Proxy server settings

Proxy server settings

We can...

Configure connections and requests to the application server
Enable caching
Configure the requests to be rejected
Define how error responses are handled
Specify the location of the proxy logs

The proxy server, upon creation, auto-senses the environment and is capable of routing requests to the product. Additional configuration can be applied to the proxy server to meet the needs of a particular environment.

From the admin console, click...

Servers | Server Types | WebSphere proxy servers | proxy_server | HTTP Proxy Server Settings | Proxy settings

If the proxy server we created is part of a proxy server cluster, the only HTTP proxy server setting that we can modify at the proxy server level is Local outbound TCP address. The other HTTP proxy server settings must be set at the proxy cluster level. See the topics Modify a proxy server cluster, and Proxy cluster member settings for information on how to configure a proxy server that is part of a proxy server cluster.
We can edit configurable field settings for the proxy server on the Configuration tab.

Enable web services support

Enable the proxy server to route Web services traffic.

Information Value
Data type Boolean
Default True

Exclusions

The proxy server examines every incoming request. We can define certain methods for exclusion and if the requested HTTP method matches any of the configured methods for exclusion, the proxy server rejects the requests with a METHOD DISALLOWED error. Enter each method as a single line.

Static routing file directory

Directory on the proxy server where the static routing file is located.

Information Value
Data type String
Default profile_home/staticRoutes

HTTP methods disabled

List of HTTP methods that are disabled for the proxy server. Select the checkbox to enable this setting. Click New or Delete to add or remove HTTP methods from the list.

Information Value
Data type String
Default Blank

Outbound connection settings

Specifies basic HTTP connection parameters between the proxy server and content servers.

Outbound request read timeout

Default number of seconds the proxy server waits for a response before timing out a request to a content server. Consider this option carefully when changing the value.

Outbound request write timeout

Default number of seconds the proxy server waits for a write request made to a content server. Consider this option carefully when changing the value.

Outbound connection timeout

Number of milliseconds that the proxy server waits to connect to a server. If this time expires, the proxy server attempts to connect to a different server. If no other available servers exist, the request times out. A value of 0 indicates that the proxy server should use the operating system kernel timeout value.

Pool connections to content server

Option to pool connections to the server is an optimization feature. Pooling prevents the need to frequently create and destroy socket connections to the server, by enabling the proxy server to pool these connections and reuse them.

Maximum connections per server

Maximum number of connections that will be pooled to any single content server.

Local outbound TCP address

Local outbound Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) address for data that enters and exits the SIP container. The value for this setting is the hostname or IP address to use for all communications between the SIP proxy and the SIP containers when the network is segmented.

Information Value
Data type String
Default *
Range IP address or valid host name

The following proxy custom properties are available to adjust the outbound connections.

key=http.maxTargetReconnects: Maximum number of reconnects to the same target content server for each request. The default is 5.
key=http.maxTargetRetries: Maximum number of times the proxy will attempt to select a new target content server for each request. The default is 5.
key=http.routing.sendReverseProxyNameInHost: Determines whether or not the host header is rewritten for content that is not on a WebSphere Application Server content server. The options are true or false and are not case sensitive. If the value of this property is false, which is the default setting, then the host header is rewritten as the host of the target server. If the value for this property is true, then the host header is not rewritten.
key=http.compliance.disable: Determines whether HTTP V1.1 compliance is enforced on proxy content server connections. The options are true or false and are not case sensitive. The default is false.
key=http.compliance.via: The value of the via header that is appended to requests and responses for HTTP compliance. If the value is null, a via header will not be appended. If the value is true, a default via value is appended. Otherwise, the specified string via value is appended. The default is null.

Inbound connection SSL configuration

The SSL configuration from one of several sources.

Centrally managed

When selected, specifies to use the SSL configuration that is scoped for this endpoint.

Specific to this endpoint

When selected, enables the Select SSL Configuration list.

Select SSL Configuration

Predefined SSL configuration.

Information Value
Data type String
Default None
Range NONE, CellDefaultSSLSettings, or NodeDefaultSSLSettings

Caching

Enable the proxy server to cache the content of servers.

When Enable caching is selected, static content caching is enabled for the proxy server, as defined by HTTP 1.1 specifications. By default, caching content is enabled.

