Web server plug-in installation for distributed environments (cells)

Set-up and troubleshooting procedure for automatic propagation

The Web server plug-in configuration service propagates the plugin-cfg.xml file automatically for IBM HTTP Server 6.0 only. To enable automatic propagation, perform the following one-time setup:

1. Create a user=adminUser, password=adminPassword in the IHS_install_root /conf/admin.passwd file. For example: c:\ws\ihs60\bin\htpasswd -cb c:\ws\ihs60\conf\admin.passwd adminUser adminPassword
2. In the administrative console, click Servers > Web servers > webserver1 > Remote Web server management. Set the following values: admin Port=8008, User Id=adminUser, Password=adminPassword.
3. Set the correct read/write permissions for the httpd.conf file and the plugin-cfg.xml file. See the IHS_install_root /logs/admin_error.log file for more information.

Automatic propagation of the plug-in configuration file requires the IBM HTTP administrative server to be up and running. If you are managing an IBM HTTP Server using the WebSphere Application Server administrative console, the following error might display:

"Could not connect to IHS Administration server error"

Perform the following procedure:

1. Verify that the IBM HTTP Server administration server is running.
2. Verify that the Web server host name and the port that is defined in the WebSphere Application Server administrative console matches the IBM HTTP Server administration host name and port.
3. Verify that the fire wall is not preventing you from accessing the IBM HTTP Server administration server from the WebSphere Application Server administrative console.
4. Verify that the user ID and password that is specified in the WebSphere Application Server administrative console under remote managed, is created in the admin.passwd file, using the htpasswd command.
5. If you are trying to connect securely, verify that you export the IBM HTTP Server administration server keydb personal certificate into the WebSphere Application Server key database as a signer certificate. This key database is specified by the com.ibm.ssl.trustStore directive in the sas.client.props file in the profile where your administrative console is running. This consideration is primarily for self-signed certificates.
6. If you still have problems, check the IBM HTTP Server admin_error.log file and the WebSphere Application Server logs (trace.log file) to determine the cause of the problem.

Cross-platform considerations for running the configuration script

Several differences in operating systems and machine platforms can occur when configuring a remote Web server:

• One machine is running Windows and the other is running Linux or UNIX.
• One machine is running a default encoding that is different than the other.

One machine is running Windows and the other is running Linux or UNIX

If one machine is running under Linux or UNIX and the other machine is running under Windows, use the script created in the plugins_install_root / bin/ crossPlatformScripts directory.

One machine is running a default encoding that is different than the other

The content of the configureWeb_server_name.bat script or the configure Web_server_name.sh script can be corrupt if the default file encoding of the two machines differs. This scenario is possible when one machine is set up for a double-byte character set (DBCS) locale and the other machine is not.

Determine the file encoding for each machine and use one of the following procedures as a workaround. To determine the default file encoding, run the appropriate command:

• Windows systems:

  CHCP
  

• Linux and UNIX systems:

  locale
  

Use the result of the command on each machine as the value of the web_server_machine_encoding variable and the application_server_machine_encoding variable in one of the following procedures.

Procedures for correcting encoding differences

Suppose that the Web server is running on a Linux machine and Network Deployment is running on a Windows machine.

Web server running on a Linux machine

Run the following command on the Linux or UNIX system to encode the script file that configures the Web server definition, before you FTP the file to the Windows machine in binary mode:

iconv -f web_server_machine_encoding \
      -t application_server_machine_encoding \
         configureWeb_server_name.bat

Omit the Linux and UNIX continuation characters (\) if you enter the command on one line.

Important: The name of the Web server (nick name) is used in the name of the script file. The name cannot contain characters from a double-byte character set (DBCS) if you intend to set up IBM HTTP Server for automatic propagation.

Now suppose that the Web server is running on a Windows machine and Network Deployment is running on a Linux or UNIX machine.

Web server running on a Windows machine

Run the following command on the Linux or UNIX system to encode the script file that configures the Web server definition, after you FTP the file in binary mode:

iconv -f web_server_machine_encoding \
      -t application_server_machine_encoding \
         configureWeb_server_name.sh

Omit the Linux and UNIX continuation characters (\) if you enter the command on one line.

If the conversion mapping is not supported by the iconv command on your system, copy the contents of the Web server configuration script to a clip board and paste it onto the machine where the application server is running.