Linux Internet Web Server and Domain Configuration Tutorial

Web server configuration

Plug-in configuration involves configuring the Web server to use the binary plug-in module that WebSphere Application Server provides. Plug-in configuration also includes updating the plug-in XML configuration file to reflect the current application server configuration. The binary module uses the XML file to help route Web client requests.

After installing a supported Web server, you must install a binary plug-in module for the Web server. The plug-in module lets the Web server communicate with the application server. The Plug-ins installation wizard installs the Web server plug-in. The wizard configures the Web server. The wizard also creates a Web server definition in the configuration of the application server. The Plug-ins installation wizard uses the following files to configure a plug-in for the Web server that you select:

• The Web server configuration file on the Web server machine, such as the httpd.conf file for IBM HTTP Server.
• The binary Web server plug-in file that the Plug-ins installation Wizard installs on the Web server machine.
• The plug-in configuration file, plugin-cfg.xml, on the application server machine that you propagate (copy) to a Web server machine.
• The default (temporary) plug-in configuration file, plugin-cfg.xml, on the Web server machine.
• The configureweb_server_name script that you copy from the Web server machine to the application server machine.

See the following descriptions of each file.

Web server configuration file

The Web server configuration file is installed as part of the Web server.
The wizard must reconfigure the configuration file for a supported Web server.

Configuration consists of adding directives that identify file locations of two files:

• The binary plug-in file
• The plugin-cfg.xml configuration file

Web Server Configuration

Now it is time to change your Apache configuration, to make the new project accessible to the world.
Locate and open the httpd.conf configuration file and add the following configuration at the end:

# Be sure to only have this line once in your configuration
NameVirtualHost 127.0.0.1:8080

# This is the configuration for your project
Listen 127.0.0.1:8080

<VirtualHost 127.0.0.1:8080>
  DocumentRoot "/home/sfproject/web"
  DirectoryIndex index.php
  <Directory "/home/sfproject/web">
    AllowOverride All
    Allow from All
  </Directory>

  Alias /sf /home/sfproject/lib/vendor/symfony/data/web/sf
  <Directory "/home/sfproject/lib/vendor/symfony/data/web/sf">
    AllowOverride All
    Allow from All
  </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

The /sf alias gives you access to images and javascript files needed to properly display default symfony pages and the web debug toolbar.
On Windows, you need to replace the Alias line with something like:
Alias /sf "c:\dev\sfproject\lib\vendor\symfony\data\web\sf" And /home/sfproject/web should be replaced with:
c:\dev\sfproject\web This configuration makes Apache listen to port 8080 on your machine, so the website will be accessible at the following URL:
http://localhost:8080/ You can change 8080 to any number, but favour numbers greater than 1024 as they do not require administrator rights.

Configure a dedicated Domain Name

If you are an administrator on your machine, it is better to setup virtual hosts instead of adding a new port each time you start a new project. Instead of choosing a port and add a Listen statement, choose a domain name (for instance the real domain name with .localhost added at the end) and add a ServerName statement:

# This is the configuration for your project
<VirtualHost 127.0.0.1:80>
  ServerName www.myproject.com.localhost
  <!-- same configuration as before -->
</VirtualHost>

The domain name www.myproject.com.localhost used in the Apache configuration has to be declared locally. If you run a Linux system, it has to be done in the /etc/hosts file. If you run Windows XP, this file is located in the C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\ directory.
Add in the following line:

127.0.0.1 www.myproject.com.localhost

Test the New Configuration

Restart Apache, and check that you now have access to the new application by opening a browser and typing http://localhost:8080/index.php/, or http://www.myproject.com.localhost/index.php/ depending on the Apache configuration you chose in the previous section.

If you have the Apache mod_rewrite module installed, you can remove the index.php/ part of the URL. This is possible thanks to the rewriting rules configured in the web/.htaccess file.
You should also try to access the application in the development environment (see the next section for more information about environments). Type in the following URL:

http://www.myproject.com.localhost/frontend_dev.php/

The web debug toolbar should show in the top right corner, including small icons proving that your sf/ alias configuration is correct.


Thank You.