The properties that follow apply only if caching is enabled:

Cache instance name

Dynamic cache object cache instance configured in Resources > Cache instances > Object cache instances, which is used to cache all static and dynamic content responses. This object cache instance must be configured to support new I/O (NIO) application program interfaces (APIs).

Cache SSL content

Determines whether client proxy server SSL connections that are terminated by the proxy server should have their responses cached.

Cache aggressively

Enable caching of HTTP responses that would not normally be cached. Caching rules defined by HTTP 1.1 may be broken in order to gain caching optimizations.

Cache dynamic content

Specifies whether dynamic content generated by WAS V6.02 or later is cached. Caching dynamic content generated by content servers prior to WAS V6.02 is not supported.

Limit memory cache entry size

When selected, the setting Memory cache entry size is enabled.

Memory cache entry size

Maximum size of an individual cached response in B. Any cached response larger than this will not be cached.

Logging

The proxy server has logs generated for proxy and stored cache requests. When Enable access logging is selected, we can specify the size and location of the access logs.

Access log maximum size

Specify the maximum size, in megabytes, for an access log.

Information Value
Data type Integer
Units Megabytes
Default 500

Proxy access log

Directory location for a proxy access log.

Information Value
Data type String
Default ${SERVER_LOG_ROOT}/proxy.log

Cache access log

Directory location for a cache access log.

Information Value
Data type String
Default ${SERVER_LOG_ROOT}/cache.log

Local access log

Directory location for a local access log.

Information Value
Data type String
Default ${SERVER_LOG_ROOT}/local.log

There is a log called ${SERVER_LOG_ROOT}/local.log that logs locally served proxy content. This content is not in the proxy cache.
HTTP requests are logged in one of three logs: proxy, cache, and local. Local log configuration is not currently available in the administrative console, but it is available at ${SERVER_LOG_ROOT}/local.log. Specify the location of this log by setting the http.log.localFileName custom property to the file location. The content of each log is formatted using National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) common log format.

Proxy access log: Logs responses received from remote servers.
Cache access log: Logs responses that are served from the local cache.
Local access log: Logs all non-cache local responses, for example, redirects and internal errors.

Proxy custom properties used to tweak logging are as follows:

key=http.log.disableAll: This property disables all logging. A value of true stops proxy, cache, and local logging.
key=http.log.maxSize:The maximum log size in megabytes (MB). A value of UNLIMITED indicates unlimited.
key=http.log.localFileName: Contains the name of the local log. A value of NULL indicates that the default ${SERVER_LOG_ROOT}/local.log is used.

Security

Use this section to set up security options.

Use a proxy-masking server header

When selected, specifies to forward the content server's name to the client.

Use the backend server header

When selected, specifies the default server name is sent as the content server name.

Specify a server header value

When selected, the Server header setting is enabled.

Server header

Server name used in HTTP responses.

Trusted security proxies

Specifies intermediaries other than the proxy server to handle requests. This setting identifies which proxy servers can be trusted. WAS plug-in clients add private headers to the requests that they forward. For the proxy server to use those headers, the request must come from one of the trusted security proxies. If the request does not come from one of the trusted security proxies, then those private headers are ignored and removed from the request before the proxy server forwards the request. Use an IP or fully qualified host name in this field. If there are multiple IP addresses on the system where a WAS plug-in client is running, then the value in the trusted list must match the IP address of the outbound connection from that system. If we do not know the IP address used on the plug-in side of the connection, we should specify all of the IP addresses for that system to ensure that no matter which IP address is used on the outbound connection to the Proxy Server, that IP address matches one of the IP addresses in the trusted list.

Select the checkbox to enable Security proxy. Click New or Delete to add or remove proxies from the list.
An empty list of trusted security proxies, which is the default value, indicates that no WAS plug-in clients are trusted.

Information Value
Data type String
Default Blank
Range IP address or valid host name

Proxy plug-in configuration policy

Use this section to configure proxy plug-ins.

Generate plug-in configuration

The generation of a proxy plug-in configuration file we can use on a web server that is deployed in front of the proxy server. The plug-in can determine the URI that the proxy is handling on behalf of the application server. The plug-in can determine the endpoint, or boundaries of the proxy so that it can properly route requests that it receives to the proxy.

The options available to generate the plug-in are described in the following table:

Scope Description
None No scope.
All The proxy server generates a plug-in configuration that includes all of the URIs that are handled by proxy servers in the local cell and all cells connected by a core group bridge.
Cell The proxy server generates a plug-in configuration that includes all of the URIs that are handled by all the proxy servers in the cell.
Node Includes all of the URIs configured for the node.
Server The proxy server generates a plug-in configuration file only for the proxy server that is currently configured.

