Read Me
What is the PHP/Java Bridge?
----------------------------
The PHP/Java Bridge is a network protocol which can be used to
connect a native script engine, for example PHP, with a Java or ECMA
335 VM.
Please read the http://php-java-bridge.sf.net for more information.
Overview
--------
The generic PHP/Java Bridge implementation is distributed as an
example web archive called "JavaBridge.war". It is a zip archive which
contains the libraries "JavaBridge.jar", "php-script.jar" and
"script-api.jar". Furthermore it contains some PHP examples which
can be run in any pure Java J2EE server or servlet engine.
The PHP/Java Bridge web application contains two servlets. The
"PhpJavaServlet" handles requests from remote PHP clients running in
Apache/IIS or from the command line:
Apache/IIS/console::PHP <--> PhpJavaServlet
The second servlet, PhpCGIServlet, can handle requests from internet
clients directly. It can start PHP as a FastCGI or CGI sub component:
internet browser <--> PhpCGIServlet <--> php-cgi <--> PhpJavaServlet
Furthermore the bridge supports standalone Java applications through
the JSR223 script API.
Build and execution instructions:
---------------------------------
Type java -classpath JavaBridge.war TestInstallation to extract the
JavaBridge.jar from the web archive. The command extracts
ext/JavaBridge.jar and java/Java.inc from the web archive.
Double-click on JavaBridge.jar and select SERVLET_LOCAL:8080 to
start a local HTTP server. Type java -jar ext/JavaBridge.jar --help
to see the list of available options.
Use the following code to access Java from your PHP scripts:
<?php
if(!extension_loaded("java"))
require_once("http://localhost:8080/JavaBridge/java/Java.inc");
$s = new Java("java.lang.String", "hello");
...
?>
To build and install an optimized implementation which doesn't need
any Java, download and unpack the source download archive and type:
phpize && ./configure && make && make install
------------------------------------
Permanently activate the module
-------------------------------
Installation for the web:
-------------------------
Install a local J2EE server or servlet engine. For example Tomcat
version 6. Copy the JavaBridge.war file into the autodeploy folder of
the J2EE server or servlet engine.
Example for Apache/Tomcat on Linux:
cp JavaBridge.war /usr/share/tomcat5/webapps/
Restart tomcat and wait until the directory webapps/JavaBridge
appears.
Then copy or symlink the JavaBridge folder to the document root
of your HTTP server. Example for Linux:
cp -r /usr/share/tomcat5/webapps/JavaBridge/ $HOME/public_html
Installation for standalone Java J2SE applications:
---------------------------------------------------
Copy the JavaBridge.jar, php-script.jar and script-api.jar to
the java.ext.dirs. Example for JDK1.6 on Linux:
cp ext/*.jar /usr/java/packages/lib/ext/
Type
/usr/java/default/bin/jrunscript -l php-interactive
to start an interactive PHP session.
---------------------------------------------
Starting the PHP/Java Bridge automatically
------------------------------------------
For the web:
------------
Install the J2EE server or servlet engine as a service. The
Apache/Tomcat servlet engine automatically installs as a service on
Windows and Linux.
For standalone J2SE applications:
----------------------------------
No installation necessary; the bridge starts automatically when the
JSR 223 context is accessed. Example:
jrunscript -classpath JavaBridge.jar -l php-interactive
automatically starts a "php-cgi" executable from the path. Please
see the INSTALL.J2SE document for details how to access persistent
script engines from a HTTP or FastCGI pool using the JSR 223
interface.
---------------------------------------------
High-level interface
--------------------
When the PHP standard library is available (PHP 5.2 and above), the
procedure java_autoload() can be used to import Java classes into PHP.
