How to Configure an iPlanet Web Server

This procedure describes how to configure an instance of the iPlanet Web server to be highly available. You interact with this procedure by using the Netscape browser.

Note the following before performing this procedure:

• Before starting, ensure that you have installed the browser on a machine that can access the network on which the cluster resides. You can install the browser on a cluster node or on the administrative workstation for the cluster.

• Your configuration files can reside on either a local file system or the cluster file system.

• After the service has started, if you are running secure instances, you must install certificates installed from each cluster node. This installation involves running the admin console on each node. Thus, if a cluster has nodes n1, n2, n3, and n4, the installation steps are as follows:

  1. Run the admin server on node n1.

  2. From your Web browser, connect to the admin server as: http://n1.domain:port, for example, http://n1.eng.sun.com:8888 or whatever you specified as the admin server port. The port is typically 8888.

  3. Install the certificate.

  4. Stop the admin server on node n1 and run the admin server from node n2.

  5. From the Web browser, connect to the new admin server as: http://n2.domain:port, for example, http://n2.eng.sun.com:8888.

  Repeat these steps for nodes n3 and n4.

1. From the administrative workstation or a cluster node, start the Netscape browser.

2. On one of the cluster nodes, go to the directory https-admserv, then start the iPlanet admin server:

   # cd https-admserv # ./start

3. Type the URL of the iPlanet admin server in the Netscape browser.

   The URL consists of the physical host name and port number that was established by the iPlanet installation script in Step 4 of the server installation procedure, for example, n1.eng.sun.com:8888. When you perform Step 2 above, the admin URL is displayed by the ./start command.

   When prompted, log in to the iPlanet administration server interface by using the user ID and password you specified in Step 6 of the server installation procedure.

4. Begin to administer the iPlanet Web Server instance that was created. If you need another instance, create a new one.

   The administration graphical interface provides a form with details of the iPlanet server configuration. You can accept the defaults on the form, with the following exceptions:

   • Verify that the server name is correct.

   • Verify that the server user is set as root.

   • Change the bind address field to:

     • A logical host name or shared address if you are using DNS as your name service

     • The IP address associated with the logical host name or shared address if you are using NIS as your name service

5. Create a directory on the local disk of all the nodes to hold the logs, error files, and PID file managed by iPlanet Web Server.

   For iPlanet to work correctly, these files must be located on each node of the cluster, not on the cluster file system.

   Choose a location on the local disk that is the same for all the nodes in the cluster. Use the mkdir -p command to create the directory. Make nobody the owner of this directory.

   For example:

   phys-schost-1# mkdir -p /var/pathname/http_instance/logs/

   ---

   Note -

   If you anticipate large error logs and PID files, do not put them in a directory under /var because they will overwhelm this directory. Rather, create a directory in a partition with adequate space to handle large files.

   ---

6. Edit the ErrorLog and PidLog entries in the magnus.conf file to reflect the directory created in the previous step and synchronize the changes from the administrator's interface.

   The magnus.conf file specifies the locations for the error files and PID files. You must edit this file to change the location to that of the directory you created in Step 5. The magnus.conf file is located in the config directory of the iPlanet server instance. If the instance directory is located on the local file system, you must modify magnus.conf on each of the nodes.

   Change the entries as follows:

   # Current ErrorLog and PidLog entries ErrorLog /global/data/netscape/https-schost-1/logs/error PidLog /global/data/netscape/https-insecure-schost-1/logs/pid # New entries ErrorLog /var/pathname/http_instance/logs/error PidLog /var/pathname/http_instance/logs/pid

   As soon as the administrator's interface detects your changes, it displays a warning message, as follows:

   Warning: Manual edits not loaded Some configuration files have been edited by hand. Use the Apply button on the upper right side of the screen to load the latest configuration files.

   Click Apply as prompted.

   The administrator's interface then displays this warning:

   Configuration files have been edited by hand. Use this button to load the latest configuration files.

   Click Load Configuration Files as prompted.

7. Use the administrator's interface to set the location of the access log file.

   From the administration graphical interface, click the Preferences tab and then Logging Options on the side bar. A form is then displayed for configuring the Access Log parameter.

   Change the log file to be in the directory you created in Step 5.

   For example:

   Log File: /var/pathname/http_instance/logs/access

8. Click Save to save your changes.

   Do not click Save and Apply; doing so starts the iPlanet Web Server.

Where to Go from Here

If the data service packages for Sun Cluster HA for iPlanet Web Server have not been installed from the Sun Cluster data service CD, go to "Installing Sun Cluster HA for iPlanet Web Server Packages". Otherwise, go to "Registering and Configuring Sun Cluster HA for iPlanet Web Server".