Apache-Jira Integration: 3 Easy Steps & Basics Concepts

Yash Arora • November 19th, 2021

In the Apache-Jira Integration, the Apache HTTP server works as a reverse proxy for the Atlassian server application, Jira. A reverse proxy helps increase business operations performance, reliability, and security — here processes are happening in Jira software, where teams communicate and set organizational goals, too.

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Adding onto that, reverse proxy (Apache-Jira Integration) provides an extra layer of data security. Big organizations use it to consolidate internet usage and block websites that might harm users or violate HR policy. Apart from that, the reverse proxy can serve for a whole suite of business functions, to name a few:

Layer web servers with basic HTTP access authentication
Compress content to optimize speed to delivery
Ease malware removal, and much more

Strike a note: When combined with cloud deployments, a reverse proxy enables cloud bursting architecture, which in return provides economic soundness to business operations without losing control over security.

In this article, we will talk about the Apache-Jira integration process in a step-by-step manner. Enjoy the read.

A Brief Overview Of Jira

Jira, developed by Atlassian, was launched 19 years ago in 2002, is a proprietary issue tracking product that enables seamless bug tracking and agile product management.

#FunFact: The name Jira is a truncation of Gojira, Japanese for Godzilla.

Currently, Jira is the world’s most popular issue tracking and project management software, used by employees from across business functions — from sales and marketing teams to software developers and graphic designers. With Jira’s sphere of influence spanning over 190 countries and over 180,000 unique customers, over 65,000 companies now depend upon its services for agile business processes.

That said, Jira currently offers four product packages as mentioned below:

Jira Work Management: This product package is best suited for generic project management needs.
Jira software: Previously known and marketed as Jira Agile, this product package is ideal for agile project management needs.
Jira Service Management: This product package is used for IT operations or business service desks.
Jira Align: The product package is best suited for strategic product and portfolio management

Let’s discuss some use cases for Jira software in a nutshell:

Seamless DevOps: Software development and IT teams, by the very nature they are set up, like to work in silos. That’s where Jira comes into the picture. To achieve synchronicity between teams, some standard sets of practices are formulated, known as DevOps, that automates processes to increase operational efficiency. DevOps teams use Jira to report and deter customer feedback, streamline incident response, and report past incidents and issues to build better services.

Ensure rich data flow for smooth software development: Software development teams leverage Jira to execute various processes in the software development lifecycle. Teams also leverage hosts of strategic apps and integrations present in Atlassian Marketplace to achieve smooth data flow. Jira Software empowers software development teams by ensuring smooth project management, increasing team efficiency, and helping your team visualize and reciprocate actions to enable a holistic growth trajectory.

Assist in Project management: Teams across business functions use Jira to lay a roadmap to complete projects on time — by simply bracketing requirements into “To do,” “In progress,” & “Done” — helping teams realize how much work is done or is pending.

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The Apache HTTP Server & Reverse Proxy

The Apache HTTP Server is developed and managed by the Apache Software Foundation. Released in 1995, it’s one of the oldest open-source, cross-platform web server software available in the market today.

And, as of November 17th, the Apache HTTP Server is used by 31.7% of all the websites present.

But let’s start with a question: How does the Apache HTTP server work? The Apache server comes under the umbrella of the Apache Software Foundation. As said earlier, its primary purpose of existence is to not be used for making websites, but rather pass along permissions to redirect network access requests — from the client, through the server, to the application server, simple — known as Proxies.

Proxy Servers behave like intermediaries between the client and the host servers. Hence the purpose is straightforward: To protect confidentiality, act as a firewall or web filter to keep users and the internet network protected.

Also, in this tutorial article, the concept of reverse proxy keeps recurring. Let’s also discuss it in a nutshell:

Reverse Proxy Server, as a feature of a load balancing solution, similar to forward proxy, stands in between web servers and users. Here, the information flow is from web servers to the users. Working as middlemen, reverse proxy filters out potential threats, so users don’t have to worry.

how Reverse Proxy looks like in Apache-Jira integration — Reverse Proxy

Some of the most prevalent benefits of using a reverse proxy server are given below:

Improved corporate and institutional security
Sound benefits of working anonymously
Balance sudden traffic spike to prevent server prom crashing
Limit Internet usage
Faster speed and bandwidth saving, and much more

Apache-Jira Integration Process

This part of the blog explains in detail, the steps to achieve the desired network topology — Apache-Jira Integration — by dividing the how-to integration part into three sections.

