You can create a Web server definition in the administrative
console when the Web server and the Web server plug-in for WebSphere
Application Server are on the same machine and the application server
is on a different machine. This allows you to run an application server
on one platform and a Web server on another platform.
Before you begin
When creating a Web server definition
using the WebSphere Application Server administrative console, by
default, no applications are mapped for the Web server. To map applications,
select your application in the WebSphere Application Server administrative
console and map the application to an application server and Web server
of your choice.
With a remote Web server installation, WebSphere
Application Server can facilitate plug-in administration functions
and generation and propagation of the plugin-cfg.xml file
for IBM HTTP Server for WebSphere Application Server, but not for
other Web servers.
Web servers
that are not IBM HTTP Server for WebSphere Application Server must
reside on the same machine as the WebSphere Application Server (as
a managed node) to facilitate plug-in administration functions and
generation and propagation of the plugin-cfg.xml file.
About this task
You can choose a remote Web server installation if you
want the Web server on the outside of a firewall and WebSphere Application
Server on the inside of a firewall. You can create a remote Web server
on an unmanaged node. Unmanaged nodes are nodes without node agents.
Because there is no WebSphere Application Server or node agent on
the machine that the node represents, there is no way to administer
a Web server on that unmanaged node unless the Web server is an IBM
HTTP Server for WebSphere Application Server. With IBM HTTP Server,
there is an administration server that will facilitate administrative
requests such as start and stop, view logs, and view and edit the httpd.conf file.
The following
steps create a Web server definition in the default profile.
Procedure
- Install your WebSphere Application Server product.
- Install IBM HTTP Server or another supported Web server.
- Install the binary plug-in module using the Plug-ins installation
wizard.
- Complete the setup by creating the Web server definition.
You can use the WebSphere Application Server administrative
console or run the Plug-in configuration script:
- Using the administrative console:
- Click System
Administration > Nodes > Add Node to create an unmanaged node
in which to define a Web server in the topology.
See Managing nodes for
more information.
- Click Servers > Web servers > New to launch the Create
new Web server entry wizard. You will create the new Web server
definition using this wizard. The wizard values are as follows:
- Select
appropriate node
- Enter Web server properties:
- Enter the remote Web server properties. The properties for the
IBM HTTP Server administration server follow:
- Port: The administration server port. The default is 8008.
- User ID: The user ID that is created using the htpasswd script.
- Password: The password that corresponds to the user ID
created with the htpasswd script.
- Use secure protocol: Use the HTTPS protocol to communicate
with the administration server. The default is HTTP.
- Select a Web server template. Select a system template or a user-defined
template for the Web server you want to create.
- Confirmation of Web server creation.
- Run the Plug-in configuration script.
- For AIX, HP-UX, Linux or Solaris operating system:
On the remote Web server, run the setupadm script. The
administration server requires read and write access to configuration
files and authentication files to perform Web server configuration
data administration. You can find the setupadm script in
the <IHS_install_root>/bin directory. The administration
server has to execute adminctl restart as root to perform
successful restarts of IBM HTTP Server. In addition to the Web server
files, you must manually change the permissions to the targeted plug-in
configuration files.
The
setupadm script prompts you for
the following input:
- User ID - The user ID that you use to log on to the administration
server. The script creates this user ID.
- Group name - The administration server accesses the configuration
files and authentication files through group file permissions. The
script creates the specified group through this script.
- Directory - The directory where you can find configuration files
and authentication files.
- File name - The following file groups and file permissions change:
- Single file name
- File name with wildcard
- All (default) - All of the files in the specific directory
- Processing - The setupadm script changes the group and
file permissions of the configuration files and authentication files.
In addition to the Web server files, you must change
the permissions to the targeted plug-in configuration files. See Setting permissions manually for
instructions.
- For AIX, HP-UX, Linux, Solaris, or Windows operating
system: On the remote Web server, run the htpasswd script.
The administration server is installed with authentication enabled
and a blank admin.passwd password file . The administration
server will not accept a connection without a valid user ID and password.
This is done to protect the IBM HTTP Server configuration file from
unauthorized access.
Launch the
htpasswd utility that is
shipped with the administration server. This utility creates and updates
the files used to store user names and password for basic authentication.
Locate
htpasswd in the
bin directory.
- On Windows operating systems: htpasswd -cm <install_dir>\conf\admin.passwd
[login name]
- On AIX, HP-UX, Linux, and Solaris platforms: ./htpasswd -cm <install_dir>/conf/admin.passwd
[login name]
where
<install_dir> is the IBM HTTP Server
installation directory and
[login name] is the user ID that
you use to log into the administration server. The [login name] is
the user ID that you entered in the user ID field for the remote Web
server properties in the administrative console.
- Start IBM HTTP Server. Refer to Starting the IBM HTTP administration
server for instructions.
What to do next
For a non-IBM HTTP Server Web Server on an unmanaged node,
you can generate a plug-in configuration, based on WebSphere Application
server repository changes. However, the following functions are not
supported on an unmanaged node for a non-IBM HTTP Server Web server:
- Starting and stopping the Web server.
- Viewing and editing the configuration file.
- Viewing the Web server logs.
- Propagation of the Web server plugin-cfg.xml file.
You
can configure non-IBM HTTP Server Web servers as a local Web server
on a managed node. For a non-IBM HTTP Server Web server on a managed
node, the following functions are supported:
- Generation of the plug-in configuration, based on WebSphere Application
Server repository changes.
- Propagation of the plugin-cfg.xml file, based on using
node synchronization with the WebSphere Application Server node. Node
synchronization is necessary in order to propagate configuration changes
to the affected node or nodes.
The
plugin-cfg.xml file
is propagated to the application server node repository tree from
the deployment manager repository.
Avoid trouble: The
plugin-cfg.xml file
is propagated to the application server node repository tree. This
is not the default
plugin-cfg.xml file installaion location.
Changes may have to be made to non-IBM HTTP Server Web server configuration
files to update the location of the
plugin-cfg.xml file that
is read by the plug-in module.
gotcha
For example, Internet Information
Services (IIS) has a file name called
plugin-cfg.loc, which
is read by the IIS plug-in modules to determine the location of the
plugin-cfg.xml file.
The
plugin-cfg.loc file has to be updated to reflect the
plugin-cfg.xml file
location in the application server node repository.
Other non-IBM
HTTP Server Web servers have different methods to specify the location
of the plugin-cfg.xml file for the plug-in module. However,
in order for propagation to work, update the location to reflect the
location in the application server node repository.
For
a non-IBM HTTP Server Web server that is configured as a local Web
server on a managed node, the following functions are not supported:
- Starting and stopping the Web server.
- Viewing and editing the configuration file.
- Viewing the Web server logs.