The following sections describe the plug-ins provided by Oracle for use with WebLogic Server:
Plug-ins are small software programs that developers use to extend a WebLogic Server implementation.
The plug-ins allow requests to be proxied from an Apache HTTP Server, Oracle HTTP Server, or Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) to WebLogic Server. In this way, plug-ins enable the HTTP server to communicate with applications deployed on the WebLogic Server.
The plug-in enhances an HTTP server installation by allowing WebLogic Server to handle those requests that require dynamic functionality. That is, you typically use a plug-in where the HTTP server serves static pages such as HTML pages, while dynamic pages such as HTTP Servlets or Java Server Pages (JSPs) are served by WebLogic Server.
WebLogic Server may be operating in a different process, possibly on a different host. To the end user—the browser—the HTTP requests delegated to WebLogic Server still appear to be coming from the HTTP server.
In addition, the HTTP-tunneling facility of the WebLogic client-server protocol also operates through the plug-in, providing access to all WebLogic Server services.
The plug-ins improve performance using a pool of connections from the plug-in to WebLogic Server. The plug-in implements HTTP 1.1 keep-alive connections between the plug-in and WebLogic Server by reusing the same connection for subsequent requests from the same client. If the connection is inactive for more than 20 seconds, (or a user-defined amount of time) the connection is closed. The connection with the client can be reused to connect to the same client at a later time if it has not timed out. You can disable this feature if desired. For more information, see KeepAliveEnabled in Table 7-1.
The plug-in proxies requests to WebLogic Server based on a configuration that you specify. You can proxy requests based on either the URL of the request or a portion of the URL. This is called proxying by path.
You can also proxy a request based on the MIME type of the requested file, which is called proxying by file extension.
You can also enable both methods. If you do enable both methods and a request matches both criteria, the request is proxied by path.
You can also specify additional parameters for each of these types of requests that define additional behavior of the plug-in.
The version 1.1 plug-ins are not bundled with WebLogic Server but are instead available for download.
See Downloading the Version 1.1 Plug-Ins for instructions on downloading the plug-ins.
The following version 1.1 plug-ins are available for download for use with this release of Oracle WebLogic Server:
Apache HTTP Server 2.2.x
Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS 6.0 and IIS 7.0).
Oracle HTTP Server uses the Apache HTTP Server plug-in, which is bundled with Oracle HTTP Server.
The version 1.0 plug-ins are deprecated in this release of Oracle WebLogic Server. The version 1.1 plug-ins are the recommended replacement.
The version 1.1 plug-ins are a superset of the version 1.0 plug-ins described in Using Web Server Plug-Ins with Oracle WebLogic Server and support all of the existing features, with the exception of the Sun Java System Web Server.
Note:
If you need to use a plug-in with Sun Java System Web Server, continue to use the version 1.0 plug-in.The version 1.1 plug-in supports Apache HTTP Server 2.2.x only. If you need to use Apache1.3.x or Apache 2.0.x, continue to use the version 1.0 plug-in.
As in previous releases, the version 1.0 plug-ins continue to be bundled with Oracle WebLogic Server. However, the version 1.0 plug-ins are not guaranteed to be bundled with future versions of Oracle Weblogic Server. Oracle recommends that you instead download and use the version 1.1 plug-ins as described in Downloading the Version 1.1 Plug-Ins.
The version 1.1 plug-ins are a superset of the version 1.0 plug-ins described in Using Web Server Plug-Ins with Oracle WebLogic Server and support the existing features. However, keep the following considerations in mind when you upgrade:
The list of supported platforms has changed, as described in Plug-In Supported Platforms.
The version 1.1 plug-ins support most of the existing version 1.0 plug-in features, with the exception of the Sun Java System Web Server. If you need to use a plug-in with Sun Java System Web Server, continue to use the version 1.0 plug-in. If you need to use Apache 1.3.x or Apache 2.0.x, continue to use the version 1.0 plug-in.
If you have been using 128-bit encryption, you need to change your configuration file to reflect the new naming convention, as described in Standard Encryption Strength Allows Simplified Naming. For example, you need to change mod_wl128_22.so to mod_wl.so.
This section describes the features of the version 1.1 plug-ins. The following topics are described:
Because the version 1.0 plug-ins supported both 40- and 128-bit encryption standards, the plug-in file names needed to identify which standard was supported. For example, mod_wl_22.so indicated 40-bit encryption and mod_wl128_22.so indicated 128-bit encryption.
However, the version 1.1 plug-ins support only 128-bit encryption, and the plug-in names are now simplified. For example, mod_wl.so is the only file name required.
Note:
If you upgrade from the 1.0 plug-ins and had been using 128-bit encryption, you need to change your configuration file to reflect the new naming convention. For example, you need to changemod_wl128_22.so to mod_wl.so.The version 1.1 plug-ins use the Oracle certified security framework, and can therefore use Oracle wallets to store SSL configuration information.
For this reason, the version 1.1 plug-ins introduce an SSL configuration parameter WLSSLWallet to use Oracle wallets.
You can configure the certificates in the Oracle wallet with a command line tool that is provided with the plug-in binary files. See Use SSL With Plug-Ins for information about configuring SSL.
The version 1.1 plug-ins support IPv6. The WebLogicHost and WebLogicCluster configuration parameters (see Table 7-1) now support IPv6 addresses.
See Use IPv6 With Plug-Ins for additional information.
The version 1.1 plug-ins provide two-way SSL support for verifying client identity. Two-way SSL is automatically enforced when WebLogic Server requests the client certificate during the handshake process.
See Use SSL With Plug-Ins for configuration information.
The version 1.1 plug-ins are supported on the platforms described in http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/products/ias/files/fusion_certification.html.
The WebLogic Server version 1.1 plug-ins are available for download via the http://metalink.oracle.com/ Web site, and also from http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/products/ias/htdocs/wls_main.html.
The WebLogic Server 1.1 plug-ins are available in the form of a zip file containing the necessary binary and helper files. You must download and unzip the appropriate file, and then install the plug-in as described in each subsequent plug-in chapter.
For example, the following directories are included in the mod_wl_so plug-in distribution. For the Windows version, DLL files are provided.
lib/mod_wl.so or lib\mod_wl.dll (Apache plug-in)
lib/*.so or lib\*.dll (native libraries)
bin/orapki or bin\orapki.cmd (orapki tool)
jlib/*.jar (Java helper libraries for orapki)