Example:
<?php require_once("http://localhost.8080/JavaBridge/java/Java.inc");
java_autoload("lucene.jar");
$searcher = new org_apache_lucene_search_IndexSearcher(getcwd());
$term = new org_apache_lucene_index_Term("name", "test.php");
$phrase = new org_apache_lucene_search_PhraseQuery();
$phrase->add($term);
$hits = $searcher->search($phrase);
$iter = $hits->iterator();
while($iter->hasNext()) {
$next = $iter->next();
$name = $next->get("name");
echo "found: $name\n";
}
?>
The procedure type(<detail>) can be used to access class features. Example:
echo java_inspect(java_lang_System::type()->out);
Details of <detail> can be accessed by appending $detail. Example:
package org.my.package;
public interface Php {
public class java {
public enum bridge {JavaBridge, JavaBridgeRunner};
}
}
<? require_once("http://localhost:8080/JavaBridge/java/Java.inc");
java_autoload("myPackage.jar");
echo org_my_package.Php::type('java$bridge');
?>
---------------------------------------------
AS/Servlet with PHP CGI/FastCGI
-------------------------------
Read the following instructions only if you don't want to use
Apache or IIS.
Please deploy the JavaBridge.war into the Tomcat or J2EE server
(please see or FAQ section on http://php-java-bridge.sf.net), then
visit http://localhost:8080/JavaBridge and run the supplied JSP and
PHP examples.
If the parameter name "use_fast_cgi" is set to "Autostart" in the
web.xml, and a fcgi server does not listen on port 9667, and a fcgi
binary can be found as either /usr/bin/php-cgi or c:/php/php-cgi.exe,
then the back end automatically starts the Fast-CGI server on this
computer. With the command:
cd $HOME
export REDIRECT_STATUS="200"
export X_JAVABRIDGE_OVERRIDE_HOSTS="/"
export PHP_FCGI_CHILDREN="5"
export PHP_FCGI_MAX_REQUESTS="5000"
/usr/bin/php-cgi -d allow_url_include=On -b 127.0.0.1:9667
On Windows the command is:
set REDIRECT_STATUS "200"
set X_JAVABRIDGE_OVERRIDE_HOSTS "/"
set PHP_FCGI_CHILDREN "5"
set PHP_FCGI_MAX_REQUESTS "5000"
launcher.exe php-cgi \\.\pipe\JavaBridge@9667 -d allow_url_include=On
The PHP FastCGI server starts when the VM or the web context starts,
it stops when the VM or web context terminates.
If that failed, the bridge searches for a CGI binary called:
php-cgi-<architecture>-<os>.exe or
php-cgi-<architecture>-<os>.sh or
php-cgi-<architecture>-<os>
in the directory WEB-INF/cgi/. On Unix the binary must be executable. It
is therefore recommended to always use a wrapper .sh script, for example:
#!/bin/sh
# This wrapper script reconstructs the executable permissions
# which some zip or .war implementations do not preserve
chmod +x ./php-cgi-i386-linux
exec ./php-cgi-i386-linux
Please see the README located in the directory WEB-INF/cgi/ for
details.
The <architecture> and <os> values are calculated as follows:
System.getProperty("os.arch").toLowerCase();
System.getProperty("os.name").toLowerCase();
Please see the output of test.php for details.
It is also possible to adjust the php_exec setting (see
WEB-INF/web.xml), for example:
<param-name>php_exec</param-name>
<param-value>/usr/local/bin/php-cgi</param-value>
or
<param-name>php_exec</param-name>
<param-value>c:/PHP/php-cgi.exe</param-value>
In case your application server denies calling the CGI binary,
either start apache or IIS or start a fast CGI server on port 9667
as a separate process, for example from a service script.
On Unix the bridge uses named pipes. On Windows, where standard
named pipes are not available, the bridge uses TCP sockets. If your
application server denies socket accept/resolve, please either run the
AS on a Unix operating system or add the following lines to your AS
policy file (for example ...\domains\domain1\config\server.policy):
grant {
permission java.net.SocketPermission "*", "accept,resolve";
};
------------------------------------
Recognized CFLAGS
-----------------
The build scripts of the native implementation recognize the
following CFLAGS:
* -DJAVA_COMPILE_DEBUG: Enables the assert() statement and other
debug code.
* -DJAVA_COMPILE_DEBUG -O0 -g3: Include full debug information into
the binary.
* -m64: Build 64 bit code. Required if you run a 64 bit JVM.
* -m32: Build 32 bit code. Required if you run a 32 bit JVM on a 64
bit system.
