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Netscape Enterprise Server
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Chapter 1   Introduction to Enterprise Server


This chapter introduces Netscape Enterprise Server and discusses some of the fundamental server concepts. Read it to obtain an overview of how Enterprise Server works.

This chapter includes the following sections:

Enterprise Server

Enterprise Server 6.1 is a multi-process, multi-threaded, secure web server built on open standards. It provides high performance, reliability, scalability, and manageability for any size enterprise.

This section includes the following topics:

Enterprise Server Features

Enterprise Server is primarily designed to provide access to your business HTML files. In addition, it offers the following features:

Administering and Managing Enterprise Servers

You can manage your Enterprise Server(s) via the following user interfaces:

In previous releases, the Enterprise Server and other Netscape servers were administered by a single server, called the Administration Server. In a previous release, the "administration server" became simply an additional instance of the Enterprise Server, called Enterprise Server Administration Server, or Administration Server. You use the Administration Server to administer all of your Enterprise Server instances. For more information, see "Administration Server"

Note  

You can also perform administrative tasks manually by editing the configuration files or by using command-line utilities.

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For managing individual instances of Enterprise Server, you can use the Server Manager. For more information, see "Server Manager".

To manage virtual servers, use the Class Manager. For more information, see "Virtual Server Configuration".

Enterprise Server Architecture

Enterprise Server incorporates a modular architecture that integrates seamlessly with all of the products in the Netscape family of servers. In addition, Enterprise Server includes an administration server interface for coordinating administrative functions across all of your web servers. Note that this administrative interface is itself another instance of Enterprise Server.

Enterprise Server includes the following software modules:

These server modules are described in the following sections.

Content Engines

Enterprise Server content engines are designed for manipulating customer data. The following content engines make up the content layer of the Enterprise Server architecture:

Server Extensions

The Enterprise Server extensions enable you to extend or replace the function of the server to better suit your business operations. The following server extensions are part of the core Enterprise Server architecture:

Common Gateway Interface (CGI) is a stand-alone application development interface that enables you to create programs that process your client requests dynamically.

Netscape Server Application Programming Interface (NSAPI) is used to implement the functions the server calls when processing a request (Server Application Functions) which provide the core and extended functionality of the Enterprise Server. It allows the server's processing of requests to be divided into small steps which may be arranged in a variety of ways for speed and flexible configuration.

Java Servlets and JavaServer Pages extensions enable all Java servlet and JavaServer page meta-functions, including instantiation, initialization, destruction, access from other components, and configuration management. Java servlets and JavaServer pages are reusable Java applications that run on a web server rather than in a web browser.

Runtime Environments

In addition to the various server extensions, Enterprise Server includes a set of runtime environments which support the server extensions. These runtime environments include the following:

Application Services

Finally, the Enterprise Server architecture includes a set of application services for various application-specific functions. These application services include the following:

Enterprise Server Configuration

Enterprise Server is configured to enable you to turn on or off various features, determine how to respond to individual client requests, and write programs that run on and interact with the server's operation. The instructions (called directives) which identify these options are stored in configuration files. Enterprise Server reads the configuration files on startup and during client requests to map your choices with the desired server activity. For more information about these files, see "Enterprise Server Configuration Files".

The server includes a number configuration files which are stored in server_root/https-server_id/config and server_root/https-admserv/config when installed on your computer.

This section includes the following topics:

Enterprise Server Component Options

The following component options are available when you install Enterprise Server:

Enterprise Server Configuration Files

Enterprise Server includes a variety of configuration files that enable you to set various global variables, and to customize how the server responds to specific events and client requests. You can modify the configuration files automatically using the Administrator Server, Server Manager, and Class Manager user interface, or by editing the files directly using a text editor.

The main Enterprise Server configuration files are: magnus.conf, obj.conf, mime.types, and server.xml. These configuration files are described in this section.

Note  

There are a number of configuration files Enterprise Server uses when your server is set up as part of a cluster of Enterprise Servers (these files include a .clfilter file extension). For more information regarding how you can configure a cluster of Enterprise Server, including important guidelines, see "About Clusters".

magnus.conf: contains global server configuration information (such as security and default language selection). This file sets the values for variables that configure the server during initialization. Enterprise Server reads this file and executes the variable settings on startup. The server does not read this file again until it is restarted, so you must restart the server every time you make changes to this file.

For more information, see the Netscape Enterprise Server NSAPI Programmer's Guide.

obj.conf: object configuration file. There is one obj.conf file for each virtual server class, or grouping of virtual servers. Whenever this guide refers to "the obj.conf file," it refers to all obj.conf files or to the obj.conf file for the virtual server class being described. All the obj.conf files are located in server_root/server_id/config . They are typically named vsclass.obj.conf, where vsclass is the virtual server class name.

The obj.conf file contains settings for server customization, and instructions that the server uses to process requests from clients (such as browsers). Each virtual server references this information every time it processes a client request.

For more information about the actual file syntax and the specific directives used by the obj.conf and magnus.conf configuration files, see the Netscape Enterprise Server NSAPI Programmer's Guide.

server.xml: configures the addresses and ports that the server listens on and assigns virtual server classes and virtual servers to these listen sockets. For more information, see the Netscape Enterprise Server NSAPI Programmer's Guide.

mime.types: the MIME (Multi-purpose Internet Mail Extension) type configuration file. This file maps file extensions to MIME types, to enable the server to determine the type of content being requested. For example, requests for resources with .html extensions indicate that the client is requesting an HTML file, while requests for resources with .gif extensions indicate that the client is requesting an image file in GIF format.

For more information, see "Specifying a Default MIME Type".

