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6.6.45.5: Controlling where the WebSphere plug-ins for Web servers are installed

6.6.45.5: Controlling where the WebSphere plug-ins for Web servers are installed

Sometimes, you might want to install the WebSphere plug-ins for Web servers to locations other than their default locations.

Installing Web server plug-ins to non-default locations

Depending on the operating system, when you select to install a Web server plug-in, the plug-in may be installed silently if the Web server is installed in a standard location for that Web server brand. In such a case, the WebSphere Application Server installation does not prompt you for the configuration file location.

If you have installed two Web servers on the same machine, the "standard" place for installing the plug-in might be okay for one of the servers, but will not succeed in installing the plug-in for the server that is in the non-standard location.

For example, suppose IBM HTTP Server "installation 1" is installed in the standard directory in which the Web server is installed on Solaris, /opt/IBMHTTPD. When the WebSphere plug-in for this first Web server is installed, it will silently modify the httpd.conf file in /opt/IBMHTTPD/conf, which is okay.

But now suppose that you installed IBM HTTP Server "installation 2" in /opt/IHS2. When the Web server plug-in for this second Web server is installed, it too will be installed in httpd.conf in /opt/IBMHTTPD/conf.

One way around this is to manually edit the httpd.conf file of the second IBM HTTP Server installation, rather than installing the WebSphere plug-in. You could copy the modified configuration file from the first Web server and make it the configuration file of the second server. Of course, this approach assumes that you have not customized the configuration file of the second server, and find it acceptable for its configuration to match that of the first server.

Another way is to install both Web servers in some non-standard place, such as /opt/IHS1 and /opt/IHS2. When the WebSphere Application Server installation program cannot find either httpd.conf file, you will be prompted for which one to edit. Specify the location of one of the Web server files. Then repeat the plug-in installation, specifying the other location this time.

Installing WebSphere plug-ins on non-default IIS servers

When the product installs the WebSphere plug-in for Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS), it assumes the user wants to attach the plug-in to the default IIS server. The following instructions explain how to attach the plug-in to an IIS server other than the default.

The procedure might be necessary for a user implementing multiple Web sites that separate the pages they serve along some logical boundary, such as security level. Follow the steps to allow a newly defined site (using an IIS instance other than the default) to exercise servlets in conjunction with an existing site or sites.

The instructions apply to IIS Versions 4.x and 5.x.

  1. Use the Internet Service Manager (from Microsoft IIS) to create a new site with a name, port number, and base subdirectory.
  2. Open the WebSphere Application Server administrative console.
  3. Configure the virtual host to contain an alias for the port number used by the site.
  4. Create a virtual directory for the new site.

    1. Open the Internet Service Manager for IIS.

    2. Select the new site in the Tree View.

    3. Right-click to display a menu. Select New -> Virtual Directory.

    4. Ensure the values are set appropriately:

      • The name of the virtual directory should be set to SEPLUGINS (using all capital letters, as shown).

      • The physical path should be set to the WebSphere bin directory (such as c:\WebSphere\AppServer\bin on Windows NT).

        Note, the directory must have the EXECUTE permission set, but setting any other permissions (or allowing it to inherit other permissions) is a security risk.

  5. Start the new site.

  6. Issue a browser request to verify that the configuration works, such as:

    http://mymachine:8080/servlet/snoop

  7. The administrator must ensure that the SEPLUGINS retains its EXECUTE permission.

    It is possible for virtual directories under a site to inherit properties from the site. The administrator must ensure that the SEPLUGINS virtual directory does not inherit permissions from changes to the site, if those changes involve withdrawing the EXECUTE permission.
Go to previous article: Modifications to Web server configuration files during product installation Go to next article: Regenerating the Web server plug-in configuration

 

 
Go to previous article: Modifications to Web server configuration files during product installation Go to next article: Regenerating the Web server plug-in configuration