Routing rules
Use this topic to set the advanced configuration routing rules to ensure work requests arrive at the proper generic server cluster. From this topic you can create, delete, or modify a routing rule.
To view this administrative console page, click
.Before you create routing rules, which are used to route requests to servers, you must define a generic server cluster (
), a URI group ( ), and optionally appropriate virtual hosts ( ).Routing rules are used to assist the routing of work requests to non-IBM application server nodes. In addition, using routing rules, a system administrator can reroute work without heavily impacting the environment. This capability is useful when nodes are taken down for maintenance.
For example, the system administrator can set up a routing rule to route /images/* to the ImageServerCluster generic server cluster. If the ImageServerCluster cluster has to come down, the administrator can then route /images/* to another cluster with similar capability, or use a redirect rule. This situation explains why the URI group can be defined independently of the generic server cluster. If the generic server cluster must come down, the URI group can be rerouted elsewhere. When you create the generic server cluster by providing a name, you can configure the cluster by using the ports link to create the actual cluster members.
- Create the routing rule name.
- Determine if you want to enable this rule. You can create routing rules and not enable them. This capability is useful when planning for the maintenance of nodes or for emergency planning.
- Select the virtual host name from the drop-down menu. The virtual host name field is a selectable field that is preconfigured with the defined virtual hosts in the cell. If you do not see the virtual host that you want in the menu, click and define the host there.
- Select the URI group for the routing rule. The URI group field is populated with all the preconfigured URI groups in the cell. If you do not see the URI group that you are looking for, click and create one.
- Select and define a routing rule. This option
specifies how to
route a request that matches the defined virtual host and URI group.
The three options for this field are:
- Generic Server Cluster: Routes requests to a preconfigured generic server cluster. Use the drop-down box to select the generic server cluster.
- Fail: Rejects requests by returning the specified HTTP status code.
- Redirect: Redirects a client to the specified URL. This option can be used to ensure a request is routed through Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).
Name
The name field is required and is a user-defined field.
The name field cannot contain the following characters: # \ / , : ; " * ? < > | = + & % '
The name that is defined must be unique among routing rules and cannot begin with a period or a space. A space does not generate an error, but leading and trailing spaces are automatically deleted.