Dynamic Reconfiguration

Dynamic reconfiguration allows you to make configuration changes to a live web server without having to stop and restart the web server for the changes to take effect. You can dynamically change all configuration settings and attributes in server.xml and its associated files without restarting the server.

To access the dynamic reconfiguration screen and install a new configuration dynamically, click the Apply link found in the upper right corner of the Server Manager, Class Manager, and Virtual Server Manager pages, then click the Load Configuration Files button on the Apply Changes page. If there are errors in installing the new configuration, the previous configuration is restored.

Single-Server Configuration

If you have installed Enterprise Server on a single server machine, the installation process places all the files under the server root directory that you specified during installation.

All Platforms

For all platforms, the following directories are created under the server root directory:

UNIX and Linux Platforms

In addition to the files and directories described in "All Platforms" the following files are created at the server-root directory for UNIX® and Linux® platforms:

The following files are created under the server-root/https-admserv directory for UNIX and Linux platforms:

Virtual Server Configuration

Virtual servers allow you, with a single installed server, to offer companies or individuals domain names, IP addresses, and some server administration capabilities. You can configure virtual servers using the Virtual tab of the Server Manager, as well as the Class Manager interface and the server.xml file. The settings for virtual servers are stored in the server.xml file, found in the server_root/https-server_id/config directory.

For more information, see Chapter 11 "Using Virtual Servers."

Multiple-Server Configuration

You can have multiple web servers running on the same server machine. Multiple web servers can be configured from a single-server administration interface called the Administration Server.

Administration Server

The Administration Server is a web-based server that contains the Java forms you use to configure all of your Enterprise Servers.

After installing Enterprise Server, you use your browser to navigate to the Administration Server page and use its forms to configure your Enterprise Servers. When you submit the forms, the Administration Server modifies the configuration for the server you were administering.

The URL you use to navigate to the Administration Server page depends on the computer host name and the port number you choose for the Administration Server when you install Enterprise Server. For example, if you installed the Administration Server on port 1234, the URL would look like this:

http://myserver.example.com:1234
 

Before you can get to any forms, the Administration Server prompts you to authenticate yourself. This means you need to type a user name and password. You set up the "superuser" user name and password when you install Enterprise Server on your computer. After installation, you can use distributed administration to give multiple people access to different forms in the Administration Server. For more information about distributed administration, see "Allowing Multiple Administrators".

The first page you see when you access the Administration Server, is called Servers. You use the buttons on this page to manage, add, remove, and migrate your Enterprise Servers. The Administration Server provides the following tabs for your administration-level tasks:

For more information on using the Administration Server, including information regarding these administration-level tasks, see Chapter 2 "Administering Enterprise Servers."

Server Manager

The Server Manager is a web-based interface that contains the forms you use to configure individual instances of Enterprise Server.

You can access the Server Manager for Enterprise Server by performing the following steps:

  1. Install and start your Enterprise Server.
    2. The Administration Server displays the Servers page.
     
  2. In the Manage Servers area, select the desired server and click Manage.
    3. The Enterprise Server Administration Server displays the Server Manager Preferences page.
     

    Note  

    Enterprise Server requires a browser that supports frames and has JavaScript and cookies enabled.



You use the links on the Preferences page to manage options such as thread pool settings, and to turn the web server on and off.

In addition, the Server Manager provides the following tabs for additional Enterprise Server managerial tasks:

For more information, see the Server Manager in the online help.

Using the Resource Picker

Most of the Server Manager and Class Manager pages configure the entire Enterprise Server or an entire class. However, some pages can configure either the entire server (or class) or files and directories that the server (or class) maintains. These pages include the Resource Picker, shown in Figure 1-1, at the top.

Figure 1-1    Resource Picker

The Resource Picker appears on a number of pages, including the Server Manager's Log Preferences page and most screens accessible from the Class Manager's Content Management tab.

To use the Resource Picker, choose a resource from the drop-down list for configuration. Click Browse to browse your primary document directory; clicking Options allows you to choose other directories. Click Wildcard to configure files with a specific extension.

Wildcards Used in the Resource Picker

In many parts of the server configuration, you specify wildcard patterns to represent one or more items to configure. Please note that the wildcards for access control may be different from those discussed in this section.

Wildcard patterns use special characters. If you want to use one of these characters without the special meaning, precede it with a backslash (\) character.

Class Manager

The Class Manager is a web-based interface that contains the Java forms you use to configure your virtual Enterprise Servers. The user interface for virtual servers has two parts, the Server Manager and the Class Manager. The Class Manager contains settings that affect a single class or single virtual server. You can set services for the class in the Class Manager, as well as add virtual servers (members of the class) and configure settings for an individual virtual server.

You can access the Class Manager for Enterprise Server by performing the following steps:

  1. From the Server Manager, click the Virtual Server Class tab.
    2. The Server Manager displays the Select a Class of Virtual Server page.
     
  2. From the drop-down list, select a virtual server class and click Manage.
    3. Enterprise Server displays the Class Manager's Select a Virtual Server page.
     

You can also access the Class Manager by simply clicking the Class Manager link in the upper right-hand corner of the browser window.

The Class Manager provides the following tabs to manage your Enterprise Server virtual servers:

For more information, see the Class Manager in the online help.

Virtual Server Manager

To access the Virtual Server Manager, go to the Virtual Servers tab in the Class Manager, then select a virtual server from the list on the Manager Virtual Servers page and click Manage, or click on the link to a virtual server under the tree view.

The pages provided in the Virtual Server Manager allow you to check the status and settings, set the Java web applications state to on, and generate reports for the selected virtual server.

The Virtual server Manager provides the following tabs to manage your Enterprise Server virtual servers:



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© 2001 Sun Microsystems, Inc. Portions copyright 1999, 2002 Netscape Communications Corporation. All rights reserved.


Last Updated August 02, 2002