Setting up a local Web server
This topic describes how to install the Web server and the Web server plug-in on the machine where you installed WebSphere Application Server.
Before you begin
When creating a Web server definition using the WAS administrative console, by default, no applications are mapped for the Web server. To map applications, select your application in the WAS administrative console and map the application to an application server and Web server of your choice.
About this task
We can define a locally-installed Web server on an unmanaged or managed node. If the Web server is defined on an unmanaged node, the administrative functions are handled through the IBM HTTP Server administration server. If the Web server is defined on a managed node, the administrative functions of the Web server are handled through the WAS node agent, which is beneficial. Important: IBM HTTP Servers that run on z/OS and non-IBM HTTP Server Web servers do not provide the administration server. Web servers that do not provide the administration server must reside on a managed node to facilitate plug-in administration functions and generation and propagation of the plugin-cfg.xml file.
The following steps create a Web server definition in the default profile.
Procedure
- Install your WAS product.
- Install IBM HTTP Server or another supported Web server.
- Install the binary plug-in module using the Plug-ins installation wizard.
The Web server definition is automatically created and configured during the installation of the plug-ins.
- Complete the setup by creating the Web server definition using the WAS administrative console, or run the plug-in configuration script. The creation of this object is exclusive of the Web server installation.
Select one of the following options:
- Using the administrative console.
Create a Web server definition on an existing application server or unmanaged node using the wizard:
- Click Servers > Web servers > New and use the Create new Web server entry wizard to create the Web server definition.
- Select the appropriate node.
- Select a template. Select a system template or a user-defined template for the Web server you want to create.
- Enter the Web server properties:
- Type: The Web server vendor type
- Port: The existing Web server port (default: 80)
- Installation path: The Web server installation path. This field is required for IBM HTTP Server only.
- Service name (Windows operating systems): The Windows operating system service name of the Web server.
The default is IBMHTTPServer6.0.
- Use secure protocol: Use the HTTPS protocol to communicate with the Web server. The default is HTTP.
- Plug-in installation location: The directory path in which the plug-in is installed.
- Confirm the creation of the new Web server and click Finish.
- Run the plug-in configuration script.
Refer to Configuring a Web server and an application server profile on the same machine .
If you install the plug-in, save the plug-in configuration script to run after you create a managed node, otherwise an error occurs. Wait until the script runs successfully and creates the Web server definition on the managed node and node synchronization occurs before starting the Web server.
Adding the node starts the node agent process. If the node agent is not running, start the node.
Tip: If you want the Web server to handle requests for an application for multiple managed nodes, install the application on each managed node and on the Web server definition. The script already contains all of the information that gather when using the administrative console option.
See startNode command for more information.
What to do next
We can configure non-IBM HTTP Server Web servers as a remote Web server on unmanaged nodes, or as a local Web server on managed nodes. For a non-IBM HTTP Server Web server on a managed node, the following functions are supported:
- Generation of the plug-in configuration, based on WebSphere Application Server repository changes.
- Propagation of the plugin-cfg.xml file, based on using node synchronization with the WAS node. Node synchronization is necessary in order to propagate configuration changes to the affected node or nodes.
The plugin-cfg.xml file is propagated to the application server node repository tree from the deployment manager repository. Important: The plugin-cfg.xml file is propagated to the application server node repository tree. This is not the default plugin-cfg.xml file installation location. Changes may have to be made to non-IBM HTTP Server Web server configuration files to update the location of the plugin-cfg.xml file that is read by the plug-in module. For example, Internet Information Services (IIS) has a file name called plugin-cfg.loc, which is read by the IIS plug-in modules to determine the location of the plugin-cfg.xml file. The plugin-cfg.loc file has to be updated to reflect the plugin-cfg.xml file location in the application server node repository.
Other non-IBM HTTP Server Web servers have different methods to specify the location of the plugin-cfg.xml file for the plug-in module. However, in order for propagation to work, update the location to reflect the location in the application server node repository.
The following functions are not supported on a managed node:
- Starting and stopping the Web server.
- Viewing and editing the configuration file.
- Viewing the Web server logs.
For a non-IBM HTTP Server Web Server on an unmanaged node, you can generate plug-in configuration, based on WebSphere Application server repository changes. The following functions are not supported on an unmanaged node for a non-IBM HTTP Server Web server:
- Starting and stopping the Web server.
- Viewing and editing the configuration file.
- Viewing the Web server logs.
- Propagation of the Web server plugin-cfg.xml file.
Related reference
Web server collection Web server configuration Web server log file Web server plug-in properties Web server configuration file Web server custom properties Remote Web server management