Web Server Controller
Overview
The Web Server Controller is the control centre for the Zeus Server. It allows all aspects of the server's configuration and running status to be configured. A link to the Controller can be found on the front page of the Zeus Administration Server. Click on the Web icon to get to the Controller front page.![]()
Web Server Controller Layout
The Web Server Controller page is made up of three sections.
- The Navigation section, which tells you where in the admin server you are and provides quick navigation links.
- The Status section, which includes the current web server status and a list of configured virtual servers.
- The Actions section, which allow you to create new Virtual Servers, and manage multiple machines in the web server cluster.
Navigation
The Navigation bar is consistent throughout the Admin Server. It provides useful links for navigating around the Admin server.
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A link back to the previous configuration page is always present. ![]()
Configuration pages have a link back to the Web Server Controller. ![]()
A link to the documentation system. Status
The Status section displays information on the running status of the server process itself and the configured Virtual Servers. If the web server is not running, this section contains a link to start the web server, otherwise, a link will be displayed to stop the web server.
If you are running more than ten Virtual Servers, the display changes slightly, to ease the management of many Virtual Servers. See the section on mass-hosting for more details.
Actions
The two Actions buttons allow new servers to be created and global Web Server settings to be configured.
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Create a New Virtual Server ![]()
Clustering ![]()
Activity Monitor Clustering
Clustering allows multiple machines to seamlessly co-operate to provide web services. Clustering provides higher scalability, fault-tolerance and the ability to upgrade/fix your hardware while your mission critical web sites seamlessly continue to function on the remaining machines.The clustering status page reports information on all the machines in the web server cluster. The administration server provides a single management interface to multiple machines in a server farm, allowing easy deployment
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Clicking on the `Configuration' button presents a web-form which allows machines to be added or removed from the cluster.
Clicking on `Enable auto-refresh' provides real-time status information on the machines in the cluster.
See the Introduction to clustering document for more information on clustering and its setup.
Activity Monitor
The activity monitor provides real-time display of the activity of a single installation of Zeus Server, or a cluster of machines in a server farm. See the activity monitor documentation for more information.Virtual Servers
A Virtual Server is an encapsulation of a web server bound to a specific IP address and port. Zeus Server can host an unlimited number of Virtual Servers. At least one virtual server must be configured for the server to respond to client's requests.The first time you view the Controller page there will not be any Virtual Servers configured, but instead a link to create a new server.
Creating a New Virtual Server
New Virtual Servers are created by clicking on the Action button `New server' at the bottom of the Web Server Controller page. This link will take you to the `Create New Server' page, where you need to enter some basic details for the new server.![]()
Server Name
The Server Name is a unique name given to each Virtual Server. The Server Name should be a short, single text string containing no white space. Underscores, minus characters and full stops (periods) can be used as word separators if needed. Domain names make useful Server Names. The Server Name is used solely within the administration system, it is never revealed to the Internet at large.Server URL
The Server URL should be a valid host name for the server machine. If you require the Virtual Server to run on a port other than port 80, the port number should be appended with a colon `:', (but no spaces) separating it from the hostname.The web server will bind to the IP address of the hostname entered. If the IP address is dedicated to this virtual server, this Virtual Server is deemed a `hardware' virtual server. If the IP address is shared between other virtual servers, it is deemed a `software' Virtual Server. When a client makes a request to a `software' Virtual Server, the web server determines which Virtual Server the client is attempting to send its request to by means of a Host header line in the client's request. If no Host is supplied, the web server will respond with an error page. Note, the Host header line is a HTTP/1.1 extension; while widely accepted it is not supported by all browsers, especially those of an older vintage.
Document Root
The document root is the directory which contains the web site data files. All files to be access should be stored in, or below this directory.When all the details have been entered click on the `Create Server' button. If successful you will be returned to the Controller page which will now have an entry for the new server. The traffic light will indicated that the server is inactive, you should click on the traffic light to start your new server.
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On the controller page, each Virtual Server is displayed in a table, showing the current status together with links to start/stop the server or configure it. If the server process is not running, then this table will be grayed out and all the links disabled until the server process is started again.
There is a traffic light icon for each server configured which reflects the current state of the Virtual Server. When the server process is running, the traffic lights have two states, red and green, which are used to report the running status of the Virtual Server. Green corresponds to an active Virtual Server, while Red reports an inactive server. Clicking on the traffic lights allows you to toggle between the two states. The traffic lights allow you to stop and start each server easily without interfering with other Virtual Servers.
