Using the Configuration and Administration forms

Caching Proxy comes with HTML forms that can be served to requesting clients and used to configure the proxy server. These forms run CGI programs that edit the local proxy server configuration file, ibmproxy.conf. To use these forms, the proxy server must be running and must be configured to pass the forms from the local directory where they reside.

By default, Caching Proxy is installed with Pass directives included in the ibmproxy.conf file that enable access to the Configuration and Administration forms. When a client requests the default home page from this proxy server, Frntpage.html is served. This page contains a hypertext link to the Configuration and Administration forms start page, wte.html.

The Configuration and Administration forms are protected and require client authentication before they are served. For instructions on setting the administrator's ID and password, refer to Setting the administrator password.

Browser requirements

A Web browser used to access the Configuration and Administration forms must support the following:

Recommended browsers are Mozilla and Firefox (for Linux, UNIX, and Windows systems) and Internet Explorer (for Windows systems). For specific versions of Mozilla, Firefox, and Internet Explorer browsers, refer to the following Web site and follow the links to the supported software Web page: http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=180&uid=swg27006921.

Notes:
  1. On 64-bit PowerPC Linux systems, it will not be possible to access the Configuration and Administration forms with the Mozilla browser since there is no SDK available for this architecture. Alternatively, you can access the Configuration and Administration forms from a different machine with a supported Web browser.
  2. If you are prompted twice to login when starting the Administrative console, your Java setting in Internet Explorer may not be set correctly. To correct this in Internet Explorer, select Tools>Internet Options>Advanced and deselect the Use Java 2 v1.4.X checkbox.

Accessing the Configuration and Administration forms

To access the Configuration and Administration forms:

  1. Ensure that the proxy server is running. For instructions on starting the proxy server, refer to Starting and stopping Caching Proxy.
  2. Direct an HTTP browser to request your proxy server's home page (Frntpage.html) or the Configuration and Administration start page (wte.html).
    Note:
    This page depends on your proxy server's actual mapping rules and can vary from the default pages shown in parentheses.
    http://your.server.name[:port][/directory][/page.html]
    
    where
  3. Click Configuration and Administration forms to get to the server configuration forms. You are prompted for the administrator user name and password. Type an authorized user name and password. The Caching Proxy configuration client window opens.
    Notes:
    1. The contents of the navigation frame on the left can take several seconds to load after the main page is displayed.
    2. On Windows 2003 systems, connections that request administration forms (CGI scripts) might receive a reset before the connection is complete. As a result, browsers might report no data received or display page not available messages. To avoid this problem, increase MaxActiveThreads to a value greater than 200, or increase ConnThreads to a value greater than 50 to resolve the reset connections. See MaxActiveThreads -- Specify the maximum number of active threads and ConnThreads -- Specify the number of connection threads to be used for connection management for more information on these directives.
  4. The navigation frame on the left shows the five major categories of configuration forms: Click the triangular pointer at the left of a heading to expand the list of configuration forms in that category. Click a form to open it. The form shows the current configuration values (if any) in the input fields; if you have not changed the configuration since installation, these are default values.
  5. On any form, enter configuration information for that particular function. Each form provides instructions to assist you in deciding what changes to make. For further information, click the help icon, the question mark (?) at the top of each form. It provides the following links:
  6. After filling in a form, click Submit to update the server configuration with the changes you made. The Submit button is located below the input fields on each form. If you do not want to make the changes you indicated on the form, click Reset, and the fields on the form return to their original values.
  7. If you click Submit and your input is accepted, the following message is displayed in the upper frame:
    The requested configuration changes have been completed successfully
    If the input is not accepted, an error message is displayed in the upper frame, indicating which settings are not acceptable.
  8. To restart the proxy server, click the server restart icon (|) in the upper frame. When the proxy server receives the restart command, it stops accepting requests from clients but completes any requests that are already in process. After reloading the changed configuration file, the proxy starts accepting client requests again.
    Note:
    Changing certain directives either by using the Configuration and Administration forms or by editing the ibmproxy.conf file requires that instead of a restart, you stop the server completely and then start it again before the changes can take effect. Those directives are listed in Table 6.

Setting the administrator password

After installing the Caching Proxy packages, you must create an administrator identification and password for accessing the Configuration and Administration forms. The default proxy server configuration authenticates users that request the Configuration and Administration forms by using the webadmin.passwd passwords file in either the /opt/ibm/edge/cp/server_root/protect/ directory on Linux and UNIX systems or the \Program Files\IBM\edge\cp\etc\ directory on Windows systems. Package installation does not overwrite an existing webadmin.passwd file.

Use the following commands to add an administrator entry to the webadmin.passwd file:

Note:
The administrator user name and password are case-sensitive even if the operating system is not case-sensitive. Be sure to input the exact user name and password entered using the htadm command when accessing the Configuration and Administration forms.

For a detailed description of the htadm command, refer to htadm command.