Configuring a Web server and an application server on separate machines (remote)

This topic describes installing a Web server plug-in that WebSphere Application Server provides to communicate with a particular brand of Web server. This procedure describes installing the Web server and its Web server plug-in for WebSphere Application Server on one machine and configuring the application server in the default profile on another machine to communicate with the Web server.

Before you begin

When multiple profiles exist, the plug-ins installer configures only the default profile. You need the configureweb_server_name script to configure a non-default profile. See Plug-ins configuration for a description of the flow of logic that determines how the installer selects the profile to configure.

If the WebSphere® Application Server product family supports a particular brand of Web server, such as IBM® HTTP Server or Microsoft® Internet Information Services (IIS), then your WebSphere Application Server product provides a binary plug-in for the Web server that you must install.

If the WebSphere Application Server product family does not provide a binary plug-in for a particular brand of Web server, then the Web server is not supported. The purpose of the binary plug-in is to provide the communication protocol between the Web server and the application server.

Suppose that you create a new profile. Suppose also that you want to use a Web server. You must install a new Web server for the new profile and use the Plug-ins installation wizard to install the binary plug-in module and to configure both the Web server and the application server.

If the Web server is not already installed, you can still install the plug-ins for future use. If the WebSphere Application Server product is not installed, you can still install the plug-ins. However, it is recommended that you install the Web server and the WebSphere Application Server product before installing the plug-ins for the supported Web server.

About this task

The Plug-ins installation wizard installs the plug-in module, configures the Web server for communicating with the application server, and creates a Web server configuration definition in the application server, if possible.

This procedure configures the application server profile that is the default profile on the machine. A one-to-one relationship exists between a Web server and the application server.

This topic describes how to create the following topology:

Remote scenario for a stand-alone Application Server

Attention:

If you are planning to add the application server node into a deployment manager cell but have not done so yet, start the deployment manager and federate the node before installing the plug-in. You cannot add an application server with a Web server definition into the deployment manager cell.

The following topology is considered a remote topology because the Web server is on a separate machine. The diagram shows a typical remote topology for a distributed environment:Remote scenario for a stand-alone Application Server

This topic describes the installation of a Web server on one machine and the application server on a separate machine. In this situation, the Plug-ins installation wizard on one machine cannot create the Web server definition in the application server configuration on the other machine.

In such a case, the Plug-ins installation wizard creates a script on the Web server machine that you can copy to the application server machine. Run the script on the application server machine to create the Web server configuration definition within the application server configuration.

Perform the following procedure to install the plug-in and configure both the Web server and the application server.

Procedure

  1. Log on to the operating system.

    Log on as root on an operating system such as AIX® or Linux®, or as a member of the administrator group on a Windows® system.

    [AIX] [HP-UX] [Linux] [Solaris] In addition, select a umask that would allow the owner to read/write to the files, and allow others to access them according to the prevailing system policy. For root, a umask of 022 is recommended. For non-root users a umask of 002 or 022 could be used, depending on whether or not the users share the group. To verify the umask setting, issue the following command:
    umask
    To set the umask setting to 022, issue the following command:
    umask 022
    [Windows] When installing on a Windows system, a Windows service is automatically created to autostart the application server if your installer user account has the following advanced user rights:
    • Act as part of the operating system
    • Log on as a service
    For example, on some Windows systems, click Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy > User Rights Assignments to set the advanced options. See your Windows documentation for more information.

    [Windows] The installation wizard grants your Windows user ID the advanced user rights, if the user ID belongs to the administrator group. The silent installation does not grant these rights. If you create a new user ID on a Windows platform to perform a silent installation, you must restart the system to activate the proper authorizations for the user ID before you can perform a successful silent installation.

    [Windows] If you plan to run the application server as a Windows service, do not install from a user ID that contains spaces. A user ID with spaces cannot be validated. Such a user ID is not allowed to continue the installation. To work around this problem, install with a user ID that does not contain spaces.

  2. Install WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment on Machine A.

    See Installing the product and additional software.

