See the following descriptions of each file.
Web server configuration file
The Web server configuration file is installed as part of the Web server. Reconfiguration consists of adding directives that identify file locations of two files:
The binary Web server plug-in file
See Web server plug-ins for a description of the binary plug-in module. An example of a binary plug-in module is the mod_ibm_app_server_http.dll file for IBM HTTP Server on the Windows platform or the QSVTAP20 service program on the iSeries platform.
The binary plug-in file does not change. However, the configuration file for the binary plug-in is an XML file. The application server changes the configuration file whenever changes to your WebSphere Application Server necessitate it. Examples of these changes are virtual host updates, new or removed Application Servers, or deployed application changes.
The binary module reads the XML file to adjust settings and route requests to the application server.
The plug-in configuration file, plugin-cfg.xml
The plug-in configuration file is an XML file with settings that you can tune in the administrative console. The file lists all of the applications installed on the Web server definition. The binary module reads the XML file to adjust settings and route requests to the application server.
The plug-in configuration file is stored in the profile_root/config/cells/cell_name/nodes/node/web_server_definition_name directory.
When you make application server configuration changes that affect deployed applications, regenerate the plug-in configuration XML file.
After regeneration, propagate (copy) the file to the Web server machine. The binary plug-in then has access to the most current copy of its configuration file.
The IBM HTTP Server Web server plug-in configuration service automatically regenerates the plugin-cfg.xml file whenever the configuration changes. The configuration service automatically propagates the plugin-cfg.xml file to an IBM HTTP Server machine. You must manually copy the file on other Web servers.
Note: On OS/400 systems, the plug-in is not automatically generated. You must regenerate and propogate the file manually.
See Web server plug-in configuration service properties settings for more information.
The web server definition configuration script
A Web server definition is a set of configuration data for your Web server. The Web server definition provides the configuration data for your Web server plug-in so that the application server and the Web server can communicate with each other.
Configuring your webserver with the configureOs400WebserverDefinition script or using the iSeries Administrative GUI creates the configureWeb_server_name script on the Web server machine in the plugins_install_root/bin directory. The script is created for remote installation scenarios only.
Copy the script from the Web server machine to the was_install_root/bin directory on a remote application server machine. You do not have to copy the script on a local installation. Run the script to create a Web server definition in the configuration of the application server. The iSeries Administrative GUI has plug-ins that allow the administrative console to manage IBM HTTP Servers. Also, use the administrative console to update your Web server definition with remote Web server management options. Click Servers > Web servers > Web_server to see configuration options. For example, click Remote Web server management to change such properties as:
If a Web server definition already exists for a stand-alone application server, running the script does not add a new Web server definition. Each stand-alone application server can have only one Web server definition. You cannot use the administrative console of a stand-alone application server to add or delete a Web server definition. However, you can do both tasks using the administrative scripting interface:
set webserverName webserver1 set webserverNodeSuffix _node set webserverNodeName $webserverName$webserverNodeSuffix $AdminConfig remove [$AdminConfig getid /Node:$webserverNodeName/Server:$webserverName] $AdminConfig remove [$AdminConfig getid /Node:$webserverNodeName] $AdminConfig save
Alternatively, you can use the configureOs400WebServerDefinition and removeOs400WebServerDefinition scripts to perform these tasks.
A managed node, on the other hand, can have multiple Web server definitions. The script creates a new Web server definition unless the Web server name is the same.
Replacing the default plug-in configuration file with the file from the Web server definition (propagation)
The default file uses the following fixed parameter values that might not match the parameter values in the actual file on the application server. The default file is a placeholder only.
The file cannot reflect changes that occur in the
application server configuration. The file also cannot reflect non-default values that might be in effect on the application server.
Related concepts
Related tasks
Editing Web server configuration files
Related reference