HTTP Server features
The HTTP Server for i offers many features including advanced security and application development.
HTTP Server for i ships with a Web based graphical user interface used to configure and manage all aspects of your server. Available with the Web Administration are wizards and tasks which simplify the configuration of your server and can be used to migrate an Original server configuration to an Apache server configuration.
The HTTP Server supports various methods for authentication. Use the Web Administration interface to easily configure your server for the desired level of authentication.
- SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)
- Certificate administration is centralized in the Digital Certificate Manager product. The HTTP Server is a certificate customer.
- Client Authentication - IBM HTTP Server supports SSL V3 including client as well as server authentication. You can associate client certificates with iSeries user profiles or validation lists, allowing users seamless access to your Web server's resources without having to sign on.
- SOCKS support and SSL tunneling - If your environment has a SOCKS - based firewall for access to the Internet, HTTP Server can be used in a proxy server role to access destinations outside the firewall. Client connections which use SSL are "tunneled" through the proxy server, eliminating the need to decrypt and re-encrypt the data at the proxy.
- Kerberos Kerberos is a network authentication protocol designed to provide authentication for client or server applications with secret-key cryptography.
For more information about kerberos, see:
 IBM HTTP Server (powered by Apache): An Integrated Solution for IBM eServer iSeries Servers (Chapter 6)
- Other authentication
- Internet user - requires an entry in a validation list .
- User profile - requires an iSeries™ server user profile .
- LDAP - requires an LDAP server.
CGI programming support
CGI programs can be written in ILE C, C++, ILE RPG, ILE COBOL, REXX, or CL . You can bypass the server on output using Non-Parsed header (NPH) CGIs. You can also fully configure any code page conversions the server will perform on your Web application's input or output.
CGI applications written and compiled for the iSeries server can even run a CGI application that is written and compiled for AIX®. The binary output of the compiler is executed directly from OS/400 Portable Application Solutions
Environment (OS/400 PASE).
Persistent CGI
Persistent CGI is an extension to the CGI interface that allows a CGI program to remain active across multiple browser requests and maintain a session with that browser client. This allows files to be left open, the state to be maintained, and long running database transactions to be committed or rolled-back based on end-user input.
CGI initialization at startup
CGI Initialization URL support offers the capability to start and initialize CGI programs, such as Net.Data or other CGI programs, at server startup time. This can significantly improve perormance.
CGI references
HTTP Server contains CGI application APIs, configuration APIs, server instance APIs, group APIs, and triggered cache manager APIs.
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