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Create a proxy server

Use the console to create and configure a proxy server. When creating a proxy server, only the application server profile can be used as the target node.

The proxy server routes requests to application server nodes. The proxy server can dynamically route requests to all on-demand configuration (ODC) enabled application servers without additional configuration.

When you install the product, two profiles are created: a stand-alone application server profile, which is the default profile, and a dmgr profile, which is called dmgr. When creating a proxy server, do not choose the dmgr profile. Only the application server profile can be used as the target node.

  1. Create a proxy server in the console by clicking Servers > Server Types > WebSphere proxy servers > New.

  2. Select the node on which we want the proxy server to reside.

  3. Enter a name for the new proxy server and click Next.

  4. The supported protocols HTTP and SIP are selected for you. Select HTTP if the proxy server will route requests to and from a web container. Select Session Initiation Protocol(SIP) if the proxy server will route requests to and from a SIP container. Determine whether or not to generate unique HTTP ports by selecting or clearing Generate unique HTTP ports. Click Next.

    If we create multiple proxy servers on the same node for vertical scaling, then you might select the option to generate unique ports to avoid port conflicts. Certain advanced scenarios pertain to port mapping that might require unique ports. For example, a load balancer can load balance requests to the proxy servers within the same node, assuming that each proxy server is listening on a unique HTTP port. For the proxy server to accept requests for a specific virtual host, it is necessary to add the unique HTTP ports that are generated to the host alias of the virtual host. It might also be necessary to modify the port values that the wizard generates, if these ports conflict with other local servers on the same node.

  5. Select a proxy server template on which to base the proxy server. Click Next. We can select a default template, or we can choose to map to an existing proxy server.

    Mapping to a pre-existing proxy server is a time-saving technique. We can build one proxy server and apply all of the specific configurations the environment needs, and then use that proxy server as a template.

  6. Review the summary panel and click Finish.


Results

You now have a functional proxy server that automatically routes HTTP requests to the cell that the proxy server belongs to or SIP requests to and from a SIP container. To enable routing to another cell, configure the cell to communicate with other cells.

(dist) Avoid trouble: If the proxy server fails to start when attempting to start it as a non-privileged user on UNIX-based operating systems, change the ports of the PROXY_HTTP_ADDRESS and PROXY_HTTPS_ADDRESS transport chains to values greater than 1024.gotcha

When using the proxy server, one should use the default port. If any other port is used, any HTTPS URL redirection might go to the wrong port. This is because the virtual host named default_host might also be using this new port. The HTTPS redirection is based on the first HTTPS port that it finds in the default_host.gotcha

Avoid trouble: As the number of SIP containers grow in a deployment, the larger the heap settings need to be on the SIP proxy server. For example, a deployment of 20 containers requires a minimum heap size of 60 MB, so a -Xmo60m parameter should be added to the Generic JVM arguments field on the JVM panel of the admin console. However, a deployment of 70 containers requires a larger value such as 200 MB (-Xmo200m). See the documentation about JVM settings for more information about Generic JVM arguments.gotcha


Subtopics


Related concepts

SIP container
  • Proxy server setup
  • Create a server

  • Java virtual machine settings