Access Service Manager on a web client through an F5 HWLB in HTTP mode

This deployment is suited to testing Micro Focus Service Request Catalog and Service Manager in a development or non-production environment. As you can see from the figure in Access Service Manager through an F5 HWLB in HTTP mode, this configuration does not use HTTPS/SSL encrypted communication. This deployment should be used for sand box, development, or demonstration (proof of concept) purposes.

This section describes how to access Service Manager on a web client through an F5 HWLB in HTTP mode.

Step 1: Configure a web client to support an external load balancer

To configure a web client to support an external load balancer, follow these steps:

  1. Set the externalLB parameter in the web.xml file to true, as follows:

    <init-param>
          <param-name>externalLB</param-name>
          <param-value>true</param-value>
     </init-param>

     

  2. Set the host and port to match the HWLB virtual server IP and port. To do this, configure the web.xml file as follows:

    <init-param>
          <param-name>serverHost</param-name>
          <param-value><fully-qualified domain name of the HWLB virtual server></param-value>
     </init-param>
     <init-param>
          <param-name>serverPort</param-name>
          <param-value><Port of the HWLB virtual server></param-value>
     </init-param>

Step 2: Enable an HWLB on a Service Manager server

To enable an HWLB on a Service Manager server, follow these steps:

  1. Add the external_lb attribute to the sm.ini file on the Service Manager server.

    Note The external_lb attribute is a system attribute, and every servlet node on the same host should use the same attribute setting. In most cases, this attribute needs to be configured in the sm.ini file when you start a servlet from the operating system command prompt.

    However, to prevent a servlet node from running in external load balancer mode, you can include -external_lb:0 in a command when you start a servlet from the operating system command prompt. As the servlet node does not work in external load balancer mode, it rejects any connections from a hardware load balancer.

    Only -external_lb:0 can be added to a command. -external_lb:1 and external_lb are not recognized in commands.

  2. Make sure that no Service Manager software load balancer  (for example, sm –loadBalancer) is configured or running on the Service Managerserver.

Related topics

Access Service Manager through an F5 HWLB in HTTP mode

Access Service Manager on a Windows client through an F5 HWLB in HTTP mode

F5 HWLB Health Monitor