Stopping and Starting virtual servers (The Traffic Lights)
Web server Virtual Server Running Stopped Running Running Stopped Stopped, was not running previously Stopped Stopped, was running previously If the server process is not running, the traffic lights will be grayed out. A grayed out red traffic light indicates that the Virtual Server was not running when the web server was stopped, whereas a grayed out green traffic light indicates the Virtual Server was running when the web server was stopped. Virtual Servers which were running when the web server was stopped are automatically started again when the web server is started. This is summarized in the table above.
Virtual Server description
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The second column displays the Virtual Server name, along with the URL that the Virtual Server runs on and any short description configured as `server comment'. If the virtual server's configuration has been modified, and it is still running with its old configuration, its name will be followed by `(restart or review changes)', providing links which will achieve the effects mentioned.
Modification comparison report
When a virtual server is modified, its configuration can be brought up to date either by starting and stopping it using the traffic lights or by clicking on the restart link. Clicking on the view changes link will display the Modification comparison report. This page summaries the differences between the current running configuration and the modified web server configuration.
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Clicking on its `Revert changes' button will discard these configuration updates and revert the Virtual Server configuration to what is currently running, whilst clicking on the `Commit changes' button will restart this web site with the new configuration options.
The final column contains an icon showing a nut and bolt, this is used to change the configuration of each the virtual server. Clicking on this icon will take you to the configuration pages for that Virtual Server.
Modifying a Server (The Nut and Bolt)
Modifying Virtual Servers
Once the new Virtual Server has been created you will probably wish to change some of the default settings. Changes to a Virtual Server are performed by clicking on the Nut and Bolt icon.After clicking on the Nut and Bolt icon, the Edit server page will appear. This page provides links to each of the configuration options for your Virtual Server. General Configuration, Security Configuration and Module Configuration. More information on these options appears later in the documentation. The final options allows you to delete the Virtual Server, and view a one-page summary of the configuration settings for the Virtual Server.
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Below the circular icons are a set of square icons which represent each extension module. Clicking on one of these links will take you to the configuration page for the module. Extension modules are explained later in the documentation.
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General Configuration
Clicking on the General Configuration icon takes you to the `General Server Configuration' page. From here you can change the URL and document root details which were entered when the server was created. There are also configuration options for reverse DNS lookup and error logging and aliases.If reverse DNS lookup is enabled, Zeus Server will attempt to obtain the Internet host name of each client machine, from the IP number. This information can then be written to the log files, or used for domain based authentication. However reverse DNS lookup can increase the load on the web server machine slightly, and can be disabled.
Error logging allows you to specify the error log file for the Virtual Server. If any error information is generated it will be stored in the specified log file. If no log file is specified, error information will be sent to the global log file. For more information about error logging, see the overview. Aliases are used to reference an individual Virtual Server by different host names. Normally, the server will only map requests which have a Host: header which matches the Server URL above. However, an extra list of names can be set to which this Virtual Server will also respond. This is useful for example if you are running a server say www.transfinite.com, but internally want to be able to access it as http://transfinite/ as well. Here you would add an alias of transfinite to allow the Virtual Server to respond to this request. Additionally, if you intend to access the Virtual Server directly by its IP address, you should enter the IP address as an Alias here.
The aliases are separated by spaces. If * is set as an alias, then any Host: field that doesn't map onto any of the other soft-Virtual Servers configured for the same ip-address:port combination will get mapped onto this Virtual Server. Please note that the * character does not act as a true wildcard; therefore it can not be used in a context such as *.transfinite.com. Additionally it only makes sense for one of the soft-Virtual Servers to use the * alias.
Click on the `Update' button to commit your changes to the Virtual Server settings.
Security Configuration / Enabling SSL
Zeus Server allows each of your Virtual Servers to have their own SSL certificates. This allows multiple secure sites to run on the same Zeus server. Each Virtual Server requires its own public and private certificates for secure transfer.This document only describes the procedures required to enable SSL under on a Virtual Server. For more information on how SSL works, SSL security precautions and on generating SSL certificates please see the associated documentation.
