Administering proxy virtual hosts

Virtual hosting allows a single proxy server to host multiple domains and ports on a single IP address and port. A proxy virtual host can be created for each Web domain the proxy server is hosting, or wild card characters can be used to host multiple Web domains with a single proxy virtual host.

1. From the administrative console, select Servers > Server Types > WebSphere proxy servers > proxy_server_name > Virtual hosts > virtual_host_name.
2. Optional: Click New to access the virtual hosts settings page to configure settings for a new virtual host.
3. Specify a name for the virtual host.
   The name of the virtual host must match the Web domain it represents. If the web domain is www.proxy1.com, the name of the proxy server host must be www.proxy1.com. The asterisk symbol, * , can be used as a wild card character to represent all Web domains. If the proxy virtual host is *:80, then all inbound requests on port 80 are handled by that proxy virtual host regardless of what Web domain is being requested.
4. Specify the port for the virtual host.
   The port of the virtual host must match the port used by the web domain it represents. If the Web domain uses port 80, then the port of the proxy virtual host must also be 80. The asterisk symbol, * , can be used as a wild card character to represent all ports. If the proxy virtual host is www.proxy1.com:*, then all inbound requests to www.proxy1.com are handled by that proxy virtual host regardless of what port is being used.
5. Choose one or more proxy rule expressions for the virtual host.
   Proxy rule expressions allow for proxy actions to be performed when the expression evaluates to true. See Proxy rule expressions and Proxy server actions for more information on proxy rule expressions and proxy server actions.
6. Optional: Move a proxy virtual host up or down in the list to ensure the correct proxy virtual host is used.
   The usage of wild card characters for virtual proxy hosts creates a situation where an inbound request might match multiple proxy virtual hosts. In this scenario, the request will be handled by the first proxy virtual host that matches the request.
7. Optional: Click Edit to change the selected proxy rule expression.
8. Optional: Click Proxy Virtual Host Settings to override the server scoped settings for static file serving, logging, or error page policy.
   1. If you want to override the static file serving settings for this proxy virtual host, click Static File Serving, select Customize for this virtual host, and then specify a new value for the Static file document root field.
   2. If you want to override the logging settings for this proxy virtual host, click Logging, select Customize for this virtual host, and then specify new values for one or more of the following fields:
      • Enable access logging
      • Access log maximum size
      • Proxy access log
      • Cache access log
      • Local access log
   3. If you want to override the error page policy settings for this proxy virtual host, click Error Page Policy, and then select Customize for this virtual host, and then specify new values for one or more of the following fields:
      • Error page generation application URI
      • Handle errors generated by the proxy server
      • Handle errors generated by the application server
      • Headers to forward to error page application
      • HTTP status codes that are to be recognized as errors
   4. Click OK to save your proxy virtual host settings, and return to the previous administrative console page.
9. Click OK to save all of your other changes.