Protocols

A protocol is used by a network listener to determine the nature of the communication expected by the listener. For example, a protocol determines the timeout of a request, as well as whether HTTPS should be used. The reason the protocol is separate to the listener is so that the same protocol configuration can be used to listen on multiple ports.

Existing protocols can be configured from the admin console or with asadmin commands. The protocol configurations can be found in the Admin Console under Configurations → your-config → Network Config → Protocols.

Protocol Configuration View Location

Standard Configuration Settings

The following are the main configuration settings for network listener protocols:

Security

Whether security is enabled for the protocol. When disabled, all the SSL/TLS options are ignored.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.security-enabled=[true|false]

HTTP Settings

The following HTTP settings can be configured:

Server Name

The name of the server. This will be sent as the Server header in responses.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.server-name-enabled=value

Default Virtual Server

The default virtual server used for the protocol. Establishes the request priority when multiple virtual servers are configured.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.default-virtual-server=value

Redirect Port

The port used for SSL transport redirection.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.redirect-port=value

Max Connections

The maximum number of requests per connection to keep in keep-alive mode.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.max-connections=value

Timeout

The amount of time in seconds before a connection is deemed as idle. After this, the connection will no longer be in keep-alive state.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.timeout-seconds=value

Upload Timeout Enabled

Enables closing a connection that is reading bytes slowly after the configuration-http-upload-timeout-millis setting is reached.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.upload-timeout-enabled=value

Connection Upload Timeout

The timeout, in milliseconds, for uploads.

To disable this timeout, set the value to -1

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.connection-upload-timeout-millis=value

Request Timeout

The timeout, in seconds, for requests.

To disable this timeout, set the value to -1

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.request-timeout-seconds=value

Send Buffer Size

The size, in bytes, of the send buffer.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.send-buffer-size-bytes=value

Header Buffer Length

The size, in bytes, of the buffer used to read the request data.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.header-buffer-length-bytes=value

Max Post Size

The maximum size, in bytes, of POST actions.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.max-post-size-bytes=value

Max Form Post Size

The maximum size, in bytes, of a POST form.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.max-form-post-size-bytes=value

Max Save Post Size

The maximum size, in bytes, of a POST request that will be saved during authentication.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.max-save-post-size-bytes=value

URI Encoding

The character set used to decode the request URIs received.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.uri-encoding=value

Compression

Whether to enable HTTP/1.1 GZIP compression to save server bandwidth. Will be ignored when HTTP/2 is used.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.compression=[off/on/force]

Compression Level

The level of compression to be used:

  • -1 corresponds to the default level

  • 0 is no compression

  • 1 is the best speed

  • 9 is the best compression

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.compression-level=[-1-9]

Compression Strategy

Sets the strategy to be used during HTTP compression.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.compression-strategy=[Default/Filtered/Huffman Only]

Compressible Mime Types

Comma separated list of MIME types for which HTTP compression is used.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.compressable-mime-type=value
Compression Minimum Size

The minimum size of a file that determines whether compression is applied.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.compression-min-size-bytes=value
No-Compression User Agents

Comma separated list of regular expressions matching user agents for which compression should not be used.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.no-compression-user-agents=value
Restricted User Agents

List of restricted user agents for which HTTP compression is applied.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.restricted-user-agents=value

Default Response Type

The default response type if none are matched. Specified as a semicolon delimited string consisting of content type, encoding, language, charset.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.default-response-type=value

Adapter

The class name of the static resources adapter.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.adapter=value

Comet Support

Whether comet support is enabled or not.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.comet-support-enabled=[true|false]

DNS Lookup

Enables Domain Name System lookups.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.dns-lookup-enabled=[true|false]

Trace Enabled

Enables the TRACE operation.

