NetWare Web Manager

NetWare Web Manager functions as a default Welcome page for a NetWare 6.5 server, and serves as a home page for the various Web services available in NetWare 6.5. As with other NetWare 6.5 Web services and tools, Web Manager leverages the latest version of the industry-leading Apache Web server for NetWare. Two instances of Apache can be installed on your NetWare 6.5 server. The Apache admin server is used by NetWare Web tools, leaving the other instance available for your eCommerce needs without further burdening it with network management overhead. For more information on Apache and other NetWare 6.5 Web services, see Chapter 9.

One of the primary advantages of using NetWare Web Manager is that you can easily access other browser-based management interfacesincluding NetWare Remote Manager and iManagerand configure various services from any remote workstation that has Internet access. With Web Manager, you can accomplish the following tasks either locally (from within your WAN or LAN) or remotely:

• Install and configure many of the NetWare 6.5 Web services: In the left pane, you will see links to install several Web services, including Apache 2.0, UDDI Server, OpenSSH, and eGuide. Once installed, you can also manage the Web services from Web Manager by selecting your server name located under the appropriate service heading.

• Manage user authentication to your enterprise Web server: Web Manager supports authentication via either eDirectory or a local database. Novell recommends using eDirectory because it will manage both authentication and access rights. However, if your Web server contains mostly public information, authentication will not be a major issue, and the local database mode will work fine.

• Modify Web Manager settings: To manage NetWare Web Manager settings, select the Admin Server Preferences icon in the gold box of the Web Manager home page. This is available only when using a secure and authenticated session for Web Manager.

Installing Web Manager

NetWare Web Manager is installed automatically during the installation of NetWare 6.5. After the installation, use a Web browser from a client computer in your network to access Web Manager. As you make configuration changes to the Web services available in NetWare 6, configuration files on the NetWare 6.5 server will be modified to support your changes.

In order to access Web Manager from an Internet connection outside your firewall, you will need to make sure that TCP port 2200 is opened through the firewall to the IP address of your Web server. Port 2200 is the default port through which you will access the Web Manager interface. If desired, this port can be changed as long as it doesn't conflict with any other service on the NetWare 6.5 server.

To use Web Manager, you must be using a 4.x or newer Web browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape Communicator. The browser must have Java or JavaScript enabled on your Web browser to use Web Manager because the configuration forms and other management tools require one or both of these forms of Java to function. To enable Java on your browser, complete the instructions in the following sections that correspond to the browser you are using.

Internet Explorer 4 or Higher

To enable Java on Internet Explorer 4 or higher, use the following steps:

1. From the Internet Explorer browser window, click Tools >> Internet Options.

2. Select the Advanced tab.

3. Under Microsoft VM, check the JIT Compiler for Virtual Machine Enabled box.

4. Click OK. You will have to restart your workstation to complete the installation.

Netscape Navigator

To enable Java on Netscape Navigator, use the following steps:

1. From the browser window, click Options >> Network Preferences.

2. Select the Language tab and make sure Java and JavaScript are checked.

3. Click OK.

Netscape Communicator

To enable Java on Netscape Communicator, use the following steps:

1. From the Communicator browser window, click Edit >> Preferences.

2. Select the Advanced category in the left column.

3. Check the Enable Java and Enable JavaScript check boxes.

4. Click OK.

To access Web Manager, open your Web browser and enter your Web server's domain name or IP address, followed by a colon and the port number, which by default is 2200 . For example:

https ://www.quills.com:2200

or

https://137.65.192.1:2200

Configuring Web Manager

There isn't a lot you need to do to get Web Manager set up once it is installed. Figure 3.3 shows the Web Manager home page. As Web services are installed, such as Apache Web server, FTP, and Web Search server, links to their specific management interfaces will become active in Web Manager. There are also a few configuration tasks of which you should be aware.

Figure 3.3. The NetWare 6.5 Web Manager home page.

NOTE

When you select a Web Manager link, you may be prompted to accept an unknown certificate. If so, select Yes to continue or View Certificate to install the server certificate in your browser. Installing the certificate should prevent this message from appearing in the future.

By default, Web Manager uses port 2200 , and secures its communications with SSL, using the server certificate that was created during the NetWare 6.5 installation. However, you have control over all three of these settings. To modify any of them complete the following steps:

1. From the NetWare Web Manager home page, click the Administration Server Preferences link. You may need to authenticate as a user with Supervisor rights to the tree.

2. In the Web Manager Port field, type the port number you want NetWare Web Manager to use. If you decide to do this, using a port number of 49152 or higher is the best bet. Ports below 49152 may be assigned for use by other services and should not be used. Pick an unassigned port between 49152 and 65000 .

   NOTE

   For a complete list of registered port numbers, visit the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority ( IANA ) Web site at http://www.iana.org/assignments/port-numbers.

3. Under Encryption, click On to enable, or Off to disable SSL. By default, SSL is used to secure Web Manager communications by encrypting all information going out of or coming in to Web Manager. When enabled, you must use HTTPS to access Web Manager.

4. From the Server Certificates drop-down list, select the Server Certificate object you want to use for SSL encryption. NICI and Novell Certificate Server provide all the cryptographic underpinnings of Web Manager. They are installed by default as part of the NetWare 6.5 installation. Certificate Server provides the cryptographic key pairs and server certificate used by Web Manager. For more information on NICI and Certificate Server, see Chapter 6.

5. Click OK once all the desired changes have been made.

6. Restart Web Manager for the settings to take effect.

The Apache Web server logs the activities of all services running on it, including Web Manager. These log files track who has visited, what has been accessed, and what errors, if any, have occurred.

The Apache log files are stored in the default Common Log Format (CLF) that provides a fixed amount of information about Apache Web server activity.

The Access log file records information about requests to the server and the responses from the server. The Error log file lists all the errors the server has encountered , including unsuccessful login attempts and any other informational messages.

To view the available Web Manager log files, complete the following steps:

1. From the NetWare Web Manager home page, select the Administration Server Preferences link and choose either View Access Log or View Error Log.

2. In the Number of Entries field, type the number of lines you want the access log to display.

3. If you want to filter the log entries for a specific type of work, enter it in the Only Show Entries With field. The filter is case sensitive, so be specific!

4. Click OK to have your viewing options take effect. Use the Reset button to re-run the search and update the log file view.

Using these steps, you can locate specific errors or types of messages in order to keep track of network events.