Install > Install the Service Manager web tier > Meet the browser and architecture requirements for the web tier

Meet the browser and architecture requirements for the web tier

The Service Manager web tier uses both a web server and a web application server to access Service Manager forms through a web browser. The web server handles incoming HTTP requests while the web application server runs the Java and JSP necessary for connecting to Service Manager.

Note Some web application servers such as Tomcat and WebSphere include built-in web servers.

Install the web tier by deploying the webtier-9.60.war or webtier-ear-9.60.ear to your web application server. Some web application servers also require you to install the Sun J2SE Java Development Kit (JDK).

  1. Enable the following browser settings:
    • Cookies
    • Java
    • JavaScript
    • Pop-ups. You can add the Service Manager server URL to the pop-up exception list.
  2. The Service Manager Web tier uses SSL encryption between the web browser and web application server by default. You must provide a valid web application server certificate to use the following SSL features:
    • Encrypt all communication with the web application server
    • Protect against complex SSL-related attacks
    • Authenticate that the web application server is a valid host

      Note If you only want to demonstrate the web tier functionality, you can disable the secureLogin parameter from the web tier configuration file (<web tier .war file>\WEB-INF\web.xml)

    For more information, refer to the online Help for Required SSL encryption.
  3. To display the workflow graphical view, install the Sun Java Runtime Environment (JRE) on the local host.
  4. Determine the web architecture that you need to support your web tier. A Service Manager web tier requires at least one web application server to run. Depending on the features and scale of your web tier, it may also require a dedicated production web server and additional web application servers. If you use any of the implementation options list below, you need to install and configure a dedicated production web server. If you are not running any of the configurations listed below, then you can run your web tier from a single web application server:
    • A trusted sign-on implementation: You want web client users to log in to Service Manager without entering a user name and password.

      A trusted sign-on implementation requires a web server to accept the pre-authenticated HTTP header information from your authentication software (such as SiteMinder or Integrated Windows Authentication). You must install and configure the authentication software separately. See your web server documentation for information about the HTML headers that your web server expects from your authentication software. For additional information, go to the Software Support Online site at https://softwaresupport.softwaregrp.com/ and search for the following white paper on setting up single sign-on in Service Manager: SSL Setup and Single Sign-on in Service Manager using Windows or Third Party Authentication.

    • A load balanced implementation: You want to distribute web client connections among multiple web application servers.

      A load-balanced implementation uses a web server to route connection requests to two or more web application servers. You must configure the web server to identify the web application servers (also known as workers) that are available to accept web client requests. For some web server and web application server combinations, you may need to install additional connection software. For example, to route requests to Tomcat web application servers using the Apache web server, you must install the proper connector. See your web server and web application server documentation for information about routing HTTP requests to available worker web application servers.

    • A scaled implementation to support a large number of concurrent users: You want to support 300 or more concurrent web client connections.

      A scaled implementation uses the load balanced implementation described above to support a large number of concurrent web client users. As a general rule, we recommend starting one worker web application server for every 300 concurrent web client connections you want your web tier to support. To help determine the number of connections your web tier can support, go to the Software Support Online site and search for the following white paper: Service Manager 7 Reference Configurations.