The IBM HTTP Server for WebSphere Application Server plug-in
is provided with the WebSphere Application Server for z/OS Optional
Materials. The plug-in allows an IBM HTTP Server for WebSphere Application
Server to communicate with a WebSphere Application Server. To use
this plug-in, you must have an IBM HTTP Server for WebSphere Application
Server, which is powered by Apache, and runs on z/OS .
About this task
As part of the Web server configuration process, you will
create an installation directory for the Web server instance. In the
examples that follow, a value of /etc/websrv1 is
used for the Web Server install directory. The recommended location
for plug-in configuration files is the subdirectory Plugins in
the Web server install directory. The Plugins directory
will contain a subdirectory conf/WAS_webserver_name,
and the plug-in configuration file plugin-cfg.xml will
usually reside in this directory.
This procedure outlines how
to install and configure the plug-in for IBM HTTP Server for WebSphere
Application Server on z/OS.
Procedure
- Use SMP/E to install and load the
IBM HTTP Server for WebSphere Application Server plug-in PTF.
By default the plug-in is placed in the following location: /usr/lpp/zWebSphere_OM/V6R1/HTTP/Plugins/
- Log on to the OMVS shell using the server ID for the Web
server instance. The install_plugin and ConfigureIHSPlugin scripts
must be run under this user ID so that all files are owned by the
same group as the Web server instance.
- Create an installation directory for the plug-in. The
directory for the plug-in will contain configuration information to
be used by the plug-in when running under this Web server instance.
The recommended location for this directory is subdirectory Plugins in
the Web server instance install directory.
To create the runtime
install image, run the command
plugin_smp_location/bin/install_plugin.sh:
./install_plugin.sh
-pluginInstallLocation product_directory_of_plugin_code
-pluginRuntimeLocation install_directory_of_Web_server_plugin
-wasInstallLocation product_directory_of_WebSphere_Application_Server
The
following example is a sample invocation of this command:
cd /usr/lpp/zWebSphere_OM/V6R1/HTTP/Plugins/bin
./install_plugin.sh
-pluginInstallLocation /usr/lpp/zWebSphere_OM/V6R1/HTTP/Plugins
-pluginRuntimeLocation /etc/websrv1/Plugins
-wasInstallLocation /usr/lpp/zWebSphere/V6R1
- Configure the IBM HTTP Server for z/OS instance to use
the Web server plug-in.
Run the command
plugin_runtime_location/bin/ConfigureIHSPlugin.sh to
configure IBM HTTP Server to use the Web server plug-in:
./ConfigureIHSPlugin.sh
-plugin.home install_directory_of_Webserver_plugin
-plugin.config.xml location_of_plugin-cfg.xml_file
-ihs.conf.file location_of_httpd.conf_file
-operating.system ZOS
-WAS.webserver.name Webserver_name_defined_to_WebSphere_Application_Server
-WAS.host.name hostname_or_IP_address_of_WebSphere_Application_Server
The
following example is a sample invocation of this command:
cd /etc/websrv1/Plugins/bin
./ConfigureIHSPlugin.sh
-plugin.home /etc/websrv1/Plugins
-plugin.config.xml /etc/websrv1/Plugins/config/webserver1/plugin-cfg.xml
-ihs.conf.file /etc/websrv1/conf/httpd.conf
-operating.system ZOS
-WAS.webserver.name webserver1
-WAS.host.name appsrv1.mycorp.com
- Create a Web server definition in WebSphere Application
Server for the local or remote z/OS Web server.
- To add a Web server definition during profile
creation, use the ISPF Customization Dialog or z/OS PMT.
Important: The following manual steps are involved in order
to add a Web server during profile creation:Because
IBM HTTP Server for z/OS is provided by a PTF for Version 6.1 WebSphere
Application Server, in order to create the Web server plug-in, a manual
response file update must be made to allow the profile creation to
correctly process the new Web server type.
If you are using the ISPF Customization Dialog
to generate your customization jobs, perform the following steps after
generating the jobs. If you are using the z/OS Profile Management
Tool (PMT), perform the following steps after uploading your jobs
to your target z/OS system.
For a stand-alone
application server profile, using the ISPF Customization Dialog or
z/OS PMT:
- Open the BBOWRESP member for editing. This is located in the .DATA dataset.
- Modify the following response file values as specified:
webServerCheck=true
webServerType=IHS
webServerOS=os390
webServerName=name_used_in_defining_the_Webserver_to_Application_Server
webServerHostname=IPname_or_address_of_Webserver
webServerPort=HTTP_port_on_which_Webserver_listens
webServerInstallPath=directory_name_where_Webserver_is_installed
webServerPluginPath=directory_name_where_Webserver_plugins_are_installed
- Submit your customization jobs.
For a cell profile, using the z/OS
Profile Management Tool only:
- Open the BBOWRECN member for editing. This is located in the .DATA dataset.
- Modify the following response file values as specified:
webServerCheck=true
webServerType=IHS
webServerOS=os390
webServerName=name_used_in_defining_the_Webserver_to_Application_Server
webServerHostname=IPname_or_address_of_Webserver
webServerPort=HTTP_port_on_which_Webserver_listens
webServerInstallPath=directory_name_where_Webserver_is_installed
webServerPluginPath=directory_name_where_Webserver_plugins_are_installed
- Submit your customization jobs.
