The WEB-INF folder is used by Railo in order to store its configuration in it. The WEB-INF folder is created by the application server (they only create it if they actually need it), and is used by Railo because this folder always exists once the servlet is used. Where Railo stores its configuration files can be defined in one of the application server's configuration files. Like for instance in Resin you will see the following lines in the app-default.xml file:
<servlet servlet-name="CFMLServlet" servlet-class="railo.loader.servlet.CFMLServlet">
<init-param>
<param-name>railo-web-directory</param-name>
<param-value>{web-root-directory}/WEB-INF/railo/</param-value>
<!-- <param-value>c:/webconfig/{web-context-hash}/susi/</param-value> -->
<description>Railo Web Directory directory</description>
</init-param>
<init-param>
<param-name>railo-server-directory</param-name>
<param-value>./</param-value>
<description>directory where railo root directory is stored</description>
</init-param>
...
</servlet>
The above lines load the Railo CFML servlet and assign two init parameters to it (normally the second one is outcommented). Let's have a closer look.
<param-name>railo-web-directory</param-name>
<param-value>{web-root-directory}/WEB-INF/railo/</param-value>
<!-- <param-value>c:/webconfig/{web-context-hash}/susi/</param-value> -->
<description>Railo Web Directory directory</description>
The first parameter defines the Railo web directory which is the place where Railo stores all its configuration files. It ends up being the content of the {railo-web} constant (which you can expand with expandPath("{railo-web}") ). So Railo by default takes the web root directory and places its files inside the WEB-INF/railo/ directory below it. There are several tipps and tricks on how to prohibit users to access this folder. Please note that it is in the web's root. This is due to the fact that we only could assume that this will be the only folder (for sure) which we could use in order to generate some files at startup (if necessary).
There are around 50-60 files that Railo generates for each new web context. Below these files are described. If a file is missing it will be recreated at startup. So Railo is deploying itself into a new web context if it is not available there. Sometimes you can see this file creations in your application server's logfile.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If a file is not there or is different than the one in the package, it will be created or overwritten. So if you create your own debugging templates, please note that they might be overwritten with the next update. So just store them under a different name and do not edit the original ones.
| File name | Description |
| railo-web.xml.cfm | Local Railo configuration file. Written by the Railo Web Admin |
| bin\jacob.dll | Connection to COM objects (JAva-COm-Bridge) |
| security\cacerts | Certificates for this context |
| context\railo-context.ra | Railo archive containing the Railo Web and Server Administrator |
| context\component-dump.cfm | Template that is used in order to dump components |
| context\Component.cfc | Basic component.cfc. Edit this file in order to change the basic behaviour of components for this context. |
| context\application.cfm | Application.cfm for the Railo Administrators |
| context\form.cfm | Handles checkings for CFFORM etc. |
| context\graph.cfm | Is used to create charts with CFCHART |
| context\wddx.cfm | Contains some WDDX functions |
| context\railo-applet.cfm | Is used for CFSLIDER |
| context\railo-applet.jar | Is used for CFSLIDER |
| context\admin.cfm | Redirects to the web admin |
| context\swfobject.js | Necessary for the CFVIDEOPLAYER tag |
| context\swfobject.js.cfm | Necessary for the CFVIDEOPLAYER tag |
| context\mediaplayer.swf | Necessary for the CFMEDIAPLAYER tag |
| context\mediaplayer.swf.cfm | Necessary for the CFMEDIAPLAYER tag |
| context\admin\plugin\Plugin.cfc | Handles plugins to the Railo Administrator |
| context\admin\plugin\Simon\language.xml | Simon plugin |
| context\admin\plugin\Simon\overview.cfm | Simon plugin |
| context\admin\plugin\Simon\simon.swf.cfm | Simon plugin |
| context\admin\plugin\Simon\Action.cfc | Simon plugin |
| context\admin\plugin\Note\language.xml | Note plugin |
| context\admin\plugin\Note\overview.cfm | Note plugin |
| context\admin\plugin\Note\Action.cfc | Note plugin |
| context\admin\dbdriver\Driver.cfc | Database driver CFC’s |
| context\admin\dbdriver\HSQLDB.cfc | Database driver CFC’s |
| context\admin\dbdriver\H2.cfc | Database driver CFC’s |
| context\admin\dbdriver\MSSQL.cfc | Database driver CFC’s |
| context\admin\dbdriver\MSSQL2.cfc | Database driver CFC’s |
| context\admin\dbdriver\DB2.cfc | Database driver CFC’s |
| context\admin\dbdriver\Oracle.cfc | Database driver CFC’s |
| context\admin\dbdriver\MySQL.cfc | Database driver CFC’s |
| context\admin\dbdriver\ODBC.cfc | Database driver CFC’s |
| context\admin\dbdriver\Sybase.cfc | Database driver CFC’s |
| context\admin\dbdriver\PostgreSql.cfc | Database driver CFC’s |
| context\admin\dbdriver\Other.cfc | Database driver CFC’s |
| context\admin\dbdriver\Firebird.cfc | Database driver CFC’s |
| context\admin\dbdriver\types\Field.cfc | Helper CFC |
| context\templates\error\error.cfm | Error templates |
| context\templates\error\error-neo.cfm | Error templates |
| context\templates\error\error-public.cfm | Error templates |
| context\templates\debugging\debugging.cfm | Debugging templates |
| context\templates\debugging\debugging-cascade.cfm | Debugging templates |
| context\templates\debugging\debugging-comment.cfm | Debugging templates |
| context\templates\debugging\debugging-neo.cfm | Debugging templates |
| context\templates\debugging\debugging-2-console.cfm | Debugging templates |
| context\templates\display\Application.cfm | Necessary for the debugging console |
| context\templates\display\Application.cfc | Necessary for the debugging console |
| context\templates\display\debugging-console-output-pages.cfm | Necessary for the debugging console |
| context\templates\display\debugging-console-output-queries.cfm | Necessary for the debugging console |
| context\templates\display\debugging-console-output.cfm | Necessary for the debugging console |
| context\templates\display\debugging-console.cfm | Necessary for the debugging console |
The most important file above is definitely the railo-web.xml.cfm which contains your complete configuration of your Railo web context.