* -DCFG_JAVA_SOCKET_INET: Disables local ("unix domain") sockets on
systems which support them.
Example: make CFLAGS="-O0 -g3"
------------------------------------
Log level
---------
You can set the java.log_level to 7 values:
0: Log nothing, not even fatal errors.
1: Log fatal system errors such as "out of memory error".
2: Log java exceptions.
3: Log verbose, e.g.: "JavaBridge version x.y.z started"
4: Log debug messages, including the c/s communication protocol.
5: Log method invocations, including method selection.
6: Reserved for internal use. Log messages which may be useful
to debug certain parts of the bridge.
The default log level is 2. If java.log_level is missing, the
back end uses the "default" log level supplied when the back end was
started (the second argument after java -jar JavaBridge.jar ...).
The log4j viewer "Chainsaw" can be used to automatically capture the
log from the bridge, regardless in which environment it is
running. log4j.jar must be in the Java VM's java.ext.dirs (usually
jre/lib/ext), Chainsaw must be running and the back end must have
been started without a log file argument or with the .ini option
java.log_file="@127.0.0.1:4445". Chainsaw can be started with e.g.:
/opt/jdk1.5/bin/java -cp /opt/jdk1.5/jre/lib/ext/log4j.jar \
org.apache.log4j.chainsaw.Main
Example which starts tomcat with a full debug log:
JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/default \
JAVA_OPTS="-Dphp.java.bridge.default_log_level=6" \
/opt/tomcat/bin/catalina.sh run
------------------------------------
Security Enhanced Linux
-----------------------
SELinux is an implementation of a flexible and fine-grained
mandatory access control architecture implemented in the Linux kernel.
A system component running on a SELinux kernel must declare
exactly a) which resources of the operating system it needs in order
to function properly and b) what it provides to other components.
The PHP/Java Bridge distribution contains two policy files,
"php-java-bridge.te" and "php-java-bridge.fc". The
"php-java-bridge.te" declares the javabridge_t domain and the
resources it requires. httpd and user domains are granted connect,
read and write to the PHP/Java Bridge server socket, which is
"@var/run/.php-java-bridge_socket" in the Linux abstract name-space,
and file create/read/write in the tmp_t. Everything else (connections
to other servers, file access, ...) is currently denied.
The "php-java-bridge.fc" contains the file contexts for the PHP/Java
Bridge and the log.
Installation instructions for RHEL 4 and Fedora Core 4:
-------------------------------------------------------
1. Install selinux-policy-targeted-sources-*.rpm, for example with
the command:
rpm -i selinux-policy-targeted-sources-1.17.30-2.19.noarch.rpm
2. Update the policy files with the PHP/Java Bridge policy:
su -c "sh security/update_policy.sh /etc/selinux/targeted/src/policy"
Installation instructions for RHEL 5, Fedora Core 5 or above:
-------------------------------------------------------------
1. Create the binary policy with the command:
cd security/module; make
2. Inject the rules into the kernel, either the php-java-bridge-tomcat.pp
or the php-java-bridge.pp. For example:
semodule -i php-java-bridge.pp
3. The rules apply to the javabridge_t domain. Another rule
specifies that when an executable is called from the httpd_t domain
and the executable is tagged as javabridge_exec_t, a domain transition
to javabridge_t occurs. It is therefore important that RunJavaBridge
is tagged with javabridge_exec_t and that it is called from the
httpd_t domain. Furthermore the java executable must be a binary:
chcon -t javabridge_exec_t /usr/lib/php/modules/RunJavaBridge
chcon -t bin_t /usr/lib/php/modules/java
4. The policy module can be removed with the command:
semodule -r javabridge
If the default policy is too restrictive and e.g. you want to use
the PHP/Java Bridge to connect to your J2EE server, you can
temporarily set the policy to "permissive", for example with the
command "setenforce Permissive". Connect to the server, then extract
the permissions from the audit log, for example with the command
"audit2allow -l -i /var/log/audit/audit.log", then append them at the
end of the "php-java-bridge.te" file and load the updated policy into
the kernel. Don't forget to switch back, for example with "setenforce
Enforcing".