Setting this to false helps prevent cross-site scripting attacks.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.trace-enabled=[true|false]

Auth Pass Through

Enable this if the network listener receives traffic from an SSL terminating proxy server.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.auth-pass-through-enabled=[true|false]

Chunking Enabled

Enables HTTP response chunking.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.chunking-enabled=[true|false]

XPoweredBy

Used to overwrite the default X-Powered-By header string.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.xpowered-by=value

XFrame Options

When enabled, the X-Frame-Options header will be set to SAMEORIGIN. This can still be overridden by a deployed application.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.xframe-options=[true|false]

Encoded Slash

Allow encoded slashes (e.g. %2F) in URIs.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.encoded-slash-enabled=[true|false]

Websockets Support Enabled

Allows Websockets to be used.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.websockets-support-enabled=[true|false]

Scheme Mapping

HTTP header name used for identifying the originating protocol of an HTTP request.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.scheme-mapping=value

Remote User Mapping

HTTP header name used for identifying the originating user of an HTTP request.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.remote-user-mapping=value

Enabling to set all cookies to use the SameSite value.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.cookie-same-site-enabled=[true|false]

The values to be used:

  • Lax: Cookies are not sent on normal cross-site subrequests

  • Strict: Cookies will only be sent in a first-party context

  • None: Cookies will be sent in all contexts

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.cookie-same-site-value=[Lax|Strict|None]

Users can set up the SameSite Cookie attribute at the application level by using the payara-web.xml deployment descriptor.

Set this attribute by using the cookie-properties tag with a child property named cookieSameSite:

<payara-web-app >
    <cookie-properties>
        <property name="cookieSameSite" value="Strict" />
    </cookie-properties>
</payara-web-app>

HTTP/2 Settings

The following HTTPv2 specific settings can be configured:

HTTP/2 Enabled

Whether to enable HTTP/2 support.

HTTP/2 support can only be enabled on a secure network listener

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.http2-enabled=[true|false]

Disable HTTP/2 Cipher Check

Whether TLS connections can be established using insecure cipher suites.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.http2-disable-cipher-check=[true|false]

HTTP/2 Max Concurrent Streams

The number of maximum concurrent streams allowed per HTTP/2 connection.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.http2-max-concurrent-streams=value

HTTP/2 Initial Window Size

The initial window size in bytes.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.http2-initial-window-size-in-bytes=value

HTTP/2 Max Frame Payload Size

The maximum size of the HTTP/2 frame payload to be accepted.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.http2-max-frame-payload-size-in-bytes=value

HTTP/2 Max Header List Size

The maximum size, in bytes, of the header list.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.http2-max-header-list-size-in-bytes=value

Streams High Water Mark

The maximum number of streams that are allowed. Excess streams will be cleaned out periodically in proportion to the maximum number of streams

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.http2-streams-high-water-mark=value

Streams Clean Percentage

The number of streams to process when the high water mark is exceeded.

Only closed streams will be removed.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.http2-clean-percentage=value

Streams Clean Frequency Check

The number of streams that must be closed before checking if the number of streams exceeds the high water mark.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.http2-clean-frequency-check=value

HTTP/2 Push

Enables server push. This is enabled by default.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.http.http2-push-enabled=[true|false]

SSL/TLS Settings

The following SSL/TLS settings can be configured:

TLS V1.2 Enabled

Whether to enable TLS V1.2 or not. Will be ignored if TLS is disabled.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.ssl.tls12-enabled=[true|false]

TLS V1.3 Enabled

Whether to enable TLS V1.3 or not. Will be ignored if TLS is disabled.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.ssl.tls13-enabled=[true|false]
Support for TLS 1.3 is available with JDK 8 versions after JDK 1.8.0u261, unless you’re using Zulu JDK 1.8.0u222 - 1.8.0u252, in which case you’ll also need to use the Java option -XX:+UseOpenJSSE. This option makes OpenJSSE default TLS provider. OpenJSEE is a JSEE provider created by Azul to support TLS 1.3 on JDK 8. See TLS 1.3 Support in Zulu 8 with OpenJSSE for more information. Also note that this flag can cause problems with the HTTP/2 support. If you’re using a lower version than 1.8.0u222, checkbox to enable TLS 1.3 will not be visible on the web administration console.
You will need to add the following Java Option: -Dfish.payara.clientHttpsProtocol=TLSv1.3 to the asadmin script for TLS 1.3 to work with asadmin CLI. This sets the TLS version to 1.3 which will be used by the asadmin client.

