Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 SP8 Release Notes

Features and Enhancements

Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 provides the following features and enhancements:

Java Servlet 2.3 and JavaServer Pages (JSP) 1.2 Support

Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 includes a Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EETM) compliant implementation of the Java Servlet 2.3 and JavaServer PagesTM (JSPTM) 1.2 technology specifications. A J2EE compliant web container provides the flexibility and reliability needed to design and deploy web applications that comply with Java technology standards. Web applications can be deployed on a per virtual server basis.

For information about these technologies, see the following resources:

For information about developing Servlets and JavaServer Pages, see Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 SP8 Programmer’s Guide to Web Applications.

J2SE Platform 1.4 JDK Support

Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 supports Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SETM) 1.4. The J2SE software is packaged with the Web Server and installed during installation for the Solaris, Linux, and Windows platforms. For the HP-UX and AIX platforms, download the Java Development Kit (JDKTM) from the respective platform vendors' web sites before installing the web server.

The 64-bit Solaris SPARC release of Sun Java System Web Server requires a 64-bit JDK. On all other platforms, a 32-bit JDK is required.

J2SE Platform 1.5 JDK Support

Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 supports Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE) 1.5, and has been certified with the following JDK versions:

J2SE Platform 6.0 JDK Support

Sun Java System Web Server supports Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE) 6.0, and has been tested and certified with JDK 6 update 1 on the Solaris, Linux, and Windows platforms.

WebDAV Support

Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 supports the Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) protocol. WebDAV enables collaborative web publishing and has the following features:

WebDAV provides integrated support for content metadata, namespace management, and overwrite protection. These technologies combined with the many authoring tools that support WebDAV provide an ideal development platform for collaborative environments.

NSAPI Filters Support

Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 extends the NetscapeTM Server Application Programmer's Interface (NSAPI) to support NSAPI filters.

NSAPI filters enable the custom processing of HTTP request and response streams. This processing enabled a function to intercept and potentially modify the content presented to or generated by another function. For example, a plug-in could install a NSAPI filter to intercept a XML page generated by another plug-in's Server Application Function (SAF) and then transform that XML page into a HTML, XHTML, or WAP page appropriate for the client. Alternatively, a NSAPI filter could decompress data received from a client before presenting it to another plug-in.

For more information about NSAPI filters, see Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 SP8 NSAPI Programmer’s Guide.

HTTP Compression Support

Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 supports content compression. This compression enables you to increase the delivery speed to clients and serve higher content volumes without incurring a corresponding increase in hardware expenses. Content compression reduces content download time, a benefit most apparent to users of dial-up and high-traffic connections.

For more information, see Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 SP8 Administrator’s Guide.

Search Engine Support

Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 supports a Java search engine that provides full-text search indexing and retrieval. The search feature enables you to search documents on the server and display results on a web page. Server administrators can create the indexes of documents and customize the search interface to meet user specific needs.

The default URL to access the search functionality is http://server-instance:port number/search

For example:

http://plaza:8080/search

When the user goes to this URL, the Search page, a Java web application, is launched.

For detailed information about basic and advanced search feature, see the Online Help provided with the search engine. To access Online Help, click the Help link on the Search page. For more information, see Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 SP8 Administrator’s Guide.

Enhanced Security

Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 enables you to restrict access using flat file authentication through the Java Security Manager. Enabling the Security Manager feature can improve security by restricting the rights granted to your J2EE web applications. By default, the Security Manager feature is disabled when you install the product. To enable Security Manager, uncomment the following entries in the server.xml file:

<JVMOPTIONS>-Djava.security.manager</JVMOPTIONS>

<JVMOPTIONS>-Djava.security.policy=instance-dir/config/server.policy</JVMOPTIONS>

where instance-dir is the path to the installation directory of this server instance.

For more information about server.xml, see Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 SP8 Administrator’s Configuration File Reference.

JNDI Support

Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 supports the Java Naming and Directory InterfaceTM (JNDI) API. JNDI provides seamless connectivity to heterogeneous enterprise naming and directory services.

JDBC Support

Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 includes the Java DataBase Connectivity (JDBCTM) software, and supports a wide range of industry-standard and customized JDBC drivers.

Sun Java Studio Enterprise Support

Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 supports Sun Java Studio Enterprise 8. Sun Java Studio technology is Sun's powerful and extensible integrated development environment (IDE) for Java technology developers. Sun Java Studio is based on the NetBeansTM software and is integrated with the Sun Java platform.

Sun Java Studio support is available on all platforms supported by Sun Java System Web Server 6.1. The plug-in for the Web Server can be obtained in the following ways:


Note –

Sun Java Studio 8 plug-in for Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 SP8 works only with a local web server, that is, the IDE and the web server must be installed on the same machine.


For information about using the web application features in Sun Java Studio 8, see http://developers.sun.com/prodtech/javatools/jsenterprise/learning/tutorials/index.html. Set the Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 SP8 instance as default, and follow the steps described in the tutorial.

Also, see the NetBeans tutorial at http://www.netbeans.org/kb/41/j2ee-tut/.

For more information about Sun Java Studio 8, see http://www.sun.com/software/sundev/jde/.

For additional developer resources, see Additional Sun Resources.

To Use Sun Java Studio Enterprise 8 for Debugging

Sun Java Studio Enterprise 8 can be used for remote debugging if you want to manually attach the IDE to a remote web server started in debug mode.