  3. Install the IBM HTTP Server or another supported Web server on Machine B.

    See Installing IBM HTTP Server or refer to the product documentation for your Web server for more information.

  4. Launch the Plug-ins installation wizard on the machine with the Web server.

    Select the Plug-ins installation wizard from the launchpad or change directories to the plugin directory on the product disc or in the downloaded installation image and issue the install command.

  5. Clear the check box for the roadmap or select the check box to view the roadmap, then click Next.

    If you are unsure of which installation scenario to follow, display the roadmap instead. Print and keep the roadmap as a handy overview of the installation steps.

    Press Ctrl-P to print the roadmap if the Web browser navigation controls and the menu bar are not present on the browser window that displays the Plug-ins roadmap. Press Ctrl-W to close the browser window if the navigation controls and the menu bar do not display. Or close the browser window with the window control in the title bar.

  6. Read the license agreement and accept the agreement it if you agree to its terms. Click Next when you are finished.
  7. If your system does not pass the prerequisites check, stop the installation, correct any problems, and restart the installation. If your system passes the prerequisites check, click Next.
    Look for the appropriate log file for information about missing prerequisites:
    • If you stop the installation, see the temporaryPluginInstallLog.txt file in the temporary directory of the user who installed the plug-ins. For example, the /tmp/temporaryPluginInstallLog.txt file might exist if the root user installed the plug-ins on an operating system such as AIX or Linux.
    • If you continue the installation in spite of warnings about missing prerequisites, see the plugins_root/logs/install/log.txt file after the installation is complete.

    See Troubleshooting installation for more information about log files.

  8. Select the type of Web server that you are configuring and click Next.

    The Plug-ins installation wizard panel prompts you to identify the Web servers to configure. Actually you can select only one Web server each time you run the Plug-ins installation wizard.

    Stop any Web server while you are configuring it. A step later in the procedure directs you to start the Web server as you begin the snoop servlet test.

    If you select the Web server identification option labeled None, the Web server installs the binary plug-ins but does not configure the Web server.

  9. Select Web server machine (remote) and click Next.
  10. Accept the default location for the installation root directory for the plug-ins. Click Next.

    You can type another new directory or click Browse to select an empty directory. The fully qualified path identifies the plug-ins installation root directory.

    The default location is shown in Directory conventions.

    Restriction: The installation directory cannot contain any unsupported characters. See Object names: What the name string cannot contain for more information.

    A possibility exists that the Web server might run on a platform that WebSphere Application Server does not support.

  11. Click Browse to select the configuration file for your Web server, verify that the Web server port is correct, and then click Next when you are finished.

    Select the file and not just the directory of the file. Some Web servers have two configuration files and require you to browse for each file.

    The following list shows configuration files for supported Web servers:
    Apache HTTP Server
    apache_root/config/httpd.conf
    Domino® Web Server
    names.nsf and Notes.jar

    The wizard prompts for the notes.jar file. The actual name is Notes.jar.

    The Plug-ins installation wizard verifies that the files exist but the wizard does not validate either file.

    IBM HTTP Server
    IHS_root/conf/httpd.conf
    Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS)
    The Plug-ins installation wizard can determine the correct files to edit.
    Sun ONE Web Server 6.0 or Sun Java™ System Web Server, Version 6.1
    obj.conf and magnus.conf

    The wizard displays a naming panel for the nickname of the Web server definition.

  12. Specify a nickname for the Web server. Click Next when you are finished.

    The wizard uses the value to name configuration folders in the plug-ins installation root directory. The wizard also uses the name in the configuration script for the application server to name the Web server definition.

    If the application server profile already has a Web server definition, delete the Web server definition before continuing. Use the following commands to delete the Web server definition:
    $AdminTask deleteServer { -serverName webserver1 -nodeName webserver1_node }
    $AdminTask removeUnmanagedNode { -nodeName webserver1_node }
    $AdminConfig save
    
    In these commands, webserver1 is the Web server name.
  13. Accept the default location for the plugin-cfg.xml file that the wizard creates on the Web server machine, then click Next.

