Technical data

11 Installing and Configuring the Apache HTTP Server Plug-In
11-2 Administration Guide
Overview
The Apache HTTP Server Plug-In allows requests to be proxied from an Apache
HTTP Server to WebLogic Server. The plug-in enhances an Apache installation by
allowing WebLogic Server to handle those requests that require the dynamic
functionality of WebLogic Server.
The plug-in is intended for use in an environment where an Apache Server serves static
pages, and another part of the document tree (dynamic pages best generated by HTTP
Servlets or JavaServer Pages) is delegated to WebLogic Server, which may be
operating in a different process, possibly on a different host. To the end user—the
browser—the HTTP requests delegated to WebLogic Server still appear to be coming
from the same source.
The HTTP-tunneling can also operate through the plug-in, providing non-browser
clients access to WebLogic Server services.
The Apache HTTP Server Plug-In operates as an Apache module within an Apache
HTTP Server. An Apache module is loaded by Apache Server at startup, and then
certain HTTP requests are delegated to it. Apache modules are similar to HTTP
servlets, except that an Apache module is written in code native to the platform.
As of WebLogic Server 6.1 SP6, 7.0 SP5, 8.1 SP2, the WebLogic Server plug-ins are
now certified to proxy to any version of WebLogic Server, including 5.1.
Keep-Alive Connections in Apache Version 1.3.x
The Apache HTTP Server Plug-In creates a socket for each request and closes the
socket after reading the response. Because Apache HTTP Server is multiprocessed,
connection pooling and keep-alive connections between WebLogic Server and
theApache HTTP Server Plug-In cannot be supported.