Use this topic to set the advanced configuration routing rules
to ensure work requests arrive at the proper generic server cluster. From
this topic you can create, delete, or modify a routing rule.
To view this administrative console page, click Servers > Proxy Servers
> server_name > HTTP Proxy Server Settings > Routing Rules.
Before you create routing rules, which are used to route requests to servers,
you must define a generic server cluster (Server > Generic Server Clusters),
a URI group (Environment > URI Groups), and optionally appropriate
virtual hosts (Environment > Virtual hosts > default host).
Routing rules are used to assist the routing of work requests to non-IBM
WebSphere Application Server nodes. In addition, using routing rules, a system
administrator can reroute work without heavily impacting the environment.
This capability is useful when nodes are taken down for maintenance.
For example, the system administrator can set up a routing rule to route /images/* to
the ImageServerCluster generic server cluster. If the ImageServerCluster cluster
has to come down, the administrator can then route /images/* to
another cluster with similar capability, or use a redirect rule. This situation
explains why the URI group can be defined independently of the generic server
cluster. If the generic server cluster must come down, the URI group can be
rerouted elsewhere. When you create the generic server cluster by providing
a name, you can configure the cluster by using the ports link to create the
actual cluster members.
Routing rules function by using the configured virtual hosts and URIs as
matching criteria. The proxy server scans all incoming requests and compares
the URI and host header from it and matches it against the virtual host and
URIs that are configured in the rule. You must create the URI group for a
routing rule before creating the routing rule. If you are routing to a generic
server cluster, you must also create the cluster before defining the routing
rule. You can create the URI group by completing the following tasks:
- Create the routing rule name.
- Determine if you want to enable this rule. You can create routing rules
and not enable them. This capability is useful when planning for the maintenance
of nodes or for emergency planning.
- Select the virtual host name from the drop-down menu. The virtual host
name field is a selectable field that is preconfigured with the defined virtual
hosts in the cell. If you do not see the virtual host that you want in the
menu, click Environment > Virtual Hosts and define the host there.
- Select the URI group for the routing rule. The URI group field is populated
with all the preconfigured URI groups in the cell. If you do not see the URI
group that you are looking for, click Environment > URI Groups and
create one.
- Select and define a routing rule. This option specifies how to route a
request that matches the defined virtual host and URI group. The three options
for this field are:
- Generic Server Cluster: Routes requests to a preconfigured generic server
cluster. Use the drop-down box to select the generic server cluster.
- Fail: Rejects requests by returning the specified HTTP status code.
- Redirect: Redirects a client to the specified URL. This option can be
used to ensure a request is routed through Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).