    You can type a change to the value or click Browse to select a file in another location. If you do not accept the default location, the plugin-cfg.xml file must exist.

  14. Identify the host name or IP address of Machine A, which is the application server machine, then click Next.
  15. Examine the summary panel. Click Next when you are finished.

    The panel notifies you that you have manual steps to perform to complete the installation and configuration. The type of Web server, the nickname of the Web server, and the location of the plugin-cfg.xml file displays on the panel.

    The Plug-ins installation wizard creates the configureWeb_server_name script in the plugins_root/bin/ directory on Machine B (the machine with the Web server).

    The Plug-ins installation wizard also creates the plugin-cfg.xml file in the plugins_root/config/Web_server_name directory.

    The Web server reads the plugin-cfg.xml file to determine the applications that the application server on Machine A can serve to the Web server on Machine B. Whenever the configuration changes, the application server regenerates the file. When regeneration occurs, propagate, or copy the actual plugin-cfg.xml file from the application server machine to the Web server machine. You can automatically propagate the file to the IBM HTTP Server product.

  16. Click Next on the pre-installation summary panel to begin the installation or click Back to change any characteristics of the installation.

    The panel specifies the plug-ins installation root directory, the Web server plug-ins feature, and the disk size of the code that installs when you click Next.

  17. After the wizard installs the code and creates the uninstaller program, examine the post-installation summary panel. Click Next when you are finished to display the Plug-ins installation roadmap.

    The Plug-ins installation wizard installs the binary plug-in module. On a Linux system, for example, the installation creates the plugins_root directory. The plugins_root/config/Web_server_name directory contains the plugin-cfg.xml file.

    The wizard displays the name and location of the configuration script and the plugin-cfg.xml file. The wizard also displays the type of Web server that is configured and the nickname of the Web server.

    If a problem occurs and the installation is unsuccessful, examine the logs in the plugins_root/logs directory. Correct any problems and reinstall.

  18. Close the road map and click Finish to exit the wizard.

    Log files from the installation are in the plugins_root/logs/install directory.

  19. Copy the configureWeb_server_name script from Machine B (the machine with the Web server) to the app_server_root /bin directory on Machine A (the application server machine).

    Web_server_name is the nickname of the Web server that you specified in step 12. Web_server_name is not a vendor name, such as IIS or Apache.

    On an operating system such as AIX or Linux, the file is configureWeb_server_name.sh. On a Windows system, the file is configureWeb_server_name.bat. For example, on a Linux system with an IBM HTTP Server named web_server_1 in the default location, copy plugins_root/bin/configureweb_server_1.sh from Machine B (the machine with the Web server) to the app_server_root/bin directory on Machine A (the application server machine).

    If one platform is a system such as AIX or Linux and the other is a Windows platform, copy the script from the crossPlatformScripts directory. For example:
  20. Compensate for file encoding differences to prevent script failure.

    The content of the configureWeb_server_name.bat script or the configureWeb_server_name.sh script can be corrupt if the default file encoding of the two machines differs. This scenario is possible when one machine is set up for a double-byte character set (DBCS) locale and the other machine is not.

    Determine the file encoding and use one of the following procedures to circumvent the failure. To determine the default file encoding, run the appropriate command.

    • [mar2010] Run the following command on a system such as AIX or Linux:
      locale charmap
      [mar2010]
      mar2010
    • Run the following command on a Windows machine:
      CHCP
    Use the result of the command on each machine as the value of the web_server_machine_encoding variable and the application_server_machine_encoding variable in one of the following procedures.

    Procedures for compensating for encoding differences

    Suppose that the Web server is running on a Linux machine and Network Deployment is running on a Windows machine.

    Web server running on a system such as AIX or Linux

    Run the following command on the system to encode the script file that configures the Web server definition, before you FTP the file to the Windows machine in binary mode:
    iconv -f web_server_machine_encoding \
       -t application_server_machine_encoding \
       configureWeb_server_name.bat 
    Omit the continuation characters (\) if you enter the command on one line.
    Important: The name of the Web server (nick name) is used in the name of the script file. The name cannot contain characters from a double-byte character set (DBCS) if you intend to set up IBM HTTP Server for automatic propagation.

