WebSEAL worker thread configuration

The number of configured worker threads specifies the number of concurrent incoming requests that can be serviced by a server. Connections to WebSEAL that arrive when all worker threads are busy are buffered until a worker thread is available. This configuration stanza entry does not impose an upper boundary on the number of simultaneous connections. This stanza entry specifies the number of threads made available to service a potentially unlimited work queue.

Configure the number of worker threads carefully. Choosing the optimal number of worker threads depends on understanding the quantity and type of traffic on the network. In all cases, enter only a value that is less than the worker threads limit imposed by the operating system. By increasing the number of threads, we are decreasing the average time that it takes to finish the requests. However, increasing the number of threads impacts other factors that might have an adverse effect on server performance.

WebSEAL maintains a single, generic worker list and worker threads pool for handling requests from clients by using TCP or SSL. This enhanced mechanism enables WebSEAL to use fewer system resources while it handles greater load. can configure the worker thread pool size by setting the worker-threads stanza entry in the [server] stanza portion of the WebSEAL configuration file.

[server]
worker-threads = 50

The value of this stanza entry must remain within the worker threads limits set by the operating system.

Parent topic: Web server configuration

Related concepts

• Content caching
• Communication protocol configuration
• IPv4 and IPv6 overview
• IPv6: Compatibility support
• IP levels for credential attributes
• LDAP directory server configuration
• WebSEAL worker threads
• Global allocation of worker threads for junctions
• Per-junction allocation of worker threads for junctions
• HTTP data compression
• WebSEAL data handling by using UTF-8
• UTF-8 dependency on user registry configuration
• UTF-8 data conversion issues
• UTF-8 impact on authentication
• UTF-8 impact on authorization (dynamic URL)
• Encoding type usage
• UTF-8 support for uniform resource locators
• UTF-8 support in POST body information (forms)
• UTF-8 support in query strings
• UTF-8 encoding of tokens for cross domain single signon
• UTF-8 encoding of tokens for e-community single signon
• UTF-8 encoding of cookies for failover authentication
• UTF-8 encoding of cookies for LTPA authentication
• UTF-8 encoding in junction requests
• Validation of character encoding in request data
• Set system environment variables
• Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) Support

Related tasks

• Specify the WebSEAL host name
• Modify the configuration file settings
• Configure WebSEAL for IPv6 and IPv4 requests

Related reference

• IPv6: Upgrade notes
• Allocation view of worker threads for junctions
• Supported wildcard pattern matching characters