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Jetty Web Server Cheatsheet

A quick reference guide for Jetty, covering configuration, deployment, and essential features. Ideal for developers and system administrators.

Jetty Basics and Configuration

Core Concepts

Jetty: A lightweight, embeddable web server and servlet container.

Handlers: Components that process requests.

Connectors: Components that accept incoming connections.

Contexts: Represent web applications deployed in Jetty.

Thread Pools: Manage threads for handling requests efficiently.

Configuration Files

jetty.xml

Main configuration file for Jetty. Defines server, connectors, handlers, and other settings. Located typically in ${jetty.base}/jetty.xml.

jetty-deploy.xml

Configuration file for hot deployment of web applications. Enables automatic deployment of WAR files in the ${jetty.base}/webapps directory.

web.xml

Servlet configuration file for web applications. Defines servlets, filters, and other web application components. Placed inside WEB-INF directory in war file.

Starting Jetty

From the command line:

java -jar start.jar

With specific configuration:

java -jar start.jar etc/jetty.xml etc/jetty-deploy.xml

Using an IDE (e.g., Eclipse, IntelliJ) by embedding Jetty.

Deployment and Handlers

Deploying Web Applications

WAR Files

Drop the .war file into the ${jetty.base}/webapps directory. If jetty-deploy.xml is configured, the application will be deployed automatically.

Context XML

Create a context XML file (e.g., mywebapp.xml) in the ${jetty.base}/webapps directory to configure the web application. Useful for customization.

Example Context XML

 
<Configure class="org.eclipse.jetty.webapp.WebAppContext">
  <Set name="contextPath">/mywebapp</Set>
  <Set name="war">/path/to/mywebapp.war</Set>
</Configure>

Common Handlers

DefaultHandler: Serves static content and handles default requests.

ContextHandler: Maps requests to specific contexts (web applications).

ResourceHandler: Serves static resources from a specified directory.

RequestLogHandler: Logs incoming requests to a file or other output.

Handler Collections

Use HandlerCollection to chain multiple handlers together. This allows you to combine different functionalities.

<New id="Handlers" class="org.eclipse.jetty.server.handler.HandlerCollection">
  <Set name="handlers">
    <Array type="org.eclipse.jetty.server.Handler">
      <Item><Ref ref="DefaultHandler"/></Item>
      <Item><Ref ref="Contexts"/></Item>
      <Item><Ref ref="RequestLog"/></Item>
    </Array>
  </Set>
</New>

Connectors and Security

Connectors Configuration

ServerConnector

Standard connector for HTTP/1.1. Configured in jetty.xml.

<New id="http" class="org.eclipse.jetty.server.ServerConnector">
  <Arg name="server"><Ref ref="Server"/></Arg>
  <Set name="port">8080</Set>
</New>

SslConnectionFactory

Used in conjunction with ServerConnector to enable HTTPS.

<New id="sslContextFactory" class="org.eclipse.jetty.util.ssl.SslContextFactory">
  <Set name="keyStorePath">/path/to/keystore.jks</Set>
  <Set name="keyStorePassword">password</Set>
</New>

HTTPS Connector

 
<New id="https" class="org.eclipse.jetty.server.ServerConnector">
  <Arg name="server"><Ref ref="Server"/></Arg>
  <Arg name="factories">
    <Array type="org.eclipse.jetty.server.ConnectionFactory">
      <Item><New class="org.eclipse.jetty.server.HttpConnectionFactory"><Arg name="config"><Ref ref="httpConfig"/></Arg></New></Item>
      <Item><New class="org.eclipse.jetty.server.SslConnectionFactory">
        <Arg name="sslContextFactory"><Ref ref="sslContextFactory"/></Arg>
        <Arg name="nextProtocol">http/1.1</Arg>
      </New></Item>
    </Array>
  </Arg>
  <Set name="port">8443</Set>
</New>

Security

Authentication: Jetty supports various authentication methods including Basic, Digest, and Form-based authentication.

Authorization: Control access to resources based on user roles.

SecurityHandler: Enforces security constraints defined in web.xml or context XML files.

SSL Configuration

Generate a Keystore:

keytool -genkeypair -alias jetty -keyalg RSA -keystore keystore.jks -validity 365

Configure SslContextFactory in jetty.xml with the path to the keystore and password.

Advanced Features

WebSockets

Jetty provides excellent support for WebSockets, enabling real-time bidirectional communication.

Implement WebSocket endpoints using @WebSocket annotation or by implementing WebSocketListener interface.

Example WebSocket Endpoint:

@WebSocket
public class MyWebSocket {
  @OnWebSocketConnect
  public void onConnect(Session session) {
    // Handle connection
  }

  @OnWebSocketMessage
  public void onMessage(Session session, String message) {
    // Handle message
  }
}

JNDI

JNDI Resources

Jetty supports JNDI (Java Naming and Directory Interface) for managing resources like data sources.

Configure JNDI resources in the context XML file.

Example JNDI Configuration

 
<New id="myDataSource" class="org.apache.commons.dbcp2.BasicDataSource">
  <Set name="driverClassName">com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver</Set>
  <Set name="url">jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/mydb</Set>
  <Set name="username">user</Set>
  <Set name="password">password</Set>
</New>

<New class="org.eclipse.jetty.plus.jndi.Resource">
  <Arg><Ref ref="Server"/></Arg>
  <Arg>jdbc/mydb</Arg>
  <Arg><Ref ref="myDataSource"/></Arg>
</New>

Logging

Jetty uses Slf4j as a logging facade. Configure the underlying logging implementation (e.g., Logback, Log4j) to control logging behavior.

Configure RequestLogHandler to log HTTP requests. Customize the log format and output destination.
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