Camel Component: HTTP4

The http4: component provides HTTP based endpoints for calling external HTTP resources (as a client to call external servers using HTTP).

Maven users will need to add the following dependency to their pom.xml for this component:

<dependency>
   <groupId>org.apache.camel</groupId>
   <artifactId>camel-http4</artifactId>
   <!-- use the same version as your Camel core version -->
   <version>x.x.x</version>
</dependency>

URI format

http4:hostname[:port][/resourceUri][?options]

This will by default use port 80 for HTTP and 443 for HTTPS.

You can append query options to the URI in the following format, ?option=value&option=value&...

Important

Should you use camel-http4 or camel-jetty? You can produce only to endpoints generated by the HTTP4 component. Therefore it should never be used as input into your Camel routes. To bind/expose an HTTP endpoint via a HTTP server as input to a Camel route, use the Jetty Component instead.

HttpComponent Options

Table 10.

Name	Default Value	Description
`maxTotalConnections`	`200`	The maximum number of connections.
`connectionsPerRoute`	`20`	The maximum number of connections per route.
`cookiestore`	`null`	Camel 2.11.2/2.12.0: To use a custom `org.apache.` `http.client.CookieStore`. By default the `org.apache.http.impl.` `client.BasicCookieStore` is used which is an in-memory only cookie store. Notice if `bridgeEndpoint=true` then the cookie store is forced to be a noop cookie store as cookies shouldn't be stored as we are just bridging (eg acting as a proxy).
`httpClientConfigurer`	`null`	Reference to a `org.apache.camel.component.` `http.HttpClientConfigurer` in the Registry.
`clientConnectionManager`	`null`	To use a custom `org.apache.http.` `conn.ClientConnectionManager` .
`httpBinding`	`null`	To use a custom `org.apache.camel.` `component.http.HttpBinding`.
`httpContext`	`null`	To use a custom `org.apache.http.` `protocol.HttpContext` when executing requests.
`sslContextParameters`	`null`	To use a custom `org.apache.camel.util.` `jsse.SSLContextParameters`. See Using the JSSE Configuration Utility. Important: Only one instance of `org.apache.camel.util.` `jsse.SSLContextParameters` is supported per HttpComponent. If you need to use 2 or more different instances, you need to define a new HttpComponent per instance you need. See further below for more details.
`x509HostnameVerifier`	`BrowserCompatHost` `nameVerifier`	Camel 2.7You can refer to a different `org.apache.http.conn.` `ssl.X509HostnameVerifier` instance in the Registry such as `org.apache.http.conn.` `ssl.StrictHostnameVerifier` or `org.apache.http.conn.ssl.` `AllowAllHostnameVerifier`.
`connectionTimeToLive`	`-1`	Camel 2.11.0: The time for connection to live, the time unit is millisecond, the default value is always keep alive.
`authenticationPreemptive`	`false`	Camel 2.11.3/2.12.2: If this option is true, camel-http4 sends preemptive basic authentication to the server.

HttpEndpoint Options

Table 11.

