NameTrans

NameTrans stands for Name Translation. NameTrans directives translate virtual URLs to physical directories on your server. For example, the URL

http://www.test.com/some/file.html

could be translated to the full file system path

/usr/Sun/WebServer61/server1/docs/some/file.html

NameTrans directives should appear in the default object. If an object contains more than one NameTrans directive, the server executes each directive in order until one succeeds.

The following NameTrans-class functions are described in detail in this section

• assign-name tells the server to process directives in a named object.

• document-root translates a URL into a file system path by replacing the http://server-name/ part of the requested resource with the document root directory.

• home-page translates a request for the server’s root home page (/) to a specific file.

• map looks for a certain URL prefix in the URL that the client is requesting.

• match-browser matches specific strings in the User-Agent string supplied by the browser, and then modifies the behavior of Proxy Server based upon the results by setting values for specified variables.

• ntrans-j2ee determines whether a request maps to a -based web application context. Based on Java technology this function is applicable only to the Administration Server.

• pac-map maps proxy-relative URLs to local files that are delivered to clients who request configuration.

• pat-map maps proxy-relative URLs to local files that are delivered to proxies that request configuration.

• pfx2dir translates any URL beginning with a given prefix to a file system directory and optionally enables directives in an additional named object.

• redirect redirects the client to a different URL.

• regexp-map allows a regular expression map.

• reverse-map rewrites HTTP response headers when the proxy server is functioning as a reverse proxy.

• set-variable enables you to change server settings based upon conditional information in a request, and to manipulate variables in parameter blocks by using specific commands.

• strip-params removes embedded semicolon-delimited parameters from the path.

• um-ntrans identifies an inbound request as being related to a junction (or not).

• unix-home translates a URL to a specified directory within a user’s home directory.

assign-name

Applicable in NameTrans-class directives.

The assign-name function specifies the name of an object in obj.conf that matches the current request. The server then processes the directives in the named object in preference to the ones in the default object.

For example, consider the following directive in the default object:

NameTrans fn=assign-name name=personnel from=/personnel

Suppose the server receives a request for http://server-name/personnel. After processing this NameTrans directive, the server looks for an object named personnel in obj.conf, and continues by processing the directives in the personnel object.

The assign-name function always returns REQ_NOACTION.

Parameters

The following table describes the parameters for the assign-name function.

Example

# This NameTrans directive is in the default object.
	NameTrans fn=assign-name name=personnel from=/a/b/c/pers...
	<Object name=personnel>...additional directives..</Object>
NameTrans fn="assign-name" from="/perf" find-pathinfo-forward="" name="perf"
NameTrans fn="assign-name" from="/nsfc"  nostat="/nsfc" name="nsfc"

document-root

Applicable in NameTrans-class directives.

The document-root function specifies the root document directory for the server. If the physical path has not been set by a previous NameTrans function, the http://server-name/ part of the path is replaced by the physical path name for the document root.

When the server receives a request for http://server-name/somepath/somefile, the document-root function replaces http://server-name/ with the value of its root parameter. For example, if the document root directory is /usr/sun/webserver61/server1/docs, then when the server receives a request for http://server-name/a/b/file.html, the document-root function translates the path name for the requested resource to /usr/sun/webserver61/server1/docs/a/b/file.html.

This function always returns REQ_PROCEED. NameTrans directives listed after this response are never called, so be sure that the directive that invokes document-root is the last NameTrans directive.

You can declare only one root document directory. To specify additional document directories, use the pfx2dir function to set up additional path name translations.

Parameters

The following table describes parameters for the document-root function.

Examples

NameTrans fn=document-root root=/usr/sun/webserver61/server1/docsNameTrans 
	fn=document-root root=$docroot

         

See Also

pfx2dir

home-page

Applicable in NameTrans-class directives.

The home-page function specifies the home page for your server. This page is displayed whenever a client requests the server’s home page (/).

Parameters

The following table describes parameters for the home-page function.

Examples

NameTrans fn="home-page" path="/path/to/file.html"
NameTrans fn="home-page" path="/path/to/$id/file.html"

map

Applicable in NameTrans-class directives.

The map function looks for a certain URL prefix in the URL that the client is requesting. If map finds the prefix, it replaces the prefix with the mirror site prefix. Note that the trailing slashes in URL cause “Not Found” errors.

Syntax

NameTrans fn=map from="source site prefix" to="destination site prefix" name="named object"

Parameters

The following table describes parameters for the map function.

Example

# Map site http://home.netscape.com/ to mirror site http://mirror.com
NameTrans fn=map  from="http://home.netscape.com" to="http://mirror.com"

         

match-browser

See match-browser.

ntrans-j2ee

This function is applicable only to the Administration Server. It is applicable in NameTrans-class directives.

The ntrans-j2ee function determines whether a request maps to a Java web application context.

Parameters

The following table describes parameters for the ntrans-j2ee function.

Example

 NameTrans fn="ntrans-j2ee" name="j2ee"

See Also

service-j2ee, error-j2ee

pac-map

Applicable in NameTrans-class directives.

