Configuring root request processing

About this task

Use the process-root-requests entry in the [server] stanza of the WebSEAL configuration stanza to configure root junction processing.

For information on junction mapping mechanisms, see the following sections:

Procedure

Set the process-root-requests entry in the [server] stanza of the WebSEAL configuration stanza to one of the values provided. The default value is "always": 
[server]
process-root-requests = always

Valid values are:

  • never

    WebSEAL initially processes a server-relative URL request using any configured post-processing mechanism. Mechanisms are tried in the following order: 1) junction mapping table (JMT), 2) junction cookie, 3) HTTP Referer header. If the resource is not found by this method, WebSEAL then searches the root junction for the resource.

  • always

    WebSEAL attempts to process server-relative URL requests at the root junction first before attempting to use any configured post-processing mechanism (such as junction cookie, junction mapping table (JMT), or Referer header). This setting should not be used unless the root junction serves a large set of resources or no post-processing junction mapping mechanisms are configured for the set of junctions served by this WebSEAL server.

  • filter

    All root junction requests are examined to determine whether they start with the path patterns specified in the [process-root-filter] stanza. If they do, they are processed at the root junction first. If they do not start with path patterns specified in the [process-root-filter] stanza, they are remapped immediately.

When process-root-requests = filter, you must specify the patterns for which you want root junction requests processed at the root junction. Use the [process-root-filter] stanza. The syntax for specifying a pattern is:

root = path_pattern

Path pattern must be expressed as a standard WebSEAL wildcard pattern. For example:

[process-root-filter]
root = /index.html
root = /cgi-bin*