Modify the default Web container configuration
Overview
A Web container handles requests for servlets, JavaServer Pages files, and other types of files that include server-side code. The Web container creates servlet instances, loads and unloads servlets, creates and manages request and response objects, and performs other servlet management tasks. The Web server plug-ins, provided by the WAS, help supported Web servers pass servlet requests to Web containers. If the property to start servlets during appserver startup is enabled, part of its startup process calls the Servlet.init method on its servlets when you start the Web container. Therefore, when the Web container starts and calls the init method, other components such as Naming and Work Load Management may not be fully started yet. As a result, appserver related calls may not work since all of the appserver components may not be ready yet. Once the appserver is 'ready for e-business', it is completely ready. If appserver related calls fail during Servlet.init method, you can either:
- Start the servlet manually when the server is ready for e-business instead of starting the servlet upon startup or
- You can choose not to make appserver related calls in the servlet's init method.
The Web container is created initially with default properties values suitable for simple Web applications. However, these values might not be appropriate for more complex Web applications.
Your application is considered complex if it requires any of the following features:
- Virtual host
- Servlet caching
- Special client request loads
- Persistent HTTP session support
- Special HTTP transport settings
Make the following configuration changes if you have a complex application:
Procedure
- In the console, click Servers > Application servers > server. Then under Web container settings, click on one of the following:
- Web container, if your Web application requires a virtual host, other than the default_host, or requires servlet caching.
- Web container transport chains, if reconfigure your HTTP connections.
- Session management, if your application requires persistent HTTP session support.
- If your application handles special client request loads, in the console, click Servers > Application servers > server. Then under Additional Properties, click Thread Pools to modify your thread pool settings.
- If your application requires global settings for internal servlets for WAR files packaged by third-party tools, iIn the console, click Servers > Application servers > server > Web container settings > Web container. Then under Additional Properties, click Custom Properties and enter the appropriate custom property.
Web container settings
Web container custom properties
Web module deployment settings
Context root for Web modules settings
Environment entries for Web modules settings
Web container troubleshooting tips
Disabling servlet pooling: Best practices and considerations
Related concepts
Class loaders
Related Reference
Web applications: Resources for learning