Secure certificates are added to a Virtual Server by clicking on the Security Configuration link from the Edit Server page. The page looks like this :
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The easiest way to configure SSL on your Virtual Server is to use the `SSL Quick Setup' wizard. Click the `SSL Quick Setup' button and fill in the following details on the form:
- private key: file name and key size (recommend 1024 bit key size)
- certificate request parameters: file name and identification details
- public certificate: file name
Click on `Setup Server'. This will generate a private key, certificate request and self-signed public certificate. It will store the certificate request in the named file, and also display it on the screen so you can copy and paste it into your CA's online application form.
If your web site is running on the default non-secure port (80), you will need to change it to use port 443, which is the default port for SSL:
Stop and start your web site (using the `traffic lights'). You web site will now be operating in SSL mode. It will use an interim self-signed certificate, and your web site users will be prompted to accept this certificate each time they access your site.
- Click on `General Configuration'.
- In the `Server Address' form, change the port number from `80' to `443'.
- Click `Update'.
You can now apply for a properly signed certificate from a Certificate Authority such as Verisign. You will need to provide the Certificate Request details (the CSR) during the application process.
The Certificate Authority will supply your signed certificate by email or by delivery over the web.
In many cases, you can just replace the contents of the public certificate file (the self signed cert) with the new one. Alternatively, you can use the `SSL Configuration' form to change the filename that web server uses for the public certificate.
However, your CA may require that you create a certificate chain to use their certificate. In this case, you will receive two certificates from the CA in response to your signing request. One of these will be your public certificate, and the other an intermediate certificate. Append the intermediate certificate (including the `-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----' and `-----END CERTIFICATE-----' lines) onto your public certificate to create your certificate chain:
Replace your self-signed public certificate file with your new certificate chain file.$ cat public.cert intermediate.cert > chained.certRestart your web site for the changes to take effect.
You can also use the Secure Server Configuration page to configure your SSL settings:
- Use the enabled checkbox to turn on SSL. This provides an easy means of turning SSL on and off for the server.
- The Public Certificate File should be a signed X509 certificate from your Certificate Authority. Enter the full pathname of the file from the servers root directory.
- The Private Certificate File should be your private key from which you generated the certificate request. Enter the full pathname of the file from the servers root directory. Under no circumstances should the private key be stored in the document root of the Virtual Server.
- Click on the Update button to commit the configuration changes and return to the Edit Server page. You will need to restart the Virtual Server from the Controller to allow the changed to take effect.
Server Ports
The default port for the HTTP protocol (used by web servers) is port 80, the default port for the HTTPS protocol is port 443. It is possible to use any port to run your virtual server by specifying a port number when it is created. If a port number is specified and then SSL is enabled the secure server will continue to run on the specified port. If no port number is specified (the Virtual Server is running on port 80) then enabling SSL will result in the default HTTPS port being used. It is advisable that all public commercial servers should use the default ports for their protocols.Software and Hardware virtual servers
SSL enabled servers need to have their own dedicated IP address. Due to limitations in the current SSL protocol, you can not run secure software Virtual Servers. For more information on the two different types of server see additional documentation.
Zeus Server Modules
When the web server starts a Virtual Server, it loads a number of extension modules which are responsible for different aspects of the server. Each module provides additional functionality to the web server core. The modular architecture of the Zeus Server allows its behavior to be changed or extended easily and quickly.Each module can be enabled, disabled and configured for each Virtual Server through the Admin Server.
The Module configuration pages are accessed by clicking on the `Module Configuration' link on the Edit Server page. The Module configuration page consists of a list of all modules currently installed, plus status icons denoting if they are enabled for this particular virtual server.
Green ticks indicate that the module is enabled.
Red crosses indicated the module is disabled.
Clicking on the status icons will toggle the module on and off for the Virtual Server. Clicking on the module name will allow module specific configuration to be entered.
The Module Configuration Page:
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Each module has an entry in the documentation system describing in more detail what they do and how to use them.
The configuration summary page provides all the configuration settings for a Virtual Server on a single page to allow the webmaster to see a quick overview of a particular Virtual Server.
Comparing Virtual Servers provides a quick and easy way to see the differences between two Virtual Servers. If you are running less than 32 Virtual Servers you will be presented with a list of your virtual servers. If you have more than 32 Virtual Servers then you will be prompted to enter the names of the Virtual Servers which you wish to compare.