Client Authentication

When enabled, clients will be required to authenticate themselves to the server.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.ssl.client-auth-enabled=[true|false]

Certificate Nickname

The alias of the certificate to be supplied on secure requests. The certificate should be present in the server keystore.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.ssl.cert-nickname=value

Key Store

The name of the keystore file used to secure communication handled by this network listener.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.ssl.key-store=value

Trust Store

The name of the trust store file where trusted certificates are stored.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.ssl.trust-store=value

Trust Algorithm

The name of the trust management algorithm (e.g. PKIX) to use for certification path validation.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.ssl.trust-algorithm=value

Max Certificate Length

Maximum number of non self-issued intermediate certificates that can exist in a certification path. Only used if the trust algorithm is set to PKIX.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.ssl.trust-max-cert-length=value

Enabled Ciphers

A list of the server enabled ciphers. This string is stores as a comma separated list of the enabled ciphers with a + or a - at the start of each, depending on whether the cipher is enabled or disabled. E.g. +TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA,+SSL_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.ssl.ssl3-tls-ciphers=value

Handshake Timeout

The timeout, in milliseconds, for a handshake. After this timeout the handshake will be aborted.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.ssl.handshake-timeout-millis=value

TLS Rollback

Whether TLS rollback is enabled or not.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.ssl.tls-rollback-enabled=[true|false]

HSTS Enabled

Whether HSTS is enabled. When enabled, the server will respond to requests with the Strict-Transport-Security header. While these requests often return a 301 directing the client to the secure site, this header instructs the requester to make all connections to this site secure for the next year. The header takes the following form:

Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload

The last 2 attributes are added based on the other HSTS configuration options.

HSTS can be enabled on any HTTP listener. However, it’s meant to be enabled on a secure HTTP listener if an insecure HTTP listener redirects to the secure listener. When browsers receive the Strict-Transport-Security header over HTTPS, they will use HTTPS immediately for all future connections requested over plain HTTP. If the header is retrieved over HTTP, it is ignored by browsers due to security reasons. More information in MDN Docs.

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.ssl.hsts-enabled=[true|false]

When the configuration value is set to true, the HSTS header is added with a max-age property value of 31536000. The max-age property is not configurable.

HSTS Subdomains

When enabled in combination with HSTS, Strict-Transport-Security headers will include the includeSubDomains attribute. When this is configured, the client will also assume subdomains of the targeted resource require secure connections. The subdomains property is not enabled by default and has to be enabled with the following command:

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.ssl.hsts-sub-domains=[true|false]

HSTS Preload

When enabled in combination with HSTS, Strict-Transport-Security headers will include the preload attribute. When this is configured, the domain of the target resource will be added to the browser preload list, meaning that initial requests to this resource in future won’t be insecure. The preload property is not enabled by default and has to be enabled with the following command:

Asadmin Command:

set configs.config.server-config.network-config.protocols.protocol.${protocol-name}.ssl.hsts-preload=[true|false]

Main Asadmin Commands

The following asadmin commands can be used to manage protocol records.

create-protocol

The create-protocol command creates a bare protocol to be configured with create-http and create-ssl.

asadmin create-protocol [--help]
           [--securityenabled={false|true}]
           [--target target]
           protocol-name

create-http

The create-http command creates a set of HTTP parameters for a created protocol.

asadmin  create-http [--help]
           --default-virtual-server virtual-server
           [--request-timeout-seconds timeout]
           [--timeout-seconds timeout]
           [--max-connection max-keepalive]
           [--dns-lookup-enabled={false|true}]
           [--servername server-name]
           [--target target]
           protocol-name

create-ssl

The create-ssl command creates a set of SSL parameters for a created protocol.

asadmin create-ssl [--help]
        --certname certname
        --type protocol
        [--ssl3tlsciphers ssl3tlsciphers]
        [--tlsrollbackenabled={false|true}]
        [--clientauthenabled={false|true}]
        [--target target]
        listener-id