Virtual Hosts

Virtual Hosts Table

Adding Virtual Hosts

Additional virtual host names can be entered directly into the Virtual Hosts Table . Simply type the new virtual host name into the empty text edit field. The Domain Name Server is consulted to determine if the host name is an IP-based virtual host or a header-based virtual host. In either case, simply enter the host name, and the proper virtual host type will be created. Click on the Add Virtual Host button (or hit the <Return> key) to submit your new virtual host entry.

If you are using a host name, the new host name must be properly configured with your Domain Name Server before Web Ten will accept it. If necessary, an IP address can be used in place of a host name. Actual host names can be entered into the table after they have been configured in DNS. Using a host name is preferable to using an IP address, as users will remember a name more readily than a number.

Each virtual host has its own Virtual Host Configuration . These settings are accessible via the Virtual Host Config button. See section See Virtual Host Configuration for more information.

Deleting Virtual Hosts

To delete virtual hosts from the See Virtual Hosts Table , click on the Virtual Host Config button beside the virtual host you wish to delete. Select the Delete Virtual Host check box at the bottom of the Virtual Host Configuration table. Click on the Save Virtual Host Config button to submit the changes. The browser will return to the Web Ten Administration Server home page and the Virtual Hosts Table should no longer contain the deleted host name.

The default virtual host (the one with the same virtual host name as the fully qualified domain name of the machine running the Web server) does not have the Delete Virtual Host check box because it cannot be deleted.

Virtual Host Configuration Table

VirtualHost

The VirtualHost entry displays the name of the virtual host to which the following settings apply. It is the same name that was entered in the Web Ten Administration Server home page in the See Virtual Hosts Table .

SSLSecurity

Web Ten permits the configuration of secure connections on a per IP virtual host basis via the SSLSecurity directive. (For more information on SSL, refer to section See Secure Socket Layer (SSL).) The SSLSecurity setting defaults to " Off" . To enable SSL for this virtual host, set SSLSecurity to "On". Before SSLSecurity can be enabled, it is necessary to generate a Server Certificate (see section See Server Certificates) using the SSL Settings page (see section See SSL Settings).

If WebTen's SSL option is not installed, the SSL Security "On" and "Off" buttons will not be displayed. The message "Not Installed" will be displayed instead.

DocumentRoot

DocumentRoot controls which folder will be used as the base, or top level folder, for this virtual host's content. When a new virtual host is added (see section See Adding Virtual Hosts), a folder with the same name as the virtual host is automatically created within the Web Ten folder. The DocumentRoot entry is set to the name of this folder. For example, if your Virtual Hosts Table includes two virtual hosts, " north.test.tenon.com " and " south.test.tenon.com ", your WebTen folder will contain two sub-folders with corresponding names. Place the content files to be published for this virtual host in this folder. If DocumentRoot is not set, the default DocumentRoot setting will be used. In this case, the DocumentRoot entry will be flagged with the Inherited indicator. See section See Inheritance for more information.

If you change the name of the virtual host's folder or decide to use some other folder, you must make a corresponding change to the DocumentRoot setting for this virtual host.

ServerAdmin

The ServerAdmin setting is an email address. This address is included in messages sent to a browser whenever a Web server error occurs. Users are encouraged to, and typically do, use this address to notify Webmasters of any problems they are experiencing with a Web server. The established convention is to use the email address " webmaster@your_domain.com ", but any valid email address is acceptable. The email address must be an existing email address on some other email server. Web Ten does not accept incoming email.

In the case of a virtual host, ServerAdmin is initially set to the email address " webmaster@virtualhost ", where " virtualhost " is replaced by the virtual host name. Alter this setting to reflect the email address of the Webmaster for this virtual host, or the Webmaster for this Web Ten system. Many Web sites follow the convention of using an email address " webmaster@virtualhost ". To preserve this convention for your Web Ten server, add this address to your email server, or make this address an alias to another existing email account on your email server.

If ServerAdmin is not set for a particular virtual host, the See ServerAdmin setting is inherited from the Server Defaults . In this case, the ServerAdmin entry in the Virtual Host Configuration table will be flagged with the Inherited indicator.

ServerName

The ServerName setting corresponds to the host name of this server. It is only used in redirection URLs. If the ServerName setting is not set, a reverse DNS lookup of the server's IP address is used. Note that this reverse DNS lookup may not return the desired host name if, for example, the host's primary name is " fred.tenon.com " and the desired ServerName is " www.tenon.com ".

In the case of a virtual host, the ServerName is set to the same name as the virtual host. Typically, this setting does not need to be changed. It is only used in redirection URLs.

