Portal Express, Version 6.0
Operating systems: i5/OS, Linux, Windows
Web servers and WebSphere Portal Express
By default IBM® WebSphere® Portal Express uses the internal HTTP transport within IBM WebSphere Application Server to handle requests. However, because WebSphere Application Server also supports the use of an external Web server, you can access WebSphere Portal Express from your Web server.
You can use a local Web server on the same machine as WebSphere Portal Express, or you can use a remote Web server on a different machine. A remote Web server is typical for a production environment or other high-traffic configuration.
To enable communication between the Web server and WebSphere Application Server, a Web server plug-in is required. The Web server plug-in determines whether a request is handled by the Web server or by the application server. The plug-in can be installed into a Web server that is located either on the same machine as WebSphere Application Server or on a separate machine from the WebSphere Application Server. The Web server plug-in uses an XML configuration file (plugin-cfg.xml) containing settings that describe how to handle and pass on requests to the WebSphere Application Server made accessible through the plug-in.
In the WebSphere Application Server administrative console, the Web server is represented as a specific server type, and you can view or modify all of the configuration properties used in the plugin-cfg.xml file for the Web server plug-in from the administrative console.
i5/OS users: For detailed information on using an external Web server with your i5/OS system, refer to the WebSphere Application Server for OS/400 Information Center, in addition to the steps listed on this page.
For information on Web servers that can be used with WebSphere Portal Express, refer to the Supported hardware and software topic.
Accessing WebSphere Portal Express through another HTTP port
By default WebSphere Portal Express is configured to be accessed through the internal HTTP port in WebSphere Application Server. For example, http://hostname.example.com:10038/wps/portal, where hostname.example.com is the fully qualified host name of the machine where WebSphere Portal is running and 10038 is the default transport port that is created by WebSphere Application Server.. The default host name and port used by WebSphere Portal Express are specified by the WpsHostName and WpsHostPort properties in the wpconfig.properties file.
After configuring WebSphere Portal Express to use an external Web server, you will access the portal with the Web server host name and port (80). In addition, you will be unable to access the portal using the WebSphere Portal Express host name and port (10038), unless there is a corresponding virtual host definition for port 10038 in the WebSphere Application Server configuration.
Many of the WebSphere Portal Express configuration tasks rely on the WpsHostName and WpsHostPort properties from the wpconfig.properties file. You must ensure that WebSphere Portal Express can be accessed using the host name and port specified by these property values. You can do this in one of two ways:
- Modify the WpsHostName and WpsHostPort property values to specify the Web server host name and port.
- Add the appropriate virtual host definition, as described below.
If you want to access WebSphere Portal Express using a host name and port different from your Web server, add the required virtual host definition using the WebSphere Application Server administrative console. If you are using the Web server in a clustered environment, use the deployment manager administrative console to perform these steps.
- Select Environment > Virtual Hosts.
- Select the default_host entry or the entry for the virtual host that is being used to access the WebSphere Portal Express application.
- Select Host Aliases, and verify whether there is a host name and port entry corresponding to the values used to access WebSphere Portal Express (for example, *:10038) . If the entry does not exist, select New, and enter the information for the host name and port you want to use.
- Save your changes.
- Regenerate the Web server plug-in.
- If you are using a remote Web server, copy the updated plugin-cfg.xml file to the Web server machine.
- Recycle your Web server, and the portal.
Cluster considerations for Web servers
When using a Web server in a clustered environment with WebSphere Portal Express, the following considerations apply:- If you run the configureweb_server_name script on the deployment manager system, synchronize and restart the cluster to ensure proper communication between the Web server and the cluster members.
Before using the configureweb_server_name script during Web server configuration in a managed cell, change the timeout request period for the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) client on the deployment manager machine. The default, in seconds, is 180. Edit the soap.client.props file in the was_profile_root/properties directory:
Change the line to: com.ibm.SOAP.requestTimeout=6000
- When federating a WebSphere Portal Express node to the deployment manager system, any Web server definition previously existing on that node is deleted. If you want to use the Web server with the cluster, recreate the Web server definition in the deployment manager administration console after you federate the node.
Related information