Contents

Add rule

Fill in the fields and click OK.

Rule Name
The name of the rule which is set by you. This name can contain any alphanumeric character, underscore, hyphen, or period. It may be from 1 to 20 characters and cannot contain any blanks.

Rule Type
You may choose from the following rule types:
  • IP Address
    Based on the client's IP address.
  • Time of day
    Based on the time of day.
  • Total Connections
    Based on the number of connections per second for the port.
  • Active Connections
    Based on the total number of active connections for the port.
  • Content
    A regular expression which will be compared to the client requested URLs.
  • Always True
    The rule will always be true.

Priority (optional)
An integer representing the order in which rules are reviewed. If no priority is given to the first rule you set, by default it will be given a priority value of 1 and evaluated first. The next rule will then be given a priority value of 11 and evaluated second, (last priority value + 10, in this case 1 + 10), third rule = 21, fourth rule = 31, and so forth. The rules are evaluated in numerical order, lower numbers taking precedence over higher ones.

Begin Range
Optionally, the lower value in the range used to determine whether or not the rule is true. If you are adding a rule based on:
  • IP Address, then the begin range is the address of the client as either a symbolic name or in dotted-decimal format. The default is 0.0.0.0.
  • Time, then the begin range is an integer. The default is 0, representing midnight.
  • Total Connections, then the begin range is an integer. The default is 0.
  • Active Connections, then the begin range is an integer. The default is 0.
You do not have to specify a begin range for an always true rule.

End Range
Optionally, the upper value in the range used to determine whether or not the rule is true. If you are adding a rule based on:
  • IP Address, then the end range is the address of the client as either a symbolic name or in dotted-decimal format. The default is 255.255.255.255.
  • Time of day, then the end range is an integer. The default is 24, representing midnight.
  • Total Connections, then the end range is an integer. The default is 2 to the 32nd power minus 1.
  • Active Connections, then the end range is an integer. The default is 2 to the 32nd power minus 1.
You do not have to specify an end range for an always true rule.

Pattern
Only applicable if you selected Content for the rule type. Enter the pattern syntax you want to use, using the following restrictions:
  • no spaces
  • special characters: (unless you precede the character with a "\")
    '*' : wildcard (matches 0 to x of any character)
    '(' : used for logic grouping
    ')' : used for logic grouping
    '&' : logical AND
    '|' : logical OR
    '!' : logical NOT
    
  • reserved keywords (always followed by '='):
    Method   : used by the HTTP protocol, in a translation, 
               to retrieve a request. For example, GET, POST and 
               so forth.
    UTI      : path of the URL request
    Version  : specific version of the request, either 
               HTTP/1.0 or HTTP/1.1
    Host     : value from the host: header
               Note:optional in HTTP/1.0 protocols
    [key]    : any valid HTTP header name that Dispatcher
               can search for.  For example, User-Agent,
               Connection, referer, and so forth.
    

Examples: A browser targeting http://www.company.com/path/webpage.htm might result in values such as the following:

 
   Method=GET
   URI=/path/webpage.htm
   Version=HTTP/1.1
   Host=www.company.com
   Connection=Keep-Alive

For more information regarding pattern syntax, as well as scenarios, please see the Network Dispatcher Administration Guide, which you can download or view from the Websphere Edge Server library page.

One or more server addresses: (optional)
The list of server(s) currently defined for the port. You can optionally select one or more from the list to be included with the rule.