ServerAlias

The ServerAlias denotes which alternate host names should also apply to this virtual host. It is used with host header-based virtual hosts.

The Server Defaults do not include a setting for ServerAlias , so if the ServerAlias is not set, no alternate host names will apply to this virtual host.

ServerPath

The ServerPath is set initially to a path beginning with a slash ("/") followed by the virtual host name (e.g., /north.test.tenon.com ). If this virtual host's home page was previously accessible via a non-virtual host URL, the old, or legacy URL, is entered here. Otherwise, this path should be blank

When the Web server receives a request from a browser incapable of supporting host header-based virtual hosts, or from a browser requesting the now outdated legacy URL, this Web server will translate those requests to the proper See DocumentRoot via the ServerPath .

For example, if the new virtual host name is " company_A.com " and this data was previously located at " http://www.tenon.com/company_A/ ", the ServerPath should be set to " /company_A ".

DirectoryIndex

The DirectoryIndex setting controls which file is returned when serving a request for a URL that points to a directory (i.e., ending with a "/"). When such a request is made, the DirectoryIndex is substituted for the URL, pointing the client request to a default file or CGI. If the DirectoryIndex is null, the contents of the directory will be listed on the returned page.

The Web Ten default DirectoryIndex is " default.html" , which corresponds to the defaults established by other Macintosh Web servers. The typical Apache setting of DirectoryIndex is " index.html ".

If the DirectoryIndex is not set for a virtual host, it will be inherited from Server Defaults , and the Inherited flag will be displayed.

ErrorLog

The ErrorLog entry in both the Server Defaults table and the Virtual Host Configuration table is the name of the file Web Ten uses to log information about Web server errors. If an ErrorLog file is not specifically set for a virtual host, the ErrorLog file setting in the Server Defaults table will be used.

TransferLog

The TransferLog setting is the name of the file Web Ten uses to log information about incoming requests. If TransferLog is not set for a particular virtual host, it will be inherited from the Server Defaults , and flagged accordingly. Apache hits will only be logged in this file if the file is different from the TransferLog set in the Server Defaults.

LogFormat

The LogFormat setting is a string that controls the format of the log file. The log file can include literal characters copied from the log format setting and detailed information specific to the actual request that is being logged. Details are encoded using a percent sign ("%") followed by a letter. For example:

Each "%" followed by a letter is a directive to the Web server for a specific piece of information about the request being logged. For example, "%h" logs the name of the remote host placing the request. The order and set of literal characters and details included in the transfer log explicitly follow the order and set of literals and "%" letters in the LogFormat setting.

ApacheSSL provides a " c " symbol for custom logging, thus Web Ten can be configured with custom SSL log entries using the " c " symbol. For example, a LogFormat string to include the SSL version used in an access and the encryption algorithm or cipher used in an access should use:

HostnameLookups

The HostnameLookups setting controls whether reverse DNS lookups are performed for each incoming request using the originator's IP address. Enabling HostnameLookups will generally increase the time necessary to satisfy each request, and thus increase the load on your server. However, without HostnameLookups , See Access Controls can be based only on IP addresses, not on host names or domain names. If HostnameLookups is disabled, IP addresses will be used in the See ErrorLog and See TransferLog , but these addresses can subsequently be resolved into host names, if necessary.

If the HostnameLookups option is not specifically set, it will be inherited from the See Server Defaults and flagged accordingly.

Virtual Host Configuration Table

WSAPIRequests

The WSAPIRequests setting controls whether the Web server will service requests to/from WebSTAR API-style ACGIs and plug-ins. This setting is "On" by default and enables the use of such ACGIs and plug-ins. The Virtual Host Configuration table also contains the WSAPIRequests entry which, if not specifically set, will be inherited and flagged accordingly.

ACGIBinOnly

The ACGIBinOnly setting controls whether Apple CGIs are permitted to be executed from within any folder or only from within the cgi-bin folder. The default setting is "Off", which enables Apple CGIs to be executed from within any folder. The Virtual Host Configuration table also contains the ACGIBinOnly entry which, if not specifically set, will be inherited and flagged accordingly.

RequestFiltering

The RequestFiltering setting controls whether a virtual host will allow "filter" plug-ins to service a request. Filter plug-ins receive the incoming HTTP request before processing has begun. The filter plug-in may modify the request URL before passing it back to Web Ten for processing. The default setting is "On", which enables URL filtering within a plug-in. (For more information, see section See Plug-In Administration.) The Virtual Host Configuration table also contains the RequestFiltering entry which, if not specifically set, will be inherited and flagged accordingly.