This manual update is required because the validation on the
related z/OS PMT and ISPF Customization dialog panel will not allow
you to enter the combination of
webServerType=IHS and
webServerOS=os390.
- To add a Web server to an existing WebSphere Application Server
profile use the administrative console, createWebServerDefinition.jacl script,
or the wsadmin createWebServer command.
When defining the Web server to WebSphere Application Server:
- For the Web server name, use the value specified for WAS.webserver.name
- For the Web server plug-in install directory, use the value specified
for PluginRuntimeLocation
- Configure the plug-in. Use either the administrative
console or issue the GenPluginCfg command to create your plugin-cfg.xml file.
Avoid trouble: You must delete the
plugin-cfg.xml file
in the
profile_root/config/cells directory
before you complete this task. Otherwise, configuration changes do
not persist to the
plugin-cfg.xml file.
gotcha
Note: Both methods create the plug-in configuration
file,
plugin-cfg.xml, in ASCII format.
- If you need to edit this file, issue the following command to
convert the file to EBCDIC format:
iconv -f ISO8859-1 -t IBM-1047 plugin-cfg.xml.ASCII > plugin-cfg.xml.EBCDIC
- Edit the file, and then issue the following command to convert
it back to ASCII format:
iconv -f IBM-1047 -t ISO8859-1 plugin-cfg.xml.EBCDIC > plugin-cfg.xml.ASCII
To use the administrative console:
- Select Servers > Web Servers > webserver >
plug-in properties.
- Select Automatically generate plug-in configuration file or
click on one or more of the following topics to manually configure
the plugin-cfg.xml file:
- Click OK.
- You might need to stop
the application server and then start the application server again to enable the
Web server to locate the plugin-cfg.xml file.
You might need to manually copy the plugin-cfg.xml file
to the correct location in the Web server plug-in install directory.
- Make sure the virtual
host is configured with an alias for the port number used by
the IBM HTTP Server for z/OS. If you manually configured the plugin-cfg.xml file,
go to the Servers > Application Servers > plug-in properties >
Request routing page in the administrative console and make sure
that Physically using the port specified in request is selected
for Virtual host matching.
- If you want to enable the Web server plug-in to use private
headers, define an SSL configuration repertoire that defines a trust
file. Then in the administrative console, select Application servers
> server1 > Web Container Settings > Web Container Transport Chains
> transport_chain > SSL Inbound Channel
(SSL_2) and specify this repertoire for that transport chain.
Avoid trouble: The trust file provides
the same functionality for the IBM HTTP Server for z/OS, powered by
Apache, as the TrustedProxy custom property provided for the Version
5.3 HTTP Server for z/OS in earlier versions of the product.
gotcha
If
you try to use private headers without setting up an SSL configuration
repertoire that does not include a trust file definition, the private
headers will be ignored. If the private headers are ignored, the application
server might not locate the requested application.
After you
enable the use of private headers, the transport chain's SSL inbound
channel trusts all private headers it receives. Therefore, you must
ensure that all paths to the transport chain's SSL inbound channel
are trusted.
- If you want to enable the Web server plug-in to use a System
Authorization Facility (SAF) keyring instead of a kdb file with a
stashfile property, you must create the following two custom plug-in
properties from the administrative console.
- KeyringLocation, which is set to the directory location of the
SAF keyring
- StashfileLocation, which is set to "" (null)
See Web server plug-in configuration properties for
instructions on how to create KeyringLocation and StashfileLocation
from the administrative console in order to use a SAF keyring in
your SSL configuration. See also plugin-cfg.xml file.
- The configuration is complete. To activate the
configuration, stop and restart both the application server and IBM
HTTP Server.
Results
If the IBM HTTP Server plug-in for z/OS comes up successfully
when IBM HTTP Server starts again, a message is added to the plug-in
log file, /plugin_runtime_dir/log/webserver_name/http_plugin.log.
The message that appears in http_plugin.log is similar to
the following sample output:
PLUGIN: Plugins loaded.
PLUGIN: --------------------System Information-----------------------
PLUGIN: Bld version: 6.1.0
PLUGIN: Bld date: Jul 13 2006, 09:55:09
PLUGIN: Webserver: IBM_HTTP_Server/6.1 Apache/2.0.47 (Unix)
PLUGIN: Hostname = ZWASAXXX
PLUGIN: NOFILES = hard: 3000, soft: 3000
PLUGIN: MAX COREFILE SZ = hard: 4194304, soft: 4194304
PLUGIN: DATA = hard: INFINITE, soft: INFINITE
PLUGIN: --------------------------------------------------------------
What to do next
After the application server, the IBM HTTP Server, and
the plug-in are properly configured:
- WebSphere Application Server for the z/OS platform can use this
plug-in to perform regular plug-in functions.
- Requests can be routed from a browser, through the IBM HTTP Server
and plug-in, to an application server on which the requested application
is deployed. A new request is sent to a randomly selected application
server on which the application is deployed. After a session is established,
subsequent requests are routed to the application server assigned
to the original request.
- Use Private headers as
a mechanism for forwarding proxy information from the Web server plug-in
to an application server on a z/OS system. (This information is not
otherwise included with HTTP requests.)