Set up a remote unmanaged Web server


 

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Overview

We can create a Web server definition in the admin console when the Web server and the Web server plug-in are on one machine and the appserver is on a different machine.

With a remote Web server installation, WAS can generate and propagate plugin-cfg.xml for IBM HTTP Server, but not for other Web servers.

Web servers that are not IHS for WAS must reside on the same machine as the WAS (as a managed node) to generate and propagate plugin-cfg.xml.

We can choose a remote Web server installation if we want the Web server on the outside of a firewall and WAS on the inside of a firewall. We can create a remote Web server on an unmanaged node. Unmanaged nodes are nodes without node agents.

With IHS, there is an administration server that will facilitate admin requests such as start and stop, view logs, and view and edit httpd.conf.

The administration server is not provided with IHS for WAS on z/OS. Administration using the admin console is not supported for IHS for z/OS on an unmanaged node.


Create a Web server definition in the default profile

The following steps will create a Web server definition in the default profile...

  1. Install WAS v7.
  2. Install IHS or another supported Web server.

  3. Install the binary plug-in module using the Plug-ins installation wizard.

  4. Complete the setup by creating the Web server definition.

 

Create an unmanaged Web server

  1. Create an unmanaged node in which to define a Web server in the topology...
    System Administration | Nodes | Add Node

  2. Create new Web server definition...

    Servers | Server Types | Web servers | New

    Wizard values...

    Type Web server vendor type.
    Port Existing Web server port. The default is 80.
    Installation Path Web server installation path. Required field for IHS only.
    WINDOWS Service Name Windows service name of the Web server. Default is...

    IBMHTTPServer7.0
    Use secure protocol Use HTTPS to communicate with the Web server. Default is HTTP.
    Plug-in installation location Directory path where the plug-in is installed.
    Application mapping to the Web server Whether you want to create a mapping to existing applications that are currently deployed to the Web Server. Select ALL if we want the mapping created; select None if we do not want the mapping created.
    Port Administration server port. The default is 8008.
    User ID User ID that is created using the htpasswd script.
    Password Password that corresponds to the user ID created with the htpasswd script.
    Use secure protocol Use the HTTPS protocol to communicate with the administration server. The default is HTTP.

  3. Select a Web server template.

    Select a system template or a user-defined template for the Web server you want to create.

  4. Confirmation of Web server creation.

  5. For AIX, HP-UX, Linux or Solaris operating systems:

    On the remote Web server, run the setupadm script.

    The administration server requires read and write access to configuration files and authentication files to perform Web server configuration data administration.

    <IHS_install_root>/bin/setupadm

    The administration server has to execute...

    adminctl restart

    ...as root to perform successful restarts of IHS. In addition to the Web server files, manually change the permissions to the targeted plug-in configuration files.

    setupadm prompts you for the following input...

    User ID User ID used to log on to the administration server. The script creates this user ID.
    Group name Group file permissions. The script creates the specified group through this script.
    Directory Directory containing configuration and authentication files.
    File name The following file groups and file permissions change:

    • Single file name
    • File name with wildcard
    • All (default) - All of the files in the specific directory
    Processing The setupadm script changes the group and file permissions of the configuration files and authentication files.

    In addition to the Web server files, change the permissions to the targeted plug-in configuration files.

  6. The administration server is installed with authentication enabled and a blank admin.passwd password file . The administration server will not accept a connection without a valid user ID and password.

    On the remote Web server, run...

      cd IHS_HOME/bin
      ./htpasswd -cm <install_dir>/conf/admin.passwd [login name]

    This protects IHS configuration files from unauthorized access.

    The [login name] is the user ID that you entered in the user ID field for the remote Web server properties in the admin console.

  7. Start IHS.

 

What to do next

For a non-IHS Web Server on an unmanaged node, we can generate a plug-in configuration, based on WebSphere Application server repository changes. However, the following functions are not supported on an unmanaged node for a non-IHS Web server:

Configure non-IHS Web servers as a local Web server on a managed node. For a non-IHS Web server on a managed node, the following functions are supported:

For a non-IHS Web server configured as a local Web server on a managed node, the following functions are not supported:


Web server collection
Web server configuration
Web server log file
Web server plug-in properties
Web server configuration file
Web server custom properties
Remote Web server management