PIAccessControl

The PIAccessControl flag controls whether security plug-ins may participate in determining whether access should be granted or denied by the server on a per request basis. The default setting is "On", enabling security plug-ins. Security plug-ins may be selectively disabled by each virtual host.

PreProcessor

This is a virtual URL to a plug-in acting as a preprocessor (preceded by a slash "/"). PreProcessors are run after plug-in filtering is applied and before any access control checking by the server.

PIPreProcessing

The PIPreProcessing flag selectively disables plug-in preprocessors for a virtual host. By default, plug-in preprocessing is enabled and inherited.

PostProcessor

This is a virtual URL to a plug-in action, preceded by a slash ("/"). Plug-ins acting as PostProcessors receive notification of a completed request.

PIPostProcessing

The PIPostProcessing flag selectively disables plug-in postprocessors for a virtual host. By default, plug-in postprocessing is enabled and inherited.

WSAPIPostArgSize

The WSAPIPostArgSize setting specifies the argument buffer size for "PUT" and "POST" operators during plug-in and Apple CGI requests. The default size is 32768 bytes.

SSLCertificateFile

The SSLCertificateFile is the name of the server certificate for an IP-based virtual server. Host header-based virtual hosts sharing a common IP address must share the same server certificate; however, multiple IP based hosts may also share a single "wildcard" certificate. This setting allows certificate "wildcarding" among several IP hosts.Server certificates are maintained in the tenon/ssl/certs folder.

For more information, see sectionSee Secure Socket Layer (SSL).

SSLCertificateKeyFile

The SSLCertificateKey file is the private key associated with the server certificate. Keys generated by Web Ten during certificate signing request generation are normally stored in a secure area of the Web Ten internal file system; however, this field may be used for private keys of "wildcard" certificates or when a certificate and key are imported from from another system.

For more information, see sectionSee Secure Socket Layer (SSL).

Folder Contents Table

When the Folder Contents table is displaying the contents of a folder other than the DocumentRoot folder, it displays a Parent Folder link as the first entry in the Folders column of the table. Clicking on the Parent Folder link will display a Folder Contents table for the folder in which the current folder resides.

Sub-Folder Contents

Thus, the Folder Contents table provides a means for finding any file or sub-folder within a virtual host's hierarchy. To set any See Domain Name-Based Restrictions , See Realm-Based Requirements , See MIME Type Overrides , or See Action Handler Overrides for a specific folder, find that folder by using the Folder Contents table, then click on the See Access Controls button for that folder. To access settings for a specific file, find that file by using the Folder Contents table, and then click on that file's name.

Files

This column displays an alphabetical list of all files contained within the specified folder. To access any settings specific to a particular file, click on that file's name to display the See Access Controls for that file.

Folders

This column displays an alphabetical list of all sub-folders contained within the specified folder. To make any settings specific to a particular sub-folder, click on that folder's name to display a Folder Contents table for that folder, and then click on the See Access Controls button for that folder.

Access Controls Table

Domain Name-Based Restrictions

Domain Name-Based Restrictions specify which client IP addresses are permitted access to this URL, and which are denied. The Web server processes the Allow and Deny lists in the specified order to determine if a client request will be permitted.

Realm-Based Requirements

Realm-based access controls determine who is permitted access to this URL, by means of a user name and a password. If the client fails to provide a correct user name and password, access is denied.

MIME Type Overrides

MIME Type Overrides allow an explicit file, or folder of files, to be served without regard for the file name extensions. For example, if a folder contained only GIF files, but some (or all) of these files did not end with the " .gif " extension, the MIME Type Overrides could be set to " image/gif " to force all of these files to be treated as GIF files, without requiring any renaming of the files.

If the MIME Type Overrides setting is not given for a specific file or folder, but a parent folder does have an explicit setting, the parent's setting also applies to this file or folder. In this case, the table will show the inheritance (see section See Inheritance) as specified by the parent folder, and the Inherited indicator will be displayed along with the MIME Type Overrides setting. See section See MIME Extensions for more information.

Action Handler Overrides

Action Handler Overrides allow a specific file, or folder of files, to be passed to the overriding action handlers, without regard for the file name extensions or associated MIME types. See section See Action Handlers for more information. For example, if a folder contained only image map files, and some (or all) of these files did not end with the " .map " extension, the Action Handler Overrides could be set to " imap-file " to force all of these files to be passed to the image map handler, without requiring any renaming of the files.

If the Action Handler Overrides setting is not given for a specific file or folder, but a parent folder does have an explicit setting, the parent's setting also applies to this file or folder. In this case, the table will show the inherited overrides as specified by the parent folder, and the Inherited indicator and the Action Handler Overrides setting will be displayed.