[FIXED] Forward HttpServletRequest to a different server

Issue

I got a HttpServletRequest request in my Spring Servlet which I would like to forward AS-IS (i.e. GET or POST content) to a different server.

What would be the best way to do it using Spring Framework?

Do I need to grab all the information and build a new HTTPUrlConnection? Or there is an easier way?

Solution

Unfortunately there is no easy way to do this. Basically you'll have to reconstruct the request, including:

• correct HTTP method
• request parameters
• requests headers (HTTPUrlConnection doesn't allow to set arbitrary user agent, "Java/1.*" is always appended, you'll need HttpClient)
• body

That's a lot of work, not to mention it won't scale since each such proxy call will occupy one thread on your machine.

My advice: use raw sockets or netty and intercept HTTP protocol on the lowest level, just replacing some values (like Host header) on the fly. Can you provide more context, why so you need this?

Answered By - Tomasz Nurkiewicz