Understanding Web Profiles

A web profile is a specific configuration of portal-related properties that control or affect the functionality of your PeopleTools portal. These predefined web profiles provide several configurations for use with your PeopleTools portal:

  • DEV

    This web profile provides basic portal functionality for development, including trace and debug settings that are appropriate for development.

    Important:

    Never run your production system with the DEV web profile. This profile is for development environments and is not tuned for performance.

  • KIOSK

    This web profile uses the same settings as the PROD web profile, except that public user access is enabled for the Guest user, and all options for storing caching or persistent cookies on the browser are disabled.

  • PROD

    This web profile uses the settings that are most commonly needed in a production environment that authenticates users.

  • TEST

    This web profile uses the same settings as the DEV web profile, except that fewer trace and debug properties are enabled.

Additional web profiles might be included as part of PeopleSoft Interaction Hub or an application portal pack.

You can modify the property settings of any web profile via the Web Profile Configuration component, which includes pages for these types of properties:

  • General

  • Portal security

  • Virtual addressing

  • Cookie rules

  • Caching

  • Trace and debug options

  • Appearance and character

  • Custom properties.

Specifying an Initial Web Profile

As you perform the PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture setup procedure for your system, you're prompted to specify which web profile to apply to your portal. You're also prompted for an existing user ID and password. This information is saved in encrypted form which the portal servlet can use to gain secure access to the web profile.

The default web profile is PROD. The default web profile user ID is PTWEBSERVER; the password is set during product installation.

The PTWEBSERVER account provides the portal servlet with minimal security access, sufficient only to launch the portal environment, but without access to any pages or other PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture objects. This account uses the PTPT1500 permission list, which is set to never time out, and provides necessary access 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Note:

Your PeopleSoft application might be delivered with the account that you specify here locked. You must unlock it before you can access and configure the web profile, or you will receive an error message about incorrect site configuration on the sign-in page.

You can unlock the web profile account by deselecting the Account Locked Out check box on the User Profile - General page. You can alternatively issue the following SQL command against your database (this example uses the PTWEBSERVER account):

update PSOPRDEFN set ACCTLOCK=0 where OPRID='PTWEBSERVER'

See Security Administration: Setting General User Profile Attributes.

You can specify any of the delivered profiles, or you can enter a different profile name. In that case, the portal is set up to use a profile by that name. If a profile by the name that you specify doesn't exist in the database, internal default settings are used until you sign in to the portal and create a profile with that name. The portal then automatically configures itself according to those settings.

As long as no profile exists by the name that you specified during the PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture setup, the internal default settings remain in effect, which is indicated on the site sign-in page. When the site is in this mode, every browser request triggers an attempt to load the named profile. Therefore, you shouldn't use the site for extended periods like this.

Once you complete the PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture setup, you can then use the Web Profile Configuration component to modify the properties to reflect your settings.

Note:

The default internal settings are not the same as the DEV profile. Don't modify any of the delivered profiles so that you always have access to unmodified reference versions. You can make a copy of any profile and modify it, or you can define a new profile instead.

Copying and Deleting Web Profiles

To copy a web profile:

  1. Select PeopleTools, and then Web Profile, and then Copy Web Profile.

  2. Enter or select a web profile name.

  3. On the Web Profile Save As page, enter a new name for the web profile in the To edit box.

To delete a web profile:

  1. Select PeopleTools, and then Web Profile, and then Delete Web Profile.

  2. Enter or select a web profile name.

  3. On the Delete Web Profile page, click Delete Web Profile.

Changing the Web Profile After the PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture Setup

After the PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture setup, to select a different web profile, you must edit the text file that stores this information, called configuration.properties. Each PeopleSoft portal that you set up has its own copy of configuration.properties, located in this directory:

PS_CFG_HOME\webserv\web_server\applications\peoplesoft\PORTAL\WEB-INF\psftdocs\sitename

The configuration.properties file includes these properties:

  • WebProfile

    Change the value of this property to the name of the web profile that you want to apply to the portal, for example, WebProfile=MYPROFILE.

  • WebUserId and WebPassword

    Change these values to specify a different user ID and password for the portal servlet to use to access the web profile. You must encrypt the password by using PSCipher.

    To encrypt the user ID or password:

    1. Run the PSCipher.bat file:

      See Security Administration: Using the PSCipher Utility.

      Note:

      On a UNIX machine, change the PSCipher.sh script file permissions so that you can run the program.

    2. Copy the encrypted string and paste it into the configuration.properties file replacing the existing value, for example:

      WebPassword=encrypted_password

      Important:

      Make sure that the entire encrypted string, (including all symbol characters), is copied.

After you save the configuration.properties file, restart your web server and the new profile takes effect.

Alternatively, you can use psadmin to specify the web profile that is used. You must restart your web server for the new profile to take effect. For more information about using psadmin, see System and Server Administration: Administering a PIA Site

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