Name	Default Value	Description
`throwExceptionOnFailure`	`true`	Option to disable throwing the `HttpOperationFailedException` in case of failed responses from the remote server. This allows you to get all responses regardless of the HTTP status code.
`bridgeEndpoint`	`false`	If true, HttpProducer will ignore the Exchange.HTTP_URI header, and use the endpoint's URI for requests. You may also set the throwExceptionOnFailure to be false to let the HttpProducer send all the fault response back. Also if set to true HttpProducer and CamelServlet will skip the gzip processing if the content-encoding is "gzip".
`clearExpiredCookies`	`true`	Camel 2.11.2/2.12.0: Whether to clear expired cookies before sending the HTTP request. This ensures the cookies store does not keep growing by adding new cookies which is newer removed when they are expired.
`cookieStore`	`null`	Camel 2.11.2/2.12.0: To use a custom `org.apache.http.` `client.CookieStore`. By default the `org.apache.http.impl.` `client.BasicCookieStore` is used which is an in-memory only cookie store. Notice if `bridgeEndpoint=true` then the cookie store is forced to be a noop cookie store as cookies shouldn't be stored as we are just bridging (eg acting as a proxy).
`disableStreamCache`	`false`	DefaultHttpBinding will copy the request input stream into a stream cache and put it into message body if this option is false to support multiple reads, otherwise DefaultHttpBinding will set the request input stream directly in the message body.
`headerFilterStrategy`	`null`	Reference to a instance of `org.apache.camel.spi.` `HeaderFilterStrategy` in the Registry. It will be used to apply the custom headerFilterStrategy on the new create HttpEndpoint.
`httpBindingRef`	`null`	Deprecated and will be removed in Camel 3.0: Reference to a `org.apache.camel.component.` `http.HttpClientConfigurer` in the Registry. Use the `httpClientConfigurer` option instead.
`httpBinding`	`null`	To use a custom `org.apache.camel.` `component.http.HttpBinding`.
`httpClientConfigurerRef`	`null`	Deprecated and will be removed in Camel 3.0: Reference to a `org.apache.camel.component.` `http.HttpClientConfigurer` in the Registry. Use the `httpClientConfigurer` option instead.
`httpClientConfigurer`	`null`	Reference to a `org.apache.camel.component.` `http.HttpClientConfigurer` in the Registry.
`httpContextRef`	`null`	Deprecated and will be removed in Camel 3.0:Camel 2.9.2: Reference to a custom `org.apache.http.` `protocol.HttpContext` in the Registry. Use the `httpContext` instead.
`httpContext`	`null`	Camel 2.9.2: To use a custom `org.apache.http.` `protocol.HttpContext` when executing requests.
`httpClient.XXX`	`null`	Setting options on the BasicHttpParams. For instance `httpClient.soTimeout=5000` will set the `SO_TIMEOUT` to 5 seconds. Look on the setter methods of the following parameter beans for a complete reference: AuthParamBean, ClientParamBean, ConnConnectionParamBean, ConnRouteParamBean, CookieSpecParamBean, HttpConnectionParamBean and HttpProtocolParamBean Since Camel 2.13.0: httpClient is changed to configure the HttpClientBuilder and RequestConfig.Builder, please check out API document for a complete reference.
`clientConnectionManager`	`null`	To use a custom `org.apache.http.` `conn.ClientConnectionManager`.
`transferException`	`false`	If enabled and an Exchange failed processing on the consumer side, and if the caused `Exception` was send back serialized in the response as a `application/x-java-serialized-object` content type (for example using Camel Component: Jetty or Camel Component: Servlet Camel components). On the producer side the exception will be deserialized and thrown as is, instead of the `HttpOperationFailedException` . The caused exception is required to be serialized.
`sslContextParametersRef`	`null`	Deprecated and will be removed in Camel 3.0:Camel 2.8: Reference to a `org.apache.camel.util.` `jsse.SSLContextParameters` in the Registry. Important: Only one instance of `org.apache.camel.util.jsse.` `SSLContextParameters` is supported per HttpComponent. If you need to use 2 or more different instances, you need to define a new HttpComponent per instance you need. See further below for more details. See Using the JSSE Configuration Utility. Use the `sslContextParameters` option instead.
`sslContextParameters`	`null`	Camel 2.11.1: Reference to a `org.apache.camel.util.jsse.` `SSLContextParameters` in the Registry. Important: Only one instance of `org.apache.camel.util.jsse.` `SSLContextParameters` is supported per HttpComponent. If you need to use 2 or more different instances, you need to define a new HttpComponent per instance you need. See further below for more details. See Using the JSSE Configuration Utility.
`x509HostnameVerifier`	`BrowserCompatHost` `nameVerifier`	Camel 2.7: You can refer to a different `org.apache.http.conn.ssl.` `X509HostnameVerifier instance` in the Registry such as `org.apache.http.conn.ssl.` `StrictHostnameVerifier` or `org.apache.http.conn.ssl.` `AllowAllHostnameVerifier`.
`urlRewrite`	`null`	Camel 2.11:Producer only Refers to a custom `org.apache.camel.component.` `http4.UrlRewrite` which allows you to rewrite urls when you bridge/proxy endpoints. See more details at UrlRewrite and How to use Camel as a HTTP proxy between a client and server.
`maxTotalConnections`	`null`	Camel 2.14: The maximum number of total connections that the connection manager has. If this option is not set, camel will use the component's setting instead.
`connectionsPerRoute`	`null`	Camel 2.14: The maximum number of connections per route. If this option is not set, camel will use the component's setting instead.

The following authentication options can also be set on the HttpEndpoint:

Setting Basic Authentication and Proxy

Before Camel 2.8.0

Name	Default Value	Description
`authUsername`	`null`	Username for authentication.
`authPassword`	`null`	Password for authentication.
`authDomain`	`null`	The domain name for authentication.
`authHost`	`null`	The host name authentication.
`proxyAuthHost`	`null`	The proxy host name
`proxyAuthPort`	`null`	The proxy port number
`proxyAuthScheme`	`null`	The proxy scheme, will fallback and use the scheme from the endpoint if not configured.
`proxyAuthUsername`	`null`	Username for proxy authentication
`proxyAuthPassword`	`null`	Password for proxy authentication
`proxyAuthDomain`	`null`	The proxy domain name
`proxyAuthNtHost`	`null`	The proxy Nt host name