Plug-in config change script

Path to a script that is run after the WAS plug-in configuration is generated.

Custom error page policy

Use this section to configure settings for error pages when errors occur during the processing of a request.

The default is for no customized error pages to be generated.

Local error page handling

Route locally generated error response to the application. We can handle errors in two ways and specify error Mappings for specific error codes:

Handle errors generated by the proxy server.
Handle errors generated by application servers.

Remote error page handling

When selected, specifies HTTP response error status codes generated by the proxy server and HTTP response error status codes generated elsewhere after the proxy on the proxy content server connection error responses are handled. When not selected, only HTTP response error status codes generated by the proxy server are handled. A best practice is to configure an error page application on the same physical machine as the proxy server.

Error page generation application URI

That if a valid uniform resource locator (URI) to an installed application is provided, the custom error page policy is enabled. If a valid URI to an installed application is not provided, the custom error page policy does not handle requests. We can handle error is two ways:

Route locally generated error response to the application.
Route error responses from remote servers to the error page generator application.
Headers to forward to error page application
Specifies additional header values from the client request to forward to the error page application as query parameters. The responseCode and URI query parameters are always sent to the error page application, in addition to the ones configured. The responseCode parameter is the HTTP status code that generates internally or is returned by the content server. The URI parameter is the request URI for the client.
Example - The error page URI is /ErrorPageApp/ErrorPage, the headers to forward contain Host, and a client sends the following request:
GET  /house/rooms/kitchen.jpg HTTP/1.1
Host:  homeserver.companyx.com
The request results in a HTTP 404 response (local or remote), and the request URI to the error page application would be:
/ErrorPageApp/ErrorPage?responseCode=404&uri=/house/rooms/kitchen.jpg&Host= homeserver.companyx.com
HTTP status codes that are to be recognized as errors

Status codes that the error page policy provides a response for. If a status code is not specified, the original content of responses with that status code are returned. If no HTTP status codes are specified, the defaults, 404 and 5XX, are used. Instead of specifying status codes individually, the following method is recommended to represent a range:

5XX: 500-599
4XX: 400-499
3XX: 300-399
2XX: 200-299

Proxy custom property to use when tweaking the custom error page: key=http.statuscode.errorPageRedirect. This custom property determines whether error page generation is done using the redirect, instead of using the proxy error page application. The values are true or false. The default is false.

Static file serving

Values needed for the proxy server to perform static file serving.

Static file document root

Location on the file system where the static document files are located.

Information Value
Data type String
Default ${USER_INSTALL_ROOT}/staticContent

Content mappings

Content type mapping for a particular file extension. Specify a value for the following settings.

Information Value
Extension The subject file extension to map to a context type
Header The header name to send to the client
Value The value of the header to send to the client in the context-type header
Weight A float value used to calculate the rank of files with this extension

Workload management

Values needed for the proxy server to perform workload management.

High availability monitor timeout

Amount of time, in seconds, before a high availability monitor timeout. A value of 0 means that the high availability monitor will monitor until the server becomes available or as long as the proxy is running, whichever comes first.

Information Value
Data type String
Units Seconds
Default 0

Advisor URI

Uniform resource identifier (URI) for an advisor.

Information Value
Data type String
Default /

Load balancing algorithm

Algorithm for the load balancer.

Information Value
Data type String
Default Blank

Related:

Overview of the custom error page policy
Set up the proxy server
Manage a proxy server cluster
Proxy cluster member settings

Information	Value
Data type	String
Default	None
Range	NONE, CellDefaultSSLSettings, or NodeDefaultSSLSettings

Scope	Description
None	No scope.
All	The proxy server generates a plug-in configuration that includes all of the URIs that are handled by proxy servers in the local cell and all cells connected by a core group bridge.
Cell	The proxy server generates a plug-in configuration that includes all of the URIs that are handled by all the proxy servers in the cell.
Node	Includes all of the URIs configured for the node.
Server	The proxy server generates a plug-in configuration file only for the proxy server that is currently configured.

Information	Value
Extension	The subject file extension to map to a context type
Header	The header name to send to the client
Value	The value of the header to send to the client in the context-type header
Weight	A float value used to calculate the rank of files with this extension