Please note that SEL security is orthogonal to the standard Unix
security. For example you could also put the java process into
a "jail"; set up a user account with restricted rights, change the
owner of RunJavaBridge and set the SUID bit:
chown apache:apache /usr/lib/php/modules/RunJavaBridge
chmod 6111 /usr/lib/php/modules/RunJavaBridge
The java process would run with the limited rights of apache *and* be
protected by the SEL policy.
------------------------------------
Security issues
---------------
The bridge uses abstract local sockets, named pipes (located in
/dev/shm/ or /tmp/) or local TCP sockets as communication channels.
It is recommended to use the local back end on a Unix machine which
supports abstract local ("unix domain") sockets or named pipes. On
these systems the communication channel is not visible and cannot be
attacked. If you are running a Security Enhanced Linux kernel, which
is standard since RHEL4 or FC3, the back end is also protected by the
SEL policy. The servlet back end uses a HTTP tunnel to execute one
statement and then switches to named pipes for the rest of the
communication.
On other systems, such as Windows and Mac OSX, the bridge opens a
local TCP port on 9167 (MonoBridge.exe) or 9267 (JavaBridge.jar), 9567
(JavaBridge.war) or 9667 (FastCGI). Please make sure that the ports in
the range [9167, ..., 9667] cannot be accessed from the internet.
------------------------------------
Loading user classes and libraries
----------------------------------
Java libraries should be installed in one of the following directories:
java.ext.dirs or php.java.bridge.base/lib or, for the
J2EE/servlet back end, WEB-INF/lib. Libraries in these directories are
automatically loaded by a static loader whenever the JVM starts.
The location of the php.java.bridge.base depends on the Java system
property -Dphp.java.bridge.base. It defaults to user.home. When
the standalone component is invoked as a sub component of Apache or
IIS, php.java.bridge.base is initialized with the PHP .ini
extension_dir setting, which is usually /usr/lib/php/modules or
c:\php.
Java libraries can also be loaded or re-loaded on demand by a
dynamic loader. They should have the following file name:
<name>-<version>.jar and be stored in a sub directory of the PHP
extension_dir/lib/ directory or in a sub directory of the
/usr/share/java directory. For example:
/usr/share/java/batStore/batStore-1.0.jar.
Java libraries can be created from .class files with the following
command:
jar cvf myLibrary-0.1.jar my/package/*.class
The dynamic loader can link java libraries into PHP files at
run-time if the PHP files contain the command:
java_require("<library1>;<libraryN>");
Note that <library> can also be a directory containing .jar files.
For example:
<?php
// process order
java_require("j2ee.jar;myProject/myLibrary-0.1.jar");
$proc = new Java("my.package.InputProcessor", ...);
$proc->doSomething($_POST);
...
?>
Minor upgrades of dynamic-loaded libraries can be installed at
run-time. When the dynamic loader detects that the time stamp or the
version number of the .jar file has changed, it automatically loads
the new version.
Disadvantages of the dynamic loader:
* An attempt to load an impure java library immediately throws an
UnsatisfiedLinkError.
* Class loading via the dynamic loader is slower, because it
cannot use the global VM class cache.
* Libraries must be explicitly required by using the php
java_require() procedure.
Disadvantages of the static loader:
* All java libraries are loaded when the Java- or Mono VM
starts. For the PHP CLI component, which usually starts a new VM for
each PHP invocation (unless java.hosts or java.socketname is set),
this may cause a noticeable delay (a few 100 ms).
* The static loader can only load libraries which are stored in the
/usr/share/java/ext or in the php.java.bridge.base/lib directory. Hot
deployment is not possible because all classes are loaded when the VM
starts.
* The standard directories /usr/share/java/ext or
/usr/java/packages/lib/ext/ don't exist on Windows so that users must
check the windows registry to find the "standard" java extension dir.
It is recommended to store Java libraries which are API stable or
use the java native interface into the php.java.bridge.base/lib
directory or into java.ext.dirs. All other libraries can go into a
project specific directory within php.java.bridge.base/lib/ or
/usr/share/java/ and be loaded on-demand.
Note that classes loaded from two different class loader instances
cannot access each other. This means that, e.g., neither
java_require("foo.jar");
...
