Directory Listing - A Simple WebLogic Application

In this article I will show how to create a simple WebLogic application that lets you navigate directories and files on a server. This can be one of the handiest utilities. I use it all the time to give developers access to logs in test and pre-production environments.


But first, a warning... Be careful what files you make available to others. Some files, especially within a WebLogic domain directory, contain information that MUST be kept secret if the domain is to remain secure. NEVER provide read-access to all files in a WebLogic domain directory.

Like any WebLogic application, you must create a WAR file with the following components inside:

• WEB-INF (directory)
  
• WEB-INF\web.xml
  
• WEB-INF\weblogic.xml
  

The first step is to create a new directory called 'WEB-INF'.

The web.xml descriptor

Inside the WEB-INF directory, create a new file called web.xml, and paste the following XML code:


<!DOCTYPE web-app PUBLIC "-//Sun Microsystems, Inc.//DTD Web Application 2.3//EN" "http://java.sun.com/dtd/web-app_2_3.dtd">
<web-app>
</web-app>


I won't explain this XML code, but it is essentially an empty deployment descriptor.

The weblogic.xml descriptor

Create another file in the WEB-INF directory called weblogic.xml, and paste the following into it:


<!DOCTYPE weblogic-web-app PUBLIC "-//BEA Systems, Inc.//DTD Web Application 8.1//EN" "http://www.bea.com/servers/wls810/dtd/we
blogic810-web-jar.dtd">

<weblogic-web-app>

<container-descriptor>
<index-directory-enabled>true</index-directory-enabled>
</container-descriptor>

<virtual-directory-mapping>
<local-path>../../../logs/</local-path>
<url-pattern>*</url-pattern>
</virtual-directory-mapping>

<context-root>/getlogs</context-root>

</weblogic-web-app>


XML Elements Explained

<index-directory-enabled> If true, WebLogic will display a list of directories and files. Unfortunately, you cannot filter this list. WebLogic does not provide much in the way of directory/file listing functionality - either you list them or don't.

<local-path> The path component of a URL where you will find the application. For example, the XML code above will make the application accessible at http://localhost:7001/getlogs/

<url-pattern> Specifies the local directory that will be displayed when a user navigates to the context-root.

<context-root> A pattern that URLs must match in order for them to be mapped to the local directory.

Sample Applications (update)

The sample apps from this article can be downloaded here. These sample applications are NOT SAFE for a production environment as they could potentially expose sensitive information.

Deployment Notes:

• For WebLogic 8.1 or older, when deploying you must select "Copy this Web Application module onto every target for me".
• For WebLogic 9 or newer, deploy with default options.