The pac-map function maps proxy-relative URLs to local files that are delivered to clients who request configuration.

Syntax

NameTrans fn=pac-map     from=URL    to=prefix    name=named object

Parameters

The following table describes parameters for the pac-map function.

Example

NameTrans fn=pac-map  from=http://proxy.mysite.com/pac  
	to=<install-root><instance-directory>pac/proxy.pac name=file

pat-map

Applicable in NameTrans-class directives.

The pat-map function maps proxy-relative URLs to local files that are delivered to proxies who request configuration.

Syntax

NameTrans fn=pat-map     from=URL    to=prefix    name=named object

Parameters

The following table describes parameters for the pat-map function.

Example

NameTrans fn=pat-map  from=http://proxy.mysite.com/pac  
	to=<install-root><instance-directory>pac/proxy.pac name=file

pfx2dir

Applicable in NameTrans-class directives.

The pfx2dir function replaces a directory prefix in the requested URL with a real directory name. It also optionally enables you to specify the name of an object that matches the current request. See the discussion of assign-name for details of using named objects.

Parameters

The following table describes parameters for the pfx2dir function.

Examples

In the first example, the URL http://server-name/cgi-bin/resource (such as http://x.y.z/cgi-bin/test.cgi) is translated to the physical path name /httpd/cgi-local/resource (such as /httpd/cgi-local/test.cgi), and the server also starts processing the directives in the object named cgi.

NameTrans fn=pfx2dir from=/cgi-bin dir=/httpd/cgi-local name=cgi

In the second example, the URL http://server-name/icons/resource (such as http://x.y.z/icons/happy/smiley.gif) is translated to the physical path name /users/nikki/images/resource (such as /users/nikki/images/smiley.gif).

NameTrans fn=pfx2dir from=/icons/happy dir=/users/nikki/images

         

The third example shows the use of the find-pathinfo-forward parameter. The URL http://server-name/cgi-bin/resource is translated to the physical path name /export/home/cgi-bin/resource.

NameTrans fn="pfx2dir" find-pathinfo-forward="" from="/cgi-bin" 
	dir="/export/home/cgi-bin" name="cgi"

redirect

Applicable in NameTrans-class directives.

The redirect function enables you to change URLs and send the updated URL to the client. When a client accesses your server with an old path, the server treats the request as a request for the new URL.

Parameters

The following table describes parameters for the redirect function.

Examples

In the first example, any request for http://server-name/string is translated to a request for http://tmpserver/string.

NameTrans fn=redirect from=/ url-prefix=http://tmpserver

         

In the second example, any request for http://server-name/toopopular/string is translated to a request for http://bigger/better/stronger/morepopular/string.

NameTrans fn=redirect from=/toopopular 
	url=http://bigger/better/stronger/morepopular

regexp-map

Applicable in NameTrans-class directives.

The regexp-map is similar to the map function. While the map function looks for an exact match of a URL prefix, regexp-map allows a regular expression match.

Parameters

The following table describes parameters for the regexp-map function.

reverse-map

Applicable in NameTrans-class directives.

The reverse-map function is used to rewrite HTTP response headers when the proxy server is functioning as a reverse proxy. reverse-map looks for the URL prefix specified by the from parameter in certain response headers. If the from prefix matches the beginning of the response header value, reverse-map replaces the matching portion with the to prefix.

Parameters

The following table describes parameters for the reverse-map function.

set-variable

See set-variable.

strip-params

Applicable in NameTrans-class directives.

The strip-params function removes embedded semicolon-delimited parameters from the path. For example, a URI of /dir1;param1/dir2 would become a path of /dir1/dir2. When used, the strip-params function should be the first NameTrans directive listed.

Parameters

The following table describes the parameter for the strip-params function.

Example

NameTrans fn=strip-params

um-ntrans

Applicable in NameTrans-class directives.

The um-ntrans function determines if an inbound request is related to a junction or not. It also rewrites inbound cookies, adds headers, and does any rewriting when necessary, before the request is sent to the back-end server.

If a request cannot be mapped to a junction, it is passed through without modification.

This directive must appear exactly once in obj.conf, typically inside the default object.

Example

Nametrans fn="um-ntrans"

unix-home

Applicable in NameTrans-class directives.

UNIX Only. The unix-home function translates user names typically of the form ~username into the user’s home directory on the server’s UNIX machine. You specify a URL prefix that signals user directories. Any request that begins with the prefix is translated to the user’s home directory.

You specify the list of users with either the /etc/passwd file or a file with a similar structure. Each line in the file should have this structure. Elements in the passwd file that are not needed are indicated with *:

username:*:*:groupid:*:homedir:*

If you want the server to scan the password file only once at startup, use the Init-class function init-uhome in magnus.conf.

Parameters

The following table describes the parameters for the unix-home function.

Examples

NameTrans fn=unix-home from=/~ subdir=public_html
NameTrans fn=unix-home from /~ pwfile=/mydir/passwd subdir=public_html

See Also

find-links