Since Camel 2.8.0

Name	Default Value	Description
`username`	`null`	Username for authentication.
`password`	`null`	Password for authentication.
`domain`	`null`	The domain name for authentication.
`host`	`null`	The host name authentication.
`proxyHost`	`null`	The proxy host name
`proxyPort`	`null`	The proxy port number
`proxyUsername`	`null`	Username for proxy authentication
`proxyPassword`	`null`	Password for proxy authentication
`proxyDomain`	`null`	The proxy domain name
`proxyNtHost`	`null`	The proxy Nt host name

Message Headers

Name	Type	Description
`Exchange.HTTP_URI`	`String`	URI to call. This will override existing URI set directly on the endpoint.
`Exchange.HTTP_PATH`	`String`	Request URI's path, the header will be used to build the request URI with the HTTP_URI.
`Exchange.HTTP_QUERY`	`String`	URI parameters. This will override existing URI parameters set directly on the endpoint.
`Exchange. HTTP_RESPONSE_CODE`	`int`	The HTTP response code from the external server. Is 200 for OK.
`Exchange. HTTP_CHARACTER_ENCODING`	`String`	Character encoding.
`Exchange.CONTENT_TYPE`	`String`	The HTTP content type. Is set on both the IN and OUT message to provide a content type, such as `text/html`.
`Exchange. CONTENT_ENCODING`	`String`	The HTTP content encoding. Is set on both the IN and OUT message to provide a content encoding, such as `gzip`.

Message Body

Camel will store the HTTP response from the external server on the OUT body. All headers from the IN message will be copied to the OUT message, so headers are preserved during routing. Additionally Camel will add the HTTP response headers as well to the OUT message headers.

Response code

Camel will handle according to the HTTP response code:

Response code is in the range 100..299, Camel regards it as a success response.
Response code is in the range 300..399, Camel regards it as a redirection response and will throw a HttpOperationFailedException with the information.
Response code is 400+, Camel regards it as an external server failure and will throw a HttpOperationFailedException with the information.
Note
The option, throwExceptionOnFailure, can be set to false to prevent the HttpOperationFailedException from being thrown for failed response codes. This allows you to get any response from the remote server. There is a sample below demonstrating this.

HttpOperationFailedException

This exception contains the following information:

The HTTP status code
The HTTP status line (text of the status code)
Redirect location, if server returned a redirect
Response body as a java.lang.String, if server provided a body as response

Calling using GET or POST

The following algorithm is used to determine whether the GET or POST HTTP method should be used: 1. Use method provided in header. 2. GET if query string is provided in header. 3. GET if endpoint is configured with a query string. 4. POST if there is data to send (body is not null). 5. GET otherwise.

How to get access to HttpServletRequest and HttpServletResponse

You can get access to these two using the Camel type converter system using NOTE You can get the request and response not just from the processor after the camel-jetty or camel-cxf endpoint.

HttpServletRequest request = exchange.getIn().getBody(
   HttpServletRequest.class);
HttpServletRequest response = 
   exchange.getIn().getBody(HttpServletResponse.class);

Configuring URI to call

You can set the HTTP producer's URI directly form the endpoint URI. In the route below, Camel will call out to the external server, oldhost, using HTTP.

from("direct:start").to("http4://oldhost");

And the equivalent Spring sample:

<camelContext xmlns="http://activemq.apache.org/camel/schema/spring">
   <route>
      <from uri="direct:start"/>
      <to uri="http4://oldhost"/>
   </route>
</camelContext>

You can override the HTTP endpoint URI by adding a header with the key Exchange.HTTP_URI on the message.

from("direct:start")
   .setHeader(Exchange.HTTP_URI, constant("http://newhost"))
   .to("http4://oldhost");

In the sample above Camel will call the http://newhost despite the fact the endpoint is configured with http4://oldhost. where Constants is the class, org.apache.camel.component.http4.Constants. If the http4 endpoint is working in bridge mode, it will ignore the Exchange.HTTP_URI message header.

Configuring URI Parameters

The http producer supports URI parameters to be sent to the HTTP server. The URI parameters can either be set directly on the endpoint URI or as a header with the key Exchange.HTTP_QUERY on the message.

from("direct:start").to("http4://oldhost?order=123&detail=short");

Or options provided in a header:

from("direct:start")
   .setHeader(Exchange.HTTP_QUERY, constant("order=123&detail=short"))
   .to("http4://oldhost");

How to set the http method (GET/POST/PUT/DELETE/HEAD/OPTIONS/TRACE) to the HTTP producer

Note: The http PATCH method is supported starting with Camel 2.11.3 / 2.12.1.

