Java based web servers are - of course - focused on the Java programming
language and the Java
runtime environment.
Nevertheless, there are situations where non-Java binaries may become resources
that may prove
helpful in a Java environment.
As Java allows interfacing with non-Java binaries via JNI (Java native
interface) it may make sense
to support native binaries in Tomcat as well.
Use case in question would be to make non-Java programming languages with JNI
interfaces available
without having to install such programming languages globally on the server.
There may be other use
cases as well (e.g. non-public security libraries).
In order to make this as simple as possible and yet allow for the Tomcat setup
to be as secure as
setting up shared Java libraries, how about allowing for the following:
* allow optional "$CATALINA_HOME/natives/bin" and
"$CATALINA_HOME/natives/lib" directories into
which the (Tomcat shared) binaries can be placed,
* if "$CATALINA_HOME/natives/bin" exists have the PATH environment variable
prepended with
"$CATALINA_HOME/natives/bin" before Tomcat gets started up,
* if "$CATALINA_HOME/natives/lib" exists do whatever is needed for Linux and
MacOS systems for the
process to become able to recognize the shared native libraries there,
* if there are jar files (possibly with JNI interfaces) in
"$CATALINA_HOME/natives/lib" then add
them to Tomcat (like the jar files in "$CATALINA_HOME/lib").
Would such an idea be seen as acceptable, helpful?
---rony
