13.7.1 File serving servlet

When dealing with static content (HTML pages, images, style sheets, and so on), you can choose to have these resources served by WebSphere, or have them served by the HTTP server itself.

If you want WebSphere to serve the static content of your application, enable file servlet, also known as the file serving servlet or file serving enabler. This servlet serves up any resource file packaged in the WAR file. The File serving enabled attribute is set to true by default. By changing it to false, the Web server plug-in will not send requests for static content to WebSphere, but leave it up to the HTTP server to serve them.

If you want the Web server to serve static content, you can experience better performance than using WebSphere in this instance, because the Web server is serving the content directly. Moreover, a Web server has more customization options than the file servlet can offer.

However, using the WebSphere file serving servlet has the advantage of keeping the static content organized in a single, deployable unit with the rest of the application. Additionally, this allows you to protect the static pages using WebSphere security.

To enable this option, check the File serving enabled box. Enter attributes used by the file serving servlet in the File Serving Attributes section.