Class.forName("foo"); // wrong!
nor
java_require("foo.jar"); java_require("bar.jar");
$foo = new Java("foo");
$foo->callWithBar(); // error!
work as expected.
In the first example the class was loaded from the bootstrap class
loader, which cannot access foo.jar's class loader. In the second example
foo and bar depend on each other, so that the call fails because bar
cannot be accessed from foo.jar's class loader.
The first example can be corrected by using the current class
loader:
java_require("foo.jar");
...
Class.forName("foo",true,Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader());
or simply:
java_require("foo.jar");
new JavaClass("foo");
The second example can be corrected by loading the interconnected
libraries from the same class loader:
java_require("foo.jar;bar.jar");
------------------------------------
Sun java platform issues
------------------------
The sun java platform does not support java "modules". This causes
certain problems when running java programs. When you compile a class
foo which references a class bar and ship the class foo without
providing bar, the sun java platform will not complain unless the user
accidentally calls a method which references the non-existing class. If
this happens, a "NoClassDefFound" error is thrown. This error may
not(!) indicate which class is missing and it certainly does not
indicate which external library is missing. The tests.php4 folder
contains two tests, noClassDefFound.php and noClassDefFound2.php which
demonstrate this.
To avoid this problem please document *exactly* (including the
version number) which external libraries (.jar files) your software
needs. If you have written software where certain methods require an
optional library, please document this in the method header.
If you receive this error when using a Java library, this may mean the
following:
* an old or different JDK than expected by the library is used,
for example GNU Java instead of SUN or IBM Java.
* java_require("foo.jar"); java_require("bar.jar"); was used instead of
java_require("foo.jar;bar.jar"); to load two interconnected libraries.
* the library is simply broken or it expects certain parameters in
its environment (applet parameter or system property or property file).
* the library may only work within a J2EE environment from a
certain vendor, for example the WebSphere Application server or
the Sun Java Application server.
------------------------------------
PHP issues
------------
All PHP versions between 4.4.1 and 5.0.3 crash when the dl()
function is used.
If you use one of these versions, please add the following entry
to your php.ini file:
extension=java.so ;; php_java.dll on windows
[java]
java.hosts=127.0.0.1:8080
java.servlet=On
---------------------------------------------
GCJ/GNU Java issues
-------------------
Running the PHP/Java Bridge under GCJ ("GNU Java") is supported on Linux
and Solaris only. If you run FreeBSD 5.3, please use Sun, Blackdown
or IBM java instead.
---------------------------------------------
FreeBSD issues
--------------
FreeBSD and some other BSD variants contain an incorrect
implementation of Nagle's algorithm. Because of this 10 subsequent
HTTP GET requests on the local interface cost ~1 second, which makes
pure Java unusable on this operating system.
Either modify PHP so that it sets the socket option NDELAY, or switch
off the delay for local TCP sockets in the FreeBSD kernel or use unix
domain sockets to communicate with the Java VM:
* Compile a java.so and natcJavaBridge.so and start the Java VM as
follows:
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/path/to/dir/containing/natcJavaBridge.so
java -jar JavaBridge.jar LOCAL:/tmp/javabridge.socket
* Add the following to your php.ini:
extension=java.so
[java]
java.socketname=/tmp/javabridge.socket
------------------------------------
UTF-8
-----
Since PHP does not support unicode, the PHP/Java Bridge uses UTF-8
to convert characters into the host representation. All strings are
created with new String(..., "UTF-8") and all internal String->byte[]
conversions use getBytes("UTF-8").
If you have old PHP files which are not UTF-8 encoded, you can
change the default encoding with java_set_file_encoding(). For
example:
java_set_file_encoding("ISO-8859-1");
For a list of available encodings please see the documentation of
the JVM's file.encoding system property.
The java_set_file_encoding() primitive only affects java.lang.String
creation and internal conversions, it does not alter the JVM's
file.encoding system property nor does it change the behaviour of
methods which use the file.encoding property, getBytes() for
example. If you use:
$str=new Java ("java.lang.String", "Cze????! -- ???????? -- Gr");
echo $str->getBytes();
the output conversion depends on the file.encoding system property
which in turn depends on the process' LANG environment variable. You
can check the file.encoding with the test.php script, see above.
