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Working with virtual hosts

For many users, creating virtual hosts is unnecessary because the default_host provided is sufficient.

A virtual host is a configuration enabling a single host machine to resemble multiple host machines. It consists of a host alias or aliases, which consist of a host name and a port number. If we specify an asterisk (*) as a host name, all host names and IP addresses the web server can receive are mapped to that virtual host.

The following virtual hosts are defined during installation:

• The default_host virtual host is intended for access to user applications, either through the HTTP transport or through a web server. Host aliases in this virtual host generally include the ports required to access applications from the web server and directly to the application server. Examples are ports...
  • wc_defaulthost
  • wc_defaulthost_secure
  • sip_defaulthost
  • sip_defaulthost_secure

  ...for application servers and ports 80 and 443 for requests through the web server.

• The admin_host virtual host is used for access to the WebSphere dmgr console. At installation time, the host is configured to match requests on the ports...
  • wc_adminhost
  • wc_adminhost_secure

  ...ports for the stand-alone server or deployment manager.

• The proxy_host virtual host includes default port definitions, port 80 and 443, which are typically initialized as part of the proxy server initialization. Use this proxy host as appropriate with routing rules associated with the proxy server.

When you install an application, associate a virtual host with each web module in the application. By associating a virtual host with a web module, requests that match the host aliases for the virtual host must be processed by servlets in this web module. The web server plug-in also checks the URI of the request against the URIs for the web module to determine whether the web module can handle them or not. We can view or modify the virtual host to which a web module is assigned by clicking...

Applications | Application Types | WebSphere enterprise applications | appname | [Web Module Properties] Virtual hosts

A single virtual host can be associated with multiple web modules as long as each application has unique URIs. If there are duplicate URIs among applications, different virtual hosts must be created and associated with each of the applications.

A default virtual host is associated with a web container when you create the application server. To find the default virtual host, click...

Servers | Server Types | WebSphere application servers | server name | Container settings | Web Container Settings | Web container