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Configuring a single reverse proxy server for hub and spoke


If your environment shares a single reverse proxy server among the hub and spoke servers, always use name-based virtual hosting when identifying the hub and spoke servers to the system. Using the context path to identify the servers causes inconsistent system behavior. The following examples illustrate the correct and incorrect method of identifying the hub and spoke servers in your environment:


Name-based virtual hosting (correct)
Hub — https://<Reverse Proxy alias for Hub>/arsys
Spoke — https://<Reverse Proxy alias for Spoke1>/arsys
Spoke — https://<Reverse Proxy alias for Spoke2>/arsys


URL-path-based virtual hosting (incorrect)
Hub — https://<Reverse Proxy Server>/arsys
Spoke — https://<Reverse Proxy Server>/arsys
Spoke — https://<Reverse Proxy Server>/arsys

If your environment is configured to use a single, reverse proxy server for the hub and spoke servers, you must use name-based virtual hosting on the reverse proxy server to identify the hub and spoke servers. To use this type of hosting, update the /usr/apache/conf/httpd.conf file as described in the following example. You also need to update the local host file on the reverse proxy server.

Before you begin

Before you run any of the other hub and spoke setup procedures, install the supporting applications. 

Sample environment description

Any reference in the following example to hub, spoke, or mid tier server names is an example only. In most instances, these names are different in your environment. The sample configuration takes place in the following environment:

Hub and spoke server names (one hub and two spoke servers)

  • Hub server — hub.eng.remedy.com
  • Spoke server — spoke1.eng.remedy.com
  • Spoke server — spoke2.eng.remedy.com

Reverse proxy server information

  • Web server application — Apache Server
  • Server name — rhl-apache-vm1.eng.remedy.com
  • IP address — 172.23.41.143

To configure a single reverse proxy server

  1. On the reverse proxy server, open /usr/apache/conf/httpd.conf and add the following code to the end of the file.

    For an explanation of the code that you add to the httpd.conf file, see httpd.conf code explanation, at the end of this topic.


    <VirtualHost *:446>
    ServerName hub.eng.remedy.com
    DocumentRoot "/usr/apache/htdocs"
    SSLEngine on
    <Location / >
    ProxyPass           /raas0/arsys http://w28-raas-mt0.eng.remedy.com:8080/raas0/arsys
    ProxyPassReverse    /raas0/arsys http://w28-raas-mt0.eng.remedy.com:8080/raas0/arsys
    </Location>
    </VirtualHost>


    <VirtualHost *:444>
    ServerName spoke1.eng.remedy.com
    DocumentRoot "/usr/apache/htdocs"
    SSLEngine on
    <Location / >
    ProxyPass          /raas2/arsys http://w28-raas-mt1.eng.remedy.com:8080/raas2/arsys
    ProxyPassReverse   /raas2/arsys http://w28-raas-mt1.eng.remedy.com:8080/raas2/arsys
    </Location>
    </VirtualHost>


    <VirtualHost *:445>
    ServerName spoke2.eng.remedy.com
    DocumentRoot "/usr/apache/htdocs"
    SSLEngine on
    <Location / >
    ProxyPass          /raas6/arsys http://w28-raas-mt6.eng.remedy.com:8080/raas6/arsys
    ProxyPassReverse   /raas6/arsys http://w28-raas-mt6.eng.remedy.com:8080/raas6/arsys
    </Location>
    </VirtualHost>

  2. Create and map an alias for the reverse proxy server to the individual hub and spoke servers by adding the following entries:


    172.23.41.143 hub.eng.remedy.com
    172.23.41.143 spoke1.eng.remedy.com
    172.23.41.143 spoke2.eng.remedy.com
  3. Update the local host file as described in Step 3 on the computer of each end user who logs in to the hub server or spoke server, or both.
  4. Restart the reverse proxy server.

httpd.conf code explanation

You add the following code to the httpd.conf file. You make a corresponding entry in httpd.conf for each hub and spoke server in your environment.

  • <VirtualHost *:NNN> — Indicates server port number. Substitute the actual port number for NNN.
  • ServerName hub.eng.remedy.com — Indicates server name. In this example, it is the hub server.
  • DocumentRoot "/usr/apache/htdocs" — Indicates directory in which the web server looks for files to serve on your domain.
  • SSLEngine on — Enables the SSL/TLS for the virtual host.
  • ProxyPass — Redirects the reverse proxy server from the browser to the mid-tier. Supply the mid-tier path.
  • ProxyPassReverse — Redirects the reverse proxy server from the mid-tier to the browser. Supply the mid-tier path.

Where to go from here

When you finish configuring the reverse proxy server, go to Configuring-the-Distributed-Server-Option-service-for-a-hub-and-spoke-system.

 

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