0.16.4: How requests map to virtual host aliases

When a user requests a resource, WebSphere Application Server tries to map the request to an alias of a defined virtual host.

Version 4.0 introduces support for wildcard entries for aliases by port. You can specify that all valid hostname and address combinations on a particular port map to a particular virtual host.

Mappings are case insensitive, but the match must be alphabetically exact. Also, different port numbers are treated as different aliases.

For example, the request

http://www.myhost.com/myservlet
maps successfully to
http://WWW.MYHOST.COM/MYSERVLET
and to
http://Www.Myhost.Com/Myservlet

But it does not map successfully to

http://myhost/myservlet
or to
http://myhost:9876/myservlet

If a user requests a resource using an alias that cannot be mapped to an alias of a defined virtual host, the user will receive a 404 error in the browser used to issue the request. A message will state that the virtual host could not be found.