    Suppose that the Web server is running on a Windows machine and Network Deployment is running on a machine with a system such as AIX or Linux.

    Web server running on a Windows machine

    Run the following command on the machine with a system such as AIX or Linux to encode the script file that configures the Web server definition, after you FTP the file in binary mode:
    iconv -f web_server_machine_encoding \
       -t application_server_machine_encoding \
       configureWeb_server_name.sh 
    Omit the continuation characters (\) if you enter the command on one line.

    If the conversion mapping is not supported by the iconv command on your system, copy the contents of the Web server configuration script to a clip board and paste it onto the machine where the application server is running.

  21. Start the application server on Machine A.
    Use the startServer command, for example:
  22. Open a command window and change to the profile directory where the Web server should be assigned. Run the script that you copied to Machine A (the application server machine). You need the following parameters:
    • Profile Name
    • (Optional) Admin user ID
    • (Optional) Admin user password
    For example, you could enter the following:
    configurewebserver1.sh Dmgr01 my_user_ID my_Password
    The web server will be configured via wsadmin.
    The contents of the configurewebserver1.sh script will be similar to this:
    wsadmin.bat -profileName AppSrv01 -user my_user_ID -password my_Password 
       -f "%WAS_HOME%\bin\configureWebserverDefinition.jacl" webserver1 IHS..
  23. From the administrative console of the deployment manager, click System administration > Save Changes to Master Repository > Synchronize changes with Nodes > Save.
  24. Domino Web server only: Set the WAS_PLUGIN_CONFIG_FILE environment variable.

    See Configuring Lotus Domino

  25. Regenerate the plugin-cfg.xml file on Machine A (the application server machine) using the administrative console. Click Servers > Web server. Select the Web server, then click Generate Plug-in.

    During the installation of the plug-ins, the default plugin-cfg.xml file is installed on Machine B (the machine with the Web server) in the plugins_root/config/Web_server_name directory. The Web server plug-in configuration service regenerates the plugin-cfg.xml file automatically. To use the current plugin-cfg.xml file from the application server, propagate the plugin-cfg.xml file as described in the next step.

    This step shows you how to regenerate the plugin-cfg.xml file. WebSphere Application Server products are configured to automatically regenerate the file each time a significant event occurs. Such events include installing applications on the application server and the Web server, for example. Creating a new virtual host is another such event.

  26. Propagate the plugin-cfg.xml file from the application server to the Web server using the administrative console. Click Servers > Web server. Select the Web server, then click Propagate Plug-in. Web servers other than IBM HTTP Server require manual propagation.

    The Web server plug-in configuration service propagates the plugin-cfg.xml file automatically for IBM HTTP Server 6.0 only. For all other Web servers, propagate the plug-in configuration file by manually copying the plugin-cfg.xml file from the profile_root/config/cells/cell_name/nodes/node_name/servers/Web_server_name directory on Machine A (the application server machine) to the plugins_root/config/Web_server_name directory on Machine B (the machine with the Web server).

  27. Start the Snoop servlet to verify the ability of the Web server to retrieve an application from the Application Server.

    Test your environment by starting your Application Server, your Web server, and using the snoop servlet with an IP address.

    1. Start the Application Server. In a Network Deployment environment, the Snoop servlet is available in the cell only if you included the DefaultApplication when adding the Application Server to the cell. The -includeapps option for the addNode command migrates the DefaultApplication to the cell. If the application is not present, skip this step.
      Change directories to the profile_root/bin directory and run the startServer command:
      • [AIX] [HP-UX] [Linux] [Solaris] ./startServer.sh server1
      • [Windows] startServer server1
    2. Start the IBM HTTP Server or the Web server that you are using.

