Apache as a Reverse Proxy
Recently, in my current job, i have to configure a reverse proxy for some WEB servers, to share the same IP and DNS name.
Almost all servers are SSL enabled for their WEB application.
For this configuration Apache + mod_proxy will be used.
Apache as a reverse proxy configuration
The reverse proxy is a Debian GNU/Linux 6.0 box. To install Apache:
apt-get install apache2 mod_proxy mod_ssl
To enable mod_proxy and mod_ssl, in Debian GNU/Linux for Apache:
a2enmod proxy ssl
Put the X.509 Certificate Autority (CA) file in a location for Apache, this certificate is the CA for the webservers to be proxied (if they are SSL-enabled).
/etc/apache2/ssl/ca.crt
Edit the VirtualHost file, for the reverse proxy:
<VirtualHost *:80>
ProxyRequests Off
RewriteEngine on
SSLProxyEngine on
SSLProxyCACertificateFile /etc/apache2/ssl/ca.crt
<Proxy *>
Order deny,allow
Allow from all
</Proxy>
<Location /webserver1/>
ProxyPass https://ip.webserver1/
ProxyPassReverse https://ip.webserver1/
</Location>
<Location /webserver2/>
ProxyPass http://ip.webserver2/
ProxyPassReverse http://ip.webserver2/
</Location>
<Location /webserver3/>
ProxyPass https://ip.webserver3/
ProxyPassReverse https://ip.webserver3/
</Location>
</VirtualHost >
Restart the Apache WEB server:
/etc/init.d/apache2 restart
With this configuration, the internal webservers are accesible from INTERNET.
http://reverse.proxy.domain/webserver1/
http://reverse.proxy.domain/webserver2/
http://reverse.proxy.domain/webserver3/
Also, it’s possible to configure the reverse proxy with SSL for HTTPS connections.
https://reverse.proxy.domain/
