Enabling session handling for the Web Content Management Remote Rendering Portlet 

Update 18 August 2009: From 6.0.1.x CF23 and 6.1.x CF16, the session service will no longer be required to enable session handling. If your server is at or above these releases you should skip the third step of this procedure as documented below.

When working with standard Web content viewers installed on remote servers, the default Web content session handling works by initiating a new Web content session for each Web content viewer instance on a page. This can cause performance issues if many users access a page containing a large number of remote Web content viewers.

The following procedures enable session handling to keep track of valid sessions between Web content viewer instances on a page.

In the following procedures "Web content server" represents the server where your Web content is stored, and "remote server" represents the server where your remote rendering portlets are installed.

• If accessing a remote rendering portlet anonymously you must enable anonymous sessions on the remote server:

The following procedures allow sessions to be created for anonymous users. Active anonymous sessions will be managed according to the authentication method of the Web content viewer as described below.

1. Open WebSphere Application Server administrative console on your remote server.
2. Go to Resources > Resource Environment Providers > WP_NavigatorService > Custom properties
3. Add a new property named public.session with a value of true.
   

• If you use LTPA authentication you must setup single signon on both servers:

The following procedures enables single signon to help ensure that only a single session will be active between the instance of IBM® WebSphere® Portal and Web Content Management for each user. WebSphere Portal will manage active sessions between the two servers for each user.

Note: Both servers must be configured to use the same LDAP repository.

1. Set up Single Signon on your Web content server:
• Open WebSphere Application Server administrative console on your Web content server.
• Go to Security -> Global security -> Authentication mechanisms -> LTPA -> Single signon (SSO)
• Ensure enabled is checked and enter the part of the domain name that is common to both servers in the domain name field. For example: ilwwcm.au.ibm.com
• Click OK and save to master configuration.
• Go back to Security -> Global security -> Authentication mechanisms -> LTPA
• Enter a password and path for the key file and click Export Keys.
2. Set up Single Signon on your remote server:
• Open WebSphere Application Server administrative console on your remote server.
• Go to Security -> Global security -> Authentication mechanisms -> LTPA -> Single signon (SSO)
• Ensure enabled is checked and enter the part of the domain name that is common to both servers in the domain name field. For example: ilwwcm.au.ibm.com
• Click OK and save to master configuration.
• Go back to Security -> Global security -> Authentication mechanisms -> LTPA
• Enter a password and path to the key file you exported from the Web content server and click Import Keys.
3. Restart both servers.
4. Verify that single signon is working correctly by logging in to the remote server and then changing the URL in the address bar to access the Web content server. If single signon is working you will be shown the authenticated home screen of the Web content server and not asked to login again.
5. Set up the remote rendering portlet on the remote server:
• Locate the ilwwcm-remoterenderingportlet.war file. By default, this file is located in the PortalServer_root/installableApps director y of your Web con tent server.
• Copy the ilwwcm-remoterenderingportlet.war file to the remote server.
• Install the ilwwcm-remoterenderingportlet.war on the remote server or update the existing ilwwcm-remoterenderingportlet.war if the remote ren dering portlet has previously been installed on the remote server.

• If you have 6.0.1.x CF22 or 6.1.x CF15 or below and use credential vault authentication you must enable the session service on your remote server:

The following procedures enables a service that is used to keep track of valid sessions. The service will help ensure that only a single session will be active between the instance of IBM® WebSphere® Portal and Web Content Management for each user. The service will manage access to the pool of active sessions and queue the requests for sessions that are in the process of being established, but not stop requests for established sessions to other servers or with different credentials.

When a request is made for a session with Web Content Management for a defined credential vault slot and URL, the WCMSessionService checks to see if this session already exists. If so, this session will be used. If not, a new session will be created.

1. Set up the remote rendering portlet on the remote server:
• Locate the ilwwcm-remoterenderingportlet.war file. By default, this file is located in the PortalServer_root/installableApps directory of your Web content server.
• Copy the ilwwcm-remoterenderingportlet.war file to the remote server.
• Open the ilwwcm-remoterenderingportlet.war file with an appropriate file archive program.
• Extract the ilwwcm-remoterenderingportlet-service.jar file to the wp_profile_root/wcm/shared/app directory.
• Delete the ilwwcm-remoterenderingportlet-service.jar file from the ilwwcm-remoterenderingportlet.war using the archive program and save the WAR file.
• Install the ilwwcm-remoterenderingportlet.war on the remote server or update the existing ilwwcm-remoterenderingportlet.war if the remote rendering portlet has previously been installed on the remote server.
2. Setup the shared WCMRemoteLib library on the remote Portal server which is used by the WCMSessionService:
• Open WebSphere Application Server administrative console on your remote server.
• Go to Environment > Shared Libraries
• Create a new library with name WCMRemoteLib and classpath ${WPS_HOME}/wcm/shared/app/ilwwcm-remoterenderingportlet-service.jar
• Go to Servers > Application servers > WebSphere_Portal > Java and Process Management > Class loader > Classloader_name > Library
• Add the WCMRemoteLib library.
3. Setup the WCMSessionService on the remote server. This service is used to obtain the session cookie used to make the request to the Web content server:
• Go to wp_profile_root/wcm/shared/app/config/ and open the services.properties file.
• Ensure the following session service line is included:
  # WCM session service
  com.ibm.workplace.wcm.service.contentServer.AbstractWCMSessionService=com.ibm.workplace.wcm.service.contentServer.WCMSessionService
  
4. Restart the remote server.

• If you have upgraded from 6.0.1.x CF22 or 6.1.x CF15 or below to 6.0.1.x CF23 or 6.1.x CF16 or above you must disable the old session service:

From 6.0.1.x CF23 and 6.1.x CF16, the WCMSessionService has been removed and is no longer required to enable session handling. If you have previously enabled the WCMSessionService you must remove it after upgrading. To remove the WCMSessionService:

1. Delete the shared WCMRemoteLib library on the remote server.
   
   • Open WebSphere Application Server administrative console on your remote server.
   • Go to Servers > Application servers > WebS p here_Portal > Java and Process Management > Class loader > Classloader_name > Library
   • Remove the WCMRemoteLib library.
   • Go to Environment > Shared Libraries.
   • Delete the WCMRemoteLib library.
   • Delete the ilwwcm-remoterenderingportlet-service.jar file from the wp_profile_root/wcm/shared/app directory.
     
2. Remove the WCMSessionService cofiguration from the remote server
   
   • Go to wp_profile_root/wcm/shared/app/config/ and open the services.properties file.
   • Remove the following session service line:
     # WCM session service
     com.ibm.workplace.wcm.service.contentServer.AbstractWCMSessionService=com.ibm.workplace.wcm.service.contentServer.WCMSessionService
3. Restart the remote server.