Let’s begin with the integration process…

Section A: Configure The Atlassian Applications

Step 1: All the Atlassian applications need to stop to proceed. Learn more

Step 2: To make an application accessed on a context path, follow the steps as follows

Note: Step not compulsory

For proxying Fisheye or Crucible, configure the web context path for Jetty. Learn more
For proxying JIRA applications, configure the context path in the Tomcat server.xml. Follow the steps as follows:
1. In Tomcat’s “Server.xml” configuration file, locate this context directive
2. Change the directive to add a new context path:

<Context path="/<contextpath>" docBase="${catalina.home}/atlassian-<atlassianapp>" reloadable="false" useHttpOnly="true">

Also, read Removing the ‘crowd’ context from the Application URL

Step 3: Now, the Connector directive is needed to be configured. If you are using Fisheye, see Configuring the Fisheye web server. And, if you are using any other Atlassian server application, follow the steps and follows:

Each application requires its own normal (non-SS:) “Connector” directive in the Tomcat “<jira-install>/conf/server.xml” file. You will then add the “scheme,” “proxyName,” and “proxyPort,” as shown in the source code below.

<Connector port=<default>
 maxThreads=<default>
    minSpareThreads=<default>
    connectionTimeout=<default>
    enableLookups=<default>
    maxHttpHeaderSize=<default>
    protocol=<default>
    useBodyEncodingForURI=<default>
    redirectPort=<default>
    acceptCount=<default>
    disableUploadTimeout=<default>
 proxyName="<subdomain>.<domain>.com"
 proxyPort="80"
 scheme="http"/>

For more information, visit the Apache Tomcat 7.0 HTTP Connector Reference.

Section B: Configure Apache HTTP Server

Note: The “mod_proxy” module is recommended by Atlassian. To learn more about “mod_proxy” refer to the mod_proxy_html site or the Apache Week tutorial.

Step 1: First, you will need to enable the “mod_proxy” modules in Apache

Step 2: In the next step, you will need to configure virtual hosts using the “mod_proxy.” And, if you are using a single Atlassian application behind Apache proxy, use the following directives:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName <subdomain>.<domain>.com
     
    ProxyRequests Off
    ProxyVia Off
     
    <Proxy *>
         Require all granted
    </Proxy>
 
    ProxyPass /<contextpath> http://<internal_domain>:<port>/<contextpath>
    ProxyPassReverse /<contextpath> http://<internal_domain>:<port>/<contextpath>
</VirtualHost>

For multiple Atlassian applications running behind Apache proxy, use the following directives:

For applications under the same domain but different context paths:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName mycompany.com
     
    ProxyRequests Off
    ProxyVia Off
     
    <Proxy "*">
         Require all granted
    </Proxy>
 
    ProxyPass /jira http://<internal_domain>:8080/jira
    ProxyPassReverse /jira http://<internal_domain>:8080/jira
 
    ProxyPass /bitbucket http://<internal_domain>:7990/bitbucket
    ProxyPassReverse /bitbucket http://<internal_domain>:7990/bitbucket
</VirtualHost>

For each application on a different domain:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName myjira.com
     
    ProxyRequests Off
    ProxyVia Off
     
    <Proxy *>
         Require all granted
    </Proxy>
 
    ProxyPass /jira http://<internal_domain>:8080/jira
    ProxyPassReverse /jira http://<internal_domain>:8080/jira
</VirtualHost>
 
<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName mybitbucket.com
     
    ProxyRequests Off
    ProxyVia Off
     
    <Proxy *>
         Require all granted
    </Proxy>
 
    ProxyPass /bitbucket http://<internal_domain>:7990/bitbucket
    ProxyPassReverse /bitbucket http://<internal_domain>:7990/bitbucket
</VirtualHost>

Step 3: Restart Apache. Then, modify the CentOS SELinux policy.

Section C: Final Configuration

Step 1: Restart Apache and JIRA. For instructions, refer stopping and starting

Step 2: Setup the application’s Base URL. For instructions, refer Click for Base URL instructions

Step 3: Disable HTTP compression for JIRA applications as running contractions simultaneously on proxy and Tomcat can cause roadblocks while performing integration rituals.

Note: Also refer to Configuring Jira application options and Compressing an HTTP Response within Confluence.

Conclusion

In this article, we discussed about, in short, the Apache HTTP servers, Jira, and the need for reverse proxy in a modern enterprise. We also discussed in detail the Apache-Jira integration process and how it works.

Hence, the concluding note for this blog will be: The Apache-Jira integration will help provide a cushioned surface for a seamless web experience. In tandem, Apache-Jira integration will also provide a strategic depth to organizational goals in terms of cyber security and data governance structure, too.

The Apache-Jira integration is a powerful fusion for tracking issues occurring in your ongoing projects securely. However, at times, you need to transfer this data to a Data Warehouse for further analysis at scale — Hevo Data can help!

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