      Use a command window to change the directory to the IBM HTTP Server installed image, or to the installed image of your Web server. Issue the appropriate command to start the Web server, such as these commands for IBM HTTP Server:

      To start the IBM HTTP Server from the command line:

      Access the apache and apachectl commands in the IBMHttpServer/bin directory.
      • [AIX] [HP-UX] [Linux] [Solaris] ./apachectl start
      • [Windows] apache
    3. Point your browser to http://localhost:9080/snoop to test the internal HTTP transport provided by the Application Server. Point your browser to http://Host_name_of_Web_server_machine/snoop to test the Web server plug-in.

      The HTTP Transport port is 9080 by default and must be unique for every profile. The port is associated with a virtual host named default_host, which is configured to host the installed DefaultApplication and any installed Samples. The snoop servlet is part of the DefaultApplication. Change the port to match your actual HTTP Transport port.

    4. Verify that snoop is running.

      Either Web address should display the Snoop Servlet - Request/Client Information page.

    5. Remote IBM HTTP Server only:
      Verify that the automatic propagation function can work on a remote IBM HTTP Server by using the following steps. This procedure is not necessary for local Web servers.
      1. Create a user=adminUser, password=adminPassword in the IHS_root /conf/admin.passwd file. For example: c:\ws\ihs60\bin\htpasswd -cb c:\ws\ihs60\conf\admin.passwd adminUser adminPassword
      2. Use the administrative console of the deployment manager or the Application Server to enter the User ID and password information that you created for the administrative user of IBM HTTP Server. Go to Servers > Web server > Web_server_definition > Remote Web server administration. Set the following values: admin Port=8008, User Id=adminUser, Password=adminPassword.
      3. Set the correct read/write permissions for the httpd.conf file and the plugin-cfg.xml file. See the IHS_root /logs/admin_error.log file for more information.
      Automatic propagation of the plug-in configuration file requires the IBM HTTP administrative server to be up and running. If you are managing an IBM HTTP Server using the WebSphere Application Server administrative console, the following error might display:
      "Could not connect to IHS Administration server error"
      Perform the following procedure to correct the error:
      1. Verify that the IBM HTTP Server administration server is running.
      2. Verify that the Web server host name and the port that is defined in the WebSphere Application Server administrative console matches the IBM HTTP Server administration host name and port.
      3. Verify that the fire wall is not preventing you from accessing the IBM HTTP Server administration server from the WebSphere Application Server administrative console.
      4. Verify that the user ID and password that is specified in the WebSphere Application Server administrative console under remote managed, is created in the admin.passwd file, using the htpasswd command.
      5. If you are trying to connect securely, verify that you export the IBM HTTP Server administration server keydb personal certificate into the WebSphere Application Server key database as a signer certificate. This key database is specified by the com.ibm.ssl.trustStore directive in the sas.client.props file in the profile where your administrative console is running. This consideration is primarily for self-signed certificates.
      6. If you still have problems, check the IBM HTTP Server admin_error.log file and the WebSphere Application Server logs (trace.log file) to determine the cause of the problem.

Results

This procedure results in the installation of the Web server plug-ins for WebSphere Application Server on a Web server machine. The Plug-ins installation wizard also configures the Web server to support an application server on a separate machine.

The installation of the binary plug-in modules results in the creation of the Plugins directory and several subdirectories. The following directories are among those created on a Linux system, for example:
  • plugins_root/_uninstPlugin/_jvmForPlugin contains the WebSphere Application Server SDK, Java technology edition used to uninstall the product
  • plugins_root/_uninstPlugin contains the uninstaller program
  • plugins_root/bin contains the binary plug-ins for all supported Web servers
  • plugins_root/logs contains log files
  • plugins_root/properties contains version information
  • plugins_root/roadmap contains the roadmap for the Plug-ins installation wizard

What to do next

See Selecting a Web server topology diagram and roadmap for an overview of the installation procedure.

See Web server configuration for more information about the files involved in configuring a Web server.

See Plug-ins configuration for information about the location of the plug-in configuration file.

See Editing Web server configuration files for information about how the Plug-ins installation wizard configures supported Web servers.




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Last updated: Aug 29, 2010 7:21:45 PM CDT
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