To be portable please do not use conversions which depend on the
JVM's file.encoding. They are easy to avoid, the above example
should be written as:
$str=new Java ("java.lang.String", "Cze????! -- ???????? -- Gr");
echo (string)$str; // in PHP5 or higher
echo $str->toString(); // in PHP4
------------------------------------
Creating thread dumps in Java 6
-------------------------------
* Become "super user" or "admin user" and start the program jconsole
located in the JDK 1.6 bin directory, for example with the following
command:
su -c "/opt/jdk1.6/bin/jconsole"
On Windows make sure you have admin privileges before starting
jconsole.
* In the "Create new connection" dialog select "local process" and
click on the "JavaBridge" entry. -- If the JavaBridge doesn't appear
there, check if the JavaBridge is running within a Java 1.6 VM and if
the jconsole has been started with sufficient permissions.
* Click "connect".
* Open the "Threads" tab and click on the thread you're interested in.
------------------------------------
Creating thread dumps in Java < 6
---------------------------------
Older Java VM must be started with the following options:
-Xdebug -Xrunjdwp:transport=dt_socket,address=9147,server=y,suspend=n
The following description assume that Java is running as a sub
component of Apache or IIS:
* On Windows set the "java.java" php .ini option (in the global php.ini
file) to:
extension=php_java.dll
[java]
java.java="javaw -Xdebug -Xrunjdwp:transport=dt_socket,address=9147,server=y,suspend=n"
* On Unix add the "java.wrapper" php .ini option (in the global php.ini
file or in /etc/php.d/java.ini):
extension = java.so
[java]
java.wrapper = /tmp/java.wrapper
Create the file /tmp/java.wrapper with the following content:
#!/bin/sh
set -x
java=$1; shift
exec $java "-Xdebug -Xrunjdwp:transport=dt_socket,address=9147,server=y,suspend=n" "$@"
Add the required permissions; in a command window type (as super user):
chmod +x /tmp/java.wrapper
/usr/sbin/setenforce 0 # Security Enhanced Linux only
* On Windows or Unix: restart the web server, for example with:
apachectl restart
* Open a command window and type the following commands:
jdb -attach 127.0.0.1:9147
suspend
where all
resume
------------------------------------
Performance tuning
------------------
The PHP/Java Bridge protocol is very sensitive to network
latency. If the Java server and PHP client do not run on the same
computer, the objective is to minimize the number of network
round-trips; java_values() can be used to obtain a Java array, Map
or Collection in one round-trip and java_begin_document(),
java_end_document() can be used to execute PHP code on the server.
The call java_values($obj) evaluates $obj on the server-side and, if
it is a Java array, Map or Collection, retrieves its values in one
call.
The java_begin_document()/java_end_document() pair encapsulates PHP
code, sends an image of it (as a streamed XML document) to the server
and executes it there. This works for all PHP statements.
Example:
$iter = $hits->iterator(); // 1 round trip
$resultList = new Java("java.util.LinkedList"); // 1 round trip
$n = $hits->length() // 1 round trip
java_begin_document(); // 1 round trip
while($n--) {
$next = $iter->next();
$resultList->add($next->get("name"));
}
java_end_document(); // 1 round trip
$ar = java_values($resultList); // 1 round trip
Assuming that a ping to the back-end reveals an average round-trip
time of 6ms, the above code costs 6*6ms = 36ms (ignoring CPU and
network bandwidth contraints).
The more intuitive approach:
$n = $hits->length(); // $n = 30000
while($iter->hasNext()) { // $n * 6ms
$next = $iter->next(); // $n * 6ms
$a[$i++]=$next->get("name"); // $n * 6ms
}
costs 30000*18ms + 6 ms = 9 min. It is 15000 times slower,
assuming that the client CPU can generate and send the XML document
within 6ms and that the server CPU can generate/send the values of the
resultList within 6ms, which usually isn't the case.
------------------------------------
Mailing List
------------
Please report bugs/problems to the mailing list:
php-java-bridge-users@lists.sourceforge.net