Configure Web server plug-ins

A WebSphere appserver works with a Web server to handle requests for web application (.war)s. The Web server and appserver communicate using a WebSphere HTTP plug-in for the Web server.

The installation program for WAS modifies the Web server configuration file automatically to establish a plug-in, provided that you specify a Web server during installation.

Plug-ins are the preferred method of communication between the Web server and the appserver. A plug-in offers the following advantages...

• XML-based configuration file

• Standard protocol recognized by firewall products

• Security using HTTPS, replacing proprietary OSE over SSL

A Web server plug-in and Web server are not required in order to start the appserver or the administrative console. In a test or development environment, you can use the internal HTTP transport instead of the Web server plug-in and Web server. But, for performance reasons, use a Web server plug-in and Web server in a production environment. An HTTP transport facilitates the connection between the Web server plug-in and a Web container of an application server.

1. Administer your Web server. Refer to your Web server documentation for information on administering your Web server.

   Ensure that Web servers are configured to perform operations required by web application (.war)s, such as GET and POST. Typically, this involves setting a directive in the Web server configuration file. Refer to the Web server documentation for instructions. If an operation is not enabled when a servlet or JSP file requiring the operation is accessed, an error message displays, such as this one from IBM HTTP Server...

   HTTP method POST is not supported by this URL.

2. If you encounter problems starting your Web server, check the http_plugin.log file in the WebSphere logs directory for information on what portion of the plug-in configuration file contained the error. The log file states the line number on which the error occurred along with other details that might help you diagnose why the Web server did not start. A frequent reason for a Web server not starting is an improper entry in a plug-in configuration file.

3. Install the plug-in to a specific location.

4. Check the version of your IBM HTTP Server installation.

5. Regenerate the plug-in configuration or manually edit the plug-in configuration file.. After changing configurations to plug-ins, transports or virtual hosts, regenerate your Web server plug-in for the changes to take effect.

6. Tune your Web server with Web server tuning parameters.

 

See Also

Web server plug-ins
Configuring transports
Change the HTTP plug-in configuration
plugin-cfg.xml file
Web server tuning parameters
Plug-ins: Resources for learning
Web server plug-in tuning tips

 

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