Use this administrative console page to view or change the settings of a Web server plug-in configuration file. The plug-in configuration file, plugin_cfg.xml, provides properties for establishing communication between the Web server and the Application Server.
To view this administrative console page, click Servers > Web Servers > Web_server_name Plug-in Properties.
Note: This page is available only if you are running WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment.
On the Configuration tab, you can edit fields. On the Runtime tab, you can look at read-only information.
The Runtime tab is available only when this Web server has accessed
applications running on application servers and there is an http_plugin.log file.
Configuration tab
The fully qualified path to where the plug-in configuration file is installed.
| Data type | String |
| Default | The default value is the installation root directory. |
The Web server is considered installed on a local machine if it is on the same machine as the application server. It is considered installed on a remote machine if the Web server and the application server are on different machines.
Note: On non-iSeries platforms, if you select a Web server plug-in during installation, the installer program configures the Web server to identify the location of the plugin-cfg.xml file, if possible.
Note: On non-iSeries platforms, the installer program adds a directive to the Web server configuration that specifies the location of the plugin-cfg.xml file.
For remote Web servers, copy the file from the local directory where the Application Server is installed to the remote machine. This is known as propagating the plug-in configuration file. If you are using IBM HTTP Server (IHS) V6 for your Web server on distributed or IBM HTTP Server powered by Apache on OS/400, WebSphere Application Server can automatically propagate the plug-in configuration file for you to remote machines provided there is a working HTTP transport mechanism to propagate the file.
The file name of the configuration file for the plug-in. The Application Server generates the plugin-cfg.xml file by default. The configuration file identifies applications, Application Servers, clusters, and HTTP ports for the Web server. The Web server uses the file to access deployed applications on various Application Servers.
| Data type | String |
| Default | plugin-cfg.xml |
If you select a plug-in during installation, the installer program configures the Web server to identify the location and name of the plugin-cfg.xml file, if possible.
You can change the name of the plug-in configuration file. However, if you do change the file name, also change the Web server configuration to point to the new plug-in configuration file.
When the plug-in configuration service is enabled, a plug-in configuration file is automatically generated for a Web server whenever:
Clear the check box if you want to manually generate a plug-in configuration file for this Web server.
Important: When the plug-in configuration file is generated, it does not include admin_host on the list of virtual hosts. Allowing Web servers to access the administrative console describes how to add it to the list.
Note: The plug-in configuration file can only be automatically propagated to a remote Web server if that Web server is an IHS V6.0 Web server and its administration server is running.
Note: On OS/400, if your webserver is IBM HTTP Server powered by Apache on OS/400, have the *ADMIN HTTP server running on the Web server machine as well as PTF SI17363 for product 5722DG1 for propagation to succeed. You must also enter your user ID and password in the console.
Whether the plug-in ignores DNS failures within a configuration when starting.
This field corresponds to the IgnoreDNSFuilures element in the plugin-cfg.xml file.
When set to true , the plug-in ignores DNS failures within a configuration and starts successfully if at least one server in each ServerCluster is able to resolve the host name. Any server for which the host name can not be resolved is marked unavailable for the life of the configuration. No attempts to resolve the host name are made later on during the routing of requests. If a DNS failure occurs, a log message is written to the plug-in log file and the plug-in initialization continues rather than causing the Web server not to start. When false is specified, DNS failures cause the Web server not to start.
| Data type | String |
| Default | false |
The time interval, in seconds, at which the plug-in should check the configuration file to see if updates or changes have occurred. The plug-in checks the file for any modifications that have occurred since the last time the plug-in configuration was loaded.
In a development environment in which changes are frequent, a lower setting than the default setting of 60 seconds is preferable. In production, a higher value than the default is preferable because updates to the configuration will not occur so often. If the plug-in reload fails for some reason, a message is written to the plug-in log file and the previous configuration is used until the plug-in configuration file successfully reloads. If you are not seeing the changes you made to your plug-in configuration, check the plug-in log file for indications of the problem.
| Data type | Integer |
| Default | 60 seconds. |
The location and name of the http_plugin.log file. Also specifies the scope of messages in the log.
This field corresponds to the RequestMetrics traceLevel element in the plugin-cfg.xml file.
The log describes the location and level of log messages that are written by the plug-in. If a log is not specified within the configuration file, then, in some cases, log messages are written to the Web server error log.
On a distributed platform, if the log file does not exist then it will be created. If the log file already exists, it will be opened in append mode and the previous plug-in log messages will remain.
Log file name - The fully qualified path to the log file to which the plug-in will write error messages.
| Data type | String |
| Default | plugin_install_root/logs/web_server_name/http_plugin.log
Specify the file path of the http_plugin.log file. |
If a Log level is not specified, the default value Error is used.
Be careful when setting the level to Trace . A lot of messages are logged at this level which can cause the disk space/file system to fill up very quickly. A Trace setting should never be used in a normally functioning
environment as it adversely affects performance.
| Data type | String |
| Default | Error |
Runtime tab
The fully qualified path to the log file to which the plug-in will write error messages. The default file path is plugin_install_root/logs/web_server_name/http_plugin.log .
If the file does not exist then it will be created. If the file already exists, it will be opened in append mode and the previous plug-in log messages will remain.
This field corresponds to the RequestMetrics loggingEnabled element in the plugin-cfg.xml file.
| Data type | String |
| Default for Linux and UNIX platforms | plugin_install_root/logs/web_server_name/http_plugin.log |
| Default for Windows platforms | plugin_install_root/logs/web_server_name/http_plugin.log |
Web server plug-in request and response optimization properties settings
Web server plug-in caching properties settings
Web server plug-in request routing properties settings
Related reference
Administrative console page features