  1. Restart the server instance in the debug mode by using the Sun Java System Web Server Administration interface (Server Manager->JVM General->Debug Enabled).

  2. Note the JPDA port number.

  3. Start the IDE.

  4. Choose Debug->Start.

  5. Select the dt_socket method.

  6. Type the remote machine name and JPDA port number.

    Any breakpoint created in the IDE on Servlet source code of a deployed application becomes active.

Active Server Pages Support

Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 supports the Active Server Pages (ASP) specification through Sun Java System Active Server Pages version 4.0.1 (formerly Sun ChiliSoft ASP) and version 4.0.2. Active Server Pages software adds a secure and enterprise-grade ASP engine to the Sun Java System Web Server. Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 supports Sun Java System Active Server Pages 4.0.1 and 4.0.2 on the following platforms:

A license is not required for Sun Java System Active Server Pages if you are installing it to the Sun Java System Web Server. The Sun Java System Active Server Pages installer is available on the companion CD if you purchase the Sun Java System Web Server Media Kit, or you can download it from http://www.sun.com/software/chilisoft/index.html.

Note the following:

PHP Compatibility

PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) can be used with the Sun Java System Web Server using one of the three supported APIs; CGI, NSAPI, and FastCGI. PHP is a page scripting language available from the PHP group. The PHP group provides instructions on its Web site (http://www.php.net) for configuring the PHP software to use any of these APIs:


Note –

Instead of using PHP_FCGI_CHILDREN, use the FastCGI add-on configuration parameter min-procs to control the minimum number of PHP processes.


NSS and NSPR Support

Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 supports NSS. The version of NSS included in this version of Web Server is 3.11.6 (for both 32–bit and 64-bit). NSS is a set of libraries that support cross-platform development of security-enabled server applications. Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 SP8 also includes NSPR 4.6.6.

If you are upgrading from a previous version of Java Enterprise System (Java ES) to Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 SP8, install the following NSS patches:

Enhanced Hardware Accelerator Encryption Support

Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 provides hardware accelerator support for SunTM Crypto Accelerator 500, 1000, and 4000 boards, which enhance the performance of SSL on web server.

64-bit Support

To complement the existing support to 32-bit Solaris SPARC, Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 SP8 also supports 64-bit Solaris SPARC.

The 64-bit release may be of use in certain memory-intensive deployments as it enables administrators to configure a larger file cache and Java heap than the 32-bit release. However, existing plug-ins are not compatible with the 64-bit release. These plug-ins have to be recompiled for the 64-bit release by the plug-in vendor. Java web applications that use native, and non-Java libraries should also be recompiled. Therefore, you might prefer to deploy the 32-bit release of Sun Java System Web Server.

Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 SP8 also provides 64-bit support for FastCGI, Reverse Proxy, and Java Web Services Developer Pack (JWSDP) plug-ins.

The 64-bit release is compatible with 64-bit Solaris kernels on UltraSPARC® processors. The 64-bit release cannot be used on x86 processors or with 32-bit Solaris kernels. The 32-bit release continues to be compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit Solaris kernels.


Note –

The 64-bit and 32-bit releases of Sun Java System Web Server are packaged and distributed separately. You cannot upgrade an existing 32-bit Sun Java System Web Server installation to a 64-bit installation. You can distinguish the 32-bit and 64-bit releases by the version string that is displayed in the installer, at server startup, and in the server errors log as follows:


Release 

Version String 

32–bit 

Sun ONE Web Server 6.1SP8 

64-bit 

Sun ONE Web Server 6.1SP8 (64-Bit) 

Solaris PKCS #11 Support

For Web Server's SSL subsystem (NSS) to use external PKCS#11 tokens, you have to configure NSS with the modutil command to make it aware of the tokens. The Solaris libpkcs11 softtoken is a PKCS#11 compliant token which can be used with NSS. As an additional benefit on UltraSPARC-T1, systems using the Solaris 10 libpkcs11 task will make use of the platform crypto acceleration support.

Run the modutil command without any arguments for usage information. For example, to add the Solaris 10 libpkcs11 task as a PKCS11 token in NSS.

  1. Ensure that SSL support has been initialized for the web server instances.

  2. Run the following command:

    % modutil -dbdir $ALIASDIR -dbprefix $PREFIX -add libpkcs -libfile /usr/lib/libpkcs11.so -mechanisms RSA

    where

    • $ALIASDIR is the path to the alias directory in the install root where the NSS database files are located.

    • $PREFIX is the prefix used by the key3 and cer8 database files in the alias directory and is of the form https-$INSTANCENAME-.

    The -mechanisms flag makes this token the preferred initial provider for the given algorithms.

  3. Run the modutil command without any arguments for a list of all possible mechanisms.

  4. Initialize the libpkcs11 provider's password with pktool.

    % pktool setpin

    For further details on configuring NSS, see the libpkcs11(3LIB), pkcs11_softtoken(5), and pktool(1) man pages. For more information about modutil, see http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/nss/tools/modutil.html.

Localized Version Support

If you are using a localized version of Web Server 6.1x, you can take advantage of the existing localization features by installing Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 SP8 over the existing server. Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 SP8 is available in Japanese, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, French, Spanish, German, and Korean.