[Plugin] IIS 7.0 - Configuring the WebSphere Application Server Web server plug-in for multiple Web sites

IIS 7.0 - Configuring the WebSphere Application Server Web server plug-in for multiple Web sites 

 

Question

Internet Information Services 7.0 (IIS), which ships with Microsoft Windows 2008 & Microsoft Windows Vista, allows multiple Web sites to be run within a single IIS server. Given this ability, can the WebSphere Application Server Web server plug-in be used with multiple IIS Web sites?

Answer

Yes. Using the plug-in with multiple IIS Web sites is supported, but requires that each Web site run its own instance of the plug-in. The following guide provides a detailed example for configuring the plug-in with two IIS Web sites.

 Prerequisites

*​	Minimum plug-in versions: 7.0, 6.1.0.9, 6.0.2.33​
*​	The following guide is meant as a ​post-install​ configuration. The initial plug-in installation wizard must be completed prior to performing these steps.​

Creating the directory structure In the following example, the initial plug-in has been installed to:
C:\IBM\WebSphere\Plugins

1. From Windows Explorer, navigate to the plug-in install root and expand the bin, config and logs subdirectories as shown below:
   
   
   
2. Under each of the expanded directories (bin, config, logs), create a copy of the current Web site-specific subdirectory as shown below:
   
   
   
3. In this example, the original (webserver1) directories will be used for the first Web site and the directory copies for the second Web site. While the directory copies can be given any name without spaces, in this example, we rename the copies as webserver2.
   
   

Updating plug-in configuration files

1. Under the ..bin\IIS_webserver2 directory, open the plugin-cfg.loc file in a text editor. Currently this points to the plugin-cfg.xml under config\webserver1
   
   

   C:​\​IBM​\​WebSphere​\​Plugins​\​config​\​webserver1​\​plugin​-​cfg.xml​​

   
   - Change this so it points to config\webserver2
   
   

   C:​\​IBM​\​WebSphere​\​Plugins​\​config​\​webserver2​\​plugin​-​cfg.xml​​

   
   - Save & Close.
   
   
2. Under the ..config\webserver2 directory, open the plugin-cfg.xml in a text editor. Currently, the "Name" parameter of the <Log> tag points to logs\webserver1:
   
   

   <Log LogLevel="Error" Name​=​"C:​\​IBM​\​WebSphere​\​Plugins​\​logs​\​webserver1​\​http​_​plugin.log"​/​>​​

   
   - Change this so it points to logs\webserver2
   
   

   <Log LogLevel="Error" Name​=​"C:​\​IBM​\​WebSphere​\​Plugins​\​logs​\​webserver2​\​http​_​plugin.log"​/​>​​

   
   - Save & Close.
   

Updating the IIS configuration This section includes settings which may already have been configured by the initial plug-in install. This section also assumes that the two IIS Web sites intended for use with the plug-in have already been created.

1. Launch the IIS Administrative Console.
   
   
2. From the connections pane, select the Server node . Double-click "ISAPI Filters" from the features pane and remove any filters which point to the plug-in library (iisWASPlugin_http.dll). Example:
   
   
   
3. From the connections pane, expand the Server node , right-click the "Application Pools" node and select "Add Application Pool".
   
   
   1. Enter a name relevant for the first Web site (eg. webserver1AppPool). Accept the remaining default values and click OK.
      
      
   2. Repeat this step, creating a second Application Pool with a name relevant for the second Web site (eg. webserver2AppPool).
      
      Example:
      
      
4. From the connections pane, expand the "Sites" node and select the first Web site intended for the plug-in.
   
   
   1. From the actions pane, click "Basic Settings".
      
      
   2. Click the "Select" button and change the "Application pool" drop-down to point to the Application Pool that was created for the first Web site:
      
      
      
   3. Click OK / OK.
      
      
   4. From the features pane, double-click "ISAPI Filters", then click "Add" from the actions pane.
      
      
   5. For the "Filter name" value, enter iisWASPlugin.
      
      
   6. For the "Executable" value, browse and select the iisWASPlugin_http.dll that will be used for the first Web site:
      
      
      
   7. Click OK.
      
      
   8. Repeat this entire step for the second Web site making sure to choose the relevant Application Pool and iisWASPlugin_http.dll:
      
      
      
5. From the connections pane, right-click the first Web site and select "Add Virtual Directory".
   
   
   1. For the "Alias" value, enter sePlugins.
      
      
   2. For the "Physical path" value, browse and select the directory containing the iisWASPlugin_http.dll for the first Web site:
      
      
      
   3. Click OK.
      
      
   4. From the connections pane, select the 'sePlugins' virtual directory that was just created.
      
      
   5. From the features pane, double-click "Handler Mappings", then click "Edit Feature Permissions" from the actions pane.
      
      
   6. Put check marks next to "Script" and "Execute" if they are not already enabled:
      
      
      
   7. Click OK.
      
      
   8. Repeat this entire step for the second Web site making sure to choose the relevant iisWASPlugin_http.dll directory:
      
      
6. From the connections pane, select the Server node . From the features pane, double-click "ISAPI and CGI Restrictions", then click "Add" from the actions pane.
   
   
   1. For the "ISAPI or CGI Path" value, browse and select the iisWASPlugin_http.dll that will be used for the first Web site.
      
      
   2. For the "Description" value, enter WASPlugin.
      
      
   3. Put a check mark next to "Allow extension path to execute" and click OK.
      
      
   4. Click "Add" again.
      
      
   5. For the "ISAPI or CGI Path" value, browse and select the iisWASPlugin_http.dll that will be used for the second Web site.
      
      
   6. For the "Description" value, again enter WASPlugin.
      
      
   7. Put a check mark next to "Allow extension path to execute" and click OK.
      
      Example:
      
      
7. Close the IIS Administrative Console and restart the following services:
   
   "IIS Admin Service"
   "World Wide Web Publishing Service"
   

Pre-Deployment Because each IIS Web site uses its own independent plug-in configuration, most WebSphere Application Server deployments will require a unique "Web server definition" for each Web site. This enables the Application Server to generate separate plugin-cfg.xml files, thereby allowing each Web site to have its own independent set of application mappings. For detailed information on configuring Web server definitions, refer to the following IBM Information Centers:
WebSphere Application Server 7.0
WebSphere Application Server 6.1
WebSphere Application Server 6.0