So far, we've really got
> nothing to go on.
>
> - Chuck
>
>
> THIS COMMUNICATION MAY CONTAIN CONFIDENTIAL AND/OR OTHERWISE PROPRIETARY
> MATERIAL and is thus for use only by the intended recipient. If you received
> this in error, please contact the sender and delete the e-mail and its
> attachments from all computers.
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: users-unsubscribe@tomcat.apache.org
> For additional commands, e-mail: users-help@tomcat.apache.org
>
>
RE: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5
Posted by "Caldarale, Charles R" <Ch...@unisys.com>.
> From: Dean Hoover [mailto:kb7qdi@gmail.com]
> Subject: Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5
> We are not using DAV, just simple iCalendar (.ics) files.
But what _writes_ the files? Unless you have your own servlet to do this, or use DAV or a similar file upload mechanism, nothing cause an update of data on the server.
> It was running on an old Win2k server using an even
> older Apache web service before.
Perhaps if you explained more fully how the prior mechanism worked, we could suggest an alternative for use with Tomcat. So far, we've really got nothing to go on.
- Chuck
THIS COMMUNICATION MAY CONTAIN CONFIDENTIAL AND/OR OTHERWISE PROPRIETARY MATERIAL and is thus for use only by the intended recipient. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the e-mail and its attachments from all computers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: users-unsubscribe@tomcat.apache.org
For additional commands, e-mail: users-help@tomcat.apache.org
Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5
Posted by Dean Hoover <kb...@gmail.com>.
We are not using DAV, just simple iCalendar (.ics) files.
It was running on an old Win2k server using an even older Apache web service
before. Was just hoping to be able to move the files over and allow write
permissions in Tomcat.
If that's not possible, I will pursue another option to make it work.
Thanks everyone for your comments.
Dean
On Thu, Sep 15, 2011 at 8:05 AM, Pid <pi...@pidster.com> wrote:
> On 15/09/2011 13:28, André Warnier wrote:
> > Pid wrote:
> >> On 15/09/2011 02:08, Dean Hoover wrote:
> >>> We're using Lightning (add-on from Thunderbird email client). The
> >>> error we
> >>> get is MODIFICATION_FAILED, which from some review points to
> >>> permissions to
> >>> the .ics file.
> >>>
> >>> On Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 4:34 PM, Pid <pi...@pidster.com> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> On 14/09/2011 18:14, Dean Hoover wrote:
> >>>>> The problem I am having is that we are unable to modify (add/remove
> >>>> calendar
> >>>>> entries) after the move.
> >>>> How are you trying to update them?
> >>
> >> So you are trying to execute a write operation on the file over HTTP?
> >> It is not possible to simply write to files published on web servers
> >> over HTTP, as if they are on an accessible file system.
> >
> > Unless that thing uses DAV, and the server is configured to support it
> > of course. I have a vague recollection that this is what this plugin
> > expects.
>
> Correct, but then that is not a 'simple' write to the file...
> The OP hasn't mentioned DAV yet.
>
>
> p
>
>
Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5
Posted by Pid <pi...@pidster.com>.
On 15/09/2011 13:28, André Warnier wrote:
> Pid wrote:
>> On 15/09/2011 02:08, Dean Hoover wrote:
>>> We're using Lightning (add-on from Thunderbird email client). The
>>> error we
>>> get is MODIFICATION_FAILED, which from some review points to
>>> permissions to
>>> the .ics file.
>>>
>>> On Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 4:34 PM, Pid <pi...@pidster.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 14/09/2011 18:14, Dean Hoover wrote:
>>>>> The problem I am having is that we are unable to modify (add/remove
>>>> calendar
>>>>> entries) after the move.
>>>> How are you trying to update them?
>>
>> So you are trying to execute a write operation on the file over HTTP?
>> It is not possible to simply write to files published on web servers
>> over HTTP, as if they are on an accessible file system.
>
> Unless that thing uses DAV, and the server is configured to support it
> of course. I have a vague recollection that this is what this plugin
> expects.
Correct, but then that is not a 'simple' write to the file...
The OP hasn't mentioned DAV yet.
p
Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5
Posted by André Warnier <aw...@ice-sa.com>.
Pid wrote:
> On 15/09/2011 02:08, Dean Hoover wrote:
>> We're using Lightning (add-on from Thunderbird email client). The error we
>> get is MODIFICATION_FAILED, which from some review points to permissions to
>> the .ics file.
>>
>> On Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 4:34 PM, Pid <pi...@pidster.com> wrote:
>>
>>> On 14/09/2011 18:14, Dean Hoover wrote:
>>>> The problem I am having is that we are unable to modify (add/remove
>>> calendar
>>>> entries) after the move.
>>> How are you trying to update them?
>
> So you are trying to execute a write operation on the file over HTTP?
> It is not possible to simply write to files published on web servers
> over HTTP, as if they are on an accessible file system.
Unless that thing uses DAV, and the server is configured to support it of course. I have a
vague recollection that this is what this plugin expects.
>
> Is there an access log configured, and if so, what are the log lines
> that show access attempts to those files?
>
>
> p
>
>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: users-unsubscribe@tomcat.apache.org
For additional commands, e-mail: users-help@tomcat.apache.org
Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5
Posted by Pid <pi...@pidster.com>.
On 15/09/2011 02:08, Dean Hoover wrote:
> We're using Lightning (add-on from Thunderbird email client). The error we
> get is MODIFICATION_FAILED, which from some review points to permissions to
> the .ics file.
>
> On Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 4:34 PM, Pid <pi...@pidster.com> wrote:
>
>> On 14/09/2011 18:14, Dean Hoover wrote:
>>> The problem I am having is that we are unable to modify (add/remove
>> calendar
>>> entries) after the move.
>>
>> How are you trying to update them?
So you are trying to execute a write operation on the file over HTTP?
It is not possible to simply write to files published on web servers
over HTTP, as if they are on an accessible file system.
Is there an access log configured, and if so, what are the log lines
that show access attempts to those files?
p
Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5
Posted by Dean Hoover <kb...@gmail.com>.
We're using Lightning (add-on from Thunderbird email client). The error we
get is MODIFICATION_FAILED, which from some review points to permissions to
the .ics file.
On Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 4:34 PM, Pid <pi...@pidster.com> wrote:
> On 14/09/2011 18:14, Dean Hoover wrote:
> > The problem I am having is that we are unable to modify (add/remove
> calendar
> > entries) after the move.
>
> How are you trying to update them?
>
>
> p
>
>
Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5
Posted by Pid <pi...@pidster.com>.
On 14/09/2011 18:14, Dean Hoover wrote:
> The problem I am having is that we are unable to modify (add/remove calendar
> entries) after the move.
How are you trying to update them?
p