The proxy server is a specific type of application server that routes HTTP requests to content servers that perform the work. The proxy server is the initial point of entry, after the firewall, for requests into the enterprise.
Why and when to perform this task
The proxy server for WebSphere Application
Server requires that you install the V6.0.2 update. Additionally, the profiles
that are associated with the deployment manager and the nodes that are expected
to host the proxy server need to be augmented to contain the artifacts that
you need to administer and manage the proxy server feature.
The proxy server acts as a surrogate for content servers within the enterprise. As a surrogate, you can configure the proxy server with rules to route to and load balance the clusters of content servers. The proxy server is also capable of securing the transport, using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), and the content using various authentication and authorization schemes. Another important feature is its capability to protect the identity of the content servers from the Web clients by using response transformations (URL rewriting). The proxy server can also improve performance by caching content locally and by protecting the content servers from surges in traffic. The proxy server is available in the WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment V6.0.2 offering and higher.
A proxy server configuration provides settings that control how a proxy server can provide services for the enterprise applications and their components. This section describes how to create and configure proxy servers in an existing application server environment.
Augmentation
of the deployment manager profile enables the management of the proxy server
feature in the administrative console. You must stop the deployment manager
prior to augmentation in order to update to the deployment manager profile.
The augmentProxyServer script that is provided with WebSphere Application
Server must be run on the dmgr as well as all nodes that will host a proxy
server. If the feature needs to be removed from your deployment, you can
unaugment the proxy server feature from the profiles that were previously
augmented. Unaugmenting will also remove any proxy servers that are configured
in the cell. The deployment manager needs to be stopped prior to unaugmentation.
To augment or unaugment an existing profile, use the following scripts from
the bin directory of WebSphere Application Server.
Steps for this task
augmentProxyServer.bat <Profile_Name>On Linux and UNIX platforms:
augmentProxyServer.sh <Profile_Name>
unaugmentProxyServer.bat <Profile_Name>On Linux and UNIX platforms:
unaugmentProxyServer.sh <Profile_Name>
What to do next
Next, create proxy servers in the cell.You can uninstall
the proxy server by uninstalling the V6.0.2 updates. Any features that you
applied to deployment manager profiles, using augmentation, after the update
was installed on the node, will have to be unaugmented prior to uninstalling
the update on the node.