The HTTP4 component provides a way to set the HTTP request method by setting the message header. Here is an example;

from("direct:start")
   .setHeader(Exchange.HTTP_METHOD, 
       constant(org.apache.camel.component.http4.HttpMethods.POST))
   .to("http4://www.google.com")
   .to("mock:results");

The method can be written a bit shorter using the string constants:

.setHeader("CamelHttpMethod", constant("POST"))

And the equivalent Spring sample:

<camelContext xmlns="http://activemq.apache.org/camel/schema/spring">
   <route>
      <from uri="direct:start"/>
      <setHeader headerName="CamelHttpMethod">
         <constant>POST</constant>
      </setHeader>
      <to uri="http4://www.google.com"/>
      <to uri="mock:results"/>
   </route>
</camelContext>

Configuring a Proxy

The HTTP4 component provides a way to configure a proxy.

from("direct:start")
   .to("http4://oldhost?proxyHost=www.myproxy.com&proxyPort=80");

There is also support for proxy authentication via the proxyUsername and proxyPassword options.

Using proxy settings outside of URI

To avoid System properties conflicts, you can set proxy configuration only from the CamelContext or URI. Java DSL:

context.getProperties().put("http.proxyHost", "172.168.18.9");
context.getProperties().put("http.proxyPort" "8080");

Spring XML

<camelContext>
   <properties>
      <property key="http.proxyHost" value="172.168.18.9"/>
      <property key="http.proxyPort" value="8080"/>
   </properties>
</camelContext>

Camel will first set the settings from Java System or CamelContext Properties and then the endpoint proxy options if provided. So you can override the system properties with the endpoint options.

Configuring charset

If you are using POST to send data you can configure the charset using the Exchange property:

exchange.setProperty(Exchange.CHARSET_NAME, "ISO-8859-1");

Sample with scheduled poll

This sample polls the Google homepage every 10 seconds and write the page to the file message.html:

from("timer://foo?fixedRate=true&delay=0&period=10000")
   .to("http4://www.google.com")
   .setHeader(FileComponent.HEADER_FILE_NAME, "message.html")
   .to("file:target/google");

URI Parameters from the endpoint URI

In this sample we have the complete URI endpoint that is just what you would have typed in a web browser. Multiple URI parameters can of course be set using the & character as separator, just as you would in the web browser. Camel does no tricks here.

// we query for Camel at the Google page
template.sendBody("http4://www.google.com/search?q=Camel", null);

URI Parameters from the Message

Map headers = new HashMap();
headers.put(Exchange.HTTP_QUERY, "q=Camel&lr=lang_en");
// we query for Camel and English language at Google
template.sendBody("http4://www.google.com/search", null, headers);

In the header value above notice that it should not be prefixed with ? and you can separate parameters as usual with the & char.

Getting the Response Code

You can get the HTTP response code from the HTTP4 component by getting the value from the Out message header with Exchange.HTTP_RESPONSE_CODE .

Exchange exchange = 
   template.send("http4://www.google.com/search", new Processor() {
      public void process(Exchange exchange) throws Exception {
         exchange.getIn().setHeader(
            Exchange.HTTP_QUERY, constant("hl=en&q=activemq"));
      }
   });
Message out = exchange.getOut();
int responseCode = out.getHeader(Exchange.HTTP_RESPONSE_CODE, 
   Integer.class);

Disabling Cookies

To disable cookies you can set the HTTP Client to ignore cookies by adding this URI option: httpClient.cookiePolicy=ignoreCookies

Advanced Usage

If you need more control over the HTTP producer you should use the HttpComponent where you can set various classes to give you custom behavior.

Setting up SSL for HTTP Client

Basically camel-http4 component is built on the top of Apache HTTP client. Please refer to SSL/TLS customization for details or have a look into the org.apache.camel.component.http4.HttpsServerTestSupport unit test base class. You can also implement a custom org.apache.camel.component.http4.HttpClientConfigurer to do some configuration on the http client if you need full control of it.

However if you just want to specify the keystore and truststore you can do this with Apache HTTP HttpClientConfigurer, for example:

KeyStore keystore = ...;
KeyStore truststore = ...;

SchemeRegistry registry = new SchemeRegistry();
registry.register(new Scheme("https", 443, new SSLSocketFactory(
   keystore, "mypassword", truststore)));

And then you need to create a class that implements HttpClientConfigurer, and registers https protocol providing a keystore or truststore per example above. Then, from your Camel Route designer class you can hook it up like so:

HttpComponent httpComponent = getContext().getComponent(
   "http4", HttpComponent.class);
httpComponent.setHttpClientConfigurer(new MyHttpClientConfigurer());

If you are doing this using the Spring DSL, you can specify your HttpClientConfigurer using the URI. For example:

<bean id="myHttpClientConfigurer"
   class="my.https.HttpClientConfigurer">
</bean>

<to uri="https4://myhostname.com:443/myURL?httpClientConfigurer=   \\
   myHttpClientConfigurer"/>

As long as you implement the HttpClientConfigurer and configure your keystore and truststore as described above, it will work fine.

Camel Component: HTTP4 - 6.3

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