Allowing Web servers to access the administrative console

This topic describes how to add the virtual host that servers the administrative console to the plug-in configuration file so that you can access the administrative console through a Web server.

Install your Version 6 WebSphere Application Server product, a Web server, and the Web server plug-ins for WebSphere Application Server. When you configure a Web server plug-in, a Web server definition is created on the Application Server system, either directly when they are on the same machine, or by a script for remote scenarios. After creating the Web server definition, the plug-in configuration file exists within the Web server definition.

Note: Please note that the plugin-cfg.xml can be overwritten by the deployment manager sync operation, the GenPluginCfg script or any other method that regenerates the file. If you make changes to the plugin-cfg.xml file, and want to keep those changes, it is recommended that you create a copy of the file in a separate location. You will need to make your manual updates each time the file is automatically refreshed by another process.

This task gives you the option of configuring the admin_host so that Web servers can access the administrative console. When the Web server plug-in configuration file is generated, it does not include admin_host on the list of virtual hosts.

Use the administrative console to change the admin_host virtual host group to include the Web server port (80 by default).
1. Click Environment > Virtual Host > admin_host > Host Aliases > New . The default port that displays is 80, unless you specify a different port during profile creation.
2. Specify the IP address, or the name of the machine that is hosting the HTTP server. For example, if you installed a WebSphere Application Server product on a machine that is named wastricia.rtp.ibm.com, specify the name in this field.
Click Apply > Save .
Stop and restart the application server. For example, to access the administrative console of a stand-alone application server, stop and restart the server1 process. Start a Qshell session and run this command:
```
cd profile_root/bin
```
Then issue the following command to stop the application server:
```
stopServer -profileName myProfile server1
```
After receiving the following message, you can restart the application server:
```
Server server1 stop completed.
```
To start the application server, issue the following command:
```
startServer server1
```
When the application server is running, a message is displayed that indicates that the process is running. This message includes the iSeries job ID and the administrative console port.
Stop and restart a deployment manager. For example, to access the administrative console of a deployment manager, stop and restart the deployment manager. Start a Qshell session and run this command:
```
cd profile_root/bin
```
where profile_root is the directory that contains your profile. Then run this command to stop the deployment manager:
```
stopManager
```
After receiving the following message, you can restart the deployment manager:
```
Server dmgr stop completed.
```
To start the deployment manager, issue the following command:
```
startManager
```
When the deployment manager is running, a message is displayed that indicates that the process is running. This message includes the iSeries job ID and the administrative console port.

Edit the plugin-cfg.xml file to include the following entries:

<VirtualHostGroup Name="admin_host">
      <VirtualHost Name="*:13060"/>
   </VirtualHostGroup>
  <ServerCluster Name="my60Profile.dmgr_myiSeries_Cluster">
      <Server LoadBalanceWeight="1" Name="myiSeries_my60Profile.dmgr">
         <Transport Hostname="myiSeries" Port="11060" Protocol="http"/>
      </Server>
      <PrimaryServers>
         <Server Name="myiSeries_my60Profile.dmgr"/>
      </PrimaryServers>
   </ServerCluster>
   <UriGroup Name="admin_host_my60Profile.dmgr_myiSeries_Cluster_URIs">
      <Uri AffinityCookie="JSESSIONID" AffinityURLIdentifier="jsessionid" Name="/ibm/console/*"/>
   </UriGroup>
   <Route ServerCluster="my60Profile.dmgr_myiSeries_Cluster" UriGroup="admin_host_my60Profile.dmgr_myiSeries_Cluster_URIs" VirtualHostGroup="admin_host"/>

Note: If your HTTP server has an HTTP port other than 80 please add an entry to the VirtualHostGroup:

<VirtualHost Name="*:port"/>

where port is your HTTP server port.

ResultYou can configure your supported Web servers to access the administrative console application of a deployment manager or a stand-alone application server.