A transport is the request queue between a WebSphere Application Server plug-in for Web servers and a Web container in which the Web modules of an application reside. When a user at a Web browser requests an application, the request is passed to the Web server, then along the transport to the Web container.
Transports define the characteristics of the connections between a Web server and an application server, across which requests for applications are routed. Specifically, they define the connection between the Web server plug-in and the Web container of the application server.
Administering transports is closely related to administering WebSphere Application Server plug-ins for Web servers. Indeed, without a plug-in configuration, a transport configuration is of little use.
When migrating from WebSphere Application Server Version
5.x, you indicate that you want to continue using an HTTP transport to handle
your HTTP requests, your Version 5.x transports are migrated for you. If you
are not migrating from Version 5.x, you must set up an HTTP
transport channel to handle your HTTP requests.
The HTTP transport will continue to be used as the default
transport for HTTP requests. The WebSphere Application Server for z/OS ISPF
Customization Dialog configures a default HTTP transport and a maximum of
one additional transport for HTTPS. If you are a WebSphere Application Server
for z/OS Version 5.x user who has migrated to Version 6, note that the Version
5.x HTTP (and, optionally HTTPS) transport definitions will remain unchanged
in Version 6. You can use the HTTP Transport panel of the administrative console
to configure these transports. In Version 6, you can define additional HTTP
listeners as HTTP transport channels.
Note that the use of IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6) and WS-AT (Web Services Atomic Transactions) are not supported on HTTP transports; they are only supported on HTTP transport channel chains.
The internal transport
The internal HTTP transport allows HTTP requests to be
routed to the application server directly or through a Web server plug-in.
Logging is provided for debug purposes. Prior to WebSphere Application Server
Version 5.0.2, the HTTP transport functionality existed only as a means of
accepting HTTP requests forwarded by an HTTP plug-in that was connected to
a Web server. In WebSphere Application Server Version 5.0.2, HTTP transport
functionality is now a supported internal transport. By default, the internal
transport listens for HTTP requests on port 9080 and for HTTPS
requests on port 9443.
For example, use the URL http://localhost:9080/snoop to
send requests to the snoop servlet on the local machine over HTTP and https://localhost:9443/snoop to
send requests to the snoop servlet on the local machine over HTTPS.
The internal HTTP transport allows HTTP requests to be routed
to the application server indirectly or through a Web server plug-in. Logging
is provided for debug purposes. The HTTP transport functionality provides
the means of accepting HTTP requests forwarded by an HTTP plug-in that is
connected to a Web server. By default, the internal HTTP transport listens
for HTTP requests on port 9080 and for HTTPS requests on port 9443.
The transport configuration is a part of the Web container configuration. You can configure the internal transport to use ports other than 9080 and 9443. However, you must also adjust your virtual host alias and what you type into the Web browser.