This article contains frequently asked questions (FAQ) regarding WebObjects 4 Deployment, with answers to those questions. This FAQ does not include questions involving Monitor or MonitorProxy; for Monitor issues, please see the WebObjects 4 Monitor FAQ, article 70121 .

Questions answered in this article:

1. Where can I get the latest documentation?
2. What does the $NEXT_ROOT/Library/WebObjects/Configuration/WebObjects.conf file do? How about the /tmp/WebObjects.conf file? What is the difference?
3. How do I go about using multiple Web Servers?
4. For some reason, the public WebObjects.conf file is not being updated by Monitor. Everything is configured correctly, what am I doing wrong?
5. How do I turn on adaptor logging?
6. How do I restart the adaptor?
7. How can I confirm that the adaptor is running?
8. What databases/adaptors are supported by WebObjects Enterprise?
9. How do I configure Microsoft IIS for WebObjects?
10. I've read all the Release Notes and still can't get WebObjects installed and running!

Question 1: Where can I get the latest documentation?

Answer : Current WebObjects documentation is available on the Apple DevWorld WWW server at http://devworld.apple.com/dev/SWTechPubs/Documents/WebObjects/ It is available in HTML and PDF formats.

Documentation is also available as part of your WebObjects installation, at:

file://$NEXT_ROOT/System/Documentation/Developer/WebObjects/ServingWebObjects.pdf
and
file://$NEXT_ROOT/System/Documenation/Developer/WebObjects/PostInstall/PostInstallTOC.html

Question 2 : What does the $NEXT_ROOT/Library/WebObjects/Configuration/WebObjects.conf file do? How about the /tmp/WebObjects.conf file? What is the difference?

Answer : $NEXT_ROOT/Library/WebObjects/Configuration/WebObjects.conf is the "Public" WebObjects.conf file. /tmp/WebObjects.conf is the "private" WebObjects.conf file. For more information on public and private WebObjects.conf files, please see article 70040 .

Question 3 : How do I go about using multiple Web Servers?

Answer : To deploy on multiple web servers, the public WebObjects.conf file needs to be distributed to all web server machines. The best technique is to run Monitor on one app server, and rdist or rcp the WebObjects.conf file to all the webservers. That way you do not need to run Monitor on the webserver and you are not forced to NFS mount a single file system. You could have the webservers "pull" rather than push if security is an issue.

Question 4 : For some reason, the public WebObjects.conf file is not being updated by Monitor. Everything is configured correctly, what am I doing wrong?

Answer : Check your license. If your license is only for a single application instance, then the public WebObjects.conf file will not be updated and requests for the startup for multiple instances will silently fail.

Question 5 : How do I turn on adaptor logging?

Answer : Go to the /tmp directory and create a file called "logWebObjects". Depending on the adaptor and its settings, the amount of time that the resultant log file "WebObjects.log" will be created varies greatly. If it is the CGI adaptor, the next time the adaptor is run, it will check for the log. In fact, everytime the CGI adaptor receives a hit, it will check the current configuration files and the existance of the "logWebObjects" file.

The NSAPI, ISAPI, Apache, and WAI adaptors are set by the compile options in /opt/Apple/Developer/Examples/WebObjects/Source/Adaptors/Adaptor/config.h:

#define TPSEC   1       /* expected WO-requests / second */
#define STATLOG (TPSEC*20)      /* check /tmp/logWebObjects counter */
#define ALWAYS_LOG              /* of course, you might want to just always.. */

TPSEC defines how many expected WO requests you will receive in one second. STATLOG simply multiples TPSEC by 20 (or whatever number you provide). The result will be how requests the adaptor will receive before stat()'ing for the logWebObjects file. You can always turn on the ALWAYS_LOG define and the logging will begin, even without a logWebObjects file.

Also, remember to check the web server logs. In particular, the Netscape log is pretty good about reporting what the NSAPI adaptor did on startup.

Question 6 : How do I restart the adaptor?

Answer : For all adaptors other than CGI, you'll need to restart the web server.

Question 7 : How can I confirm that the adaptor is running?

Answer : In the game "Adventure", xyzzy is a "magic command" that allows you to transport yourself between two rooms. Xyzzy is also an option that you can enable when you compile your own adaptor. It provides a very cheap way of checking to see if the adaptor is running and to get some basic information on the adaptor. Once again, in the file:

/opt/Apple/Developer/Examples/WebObjects/Source/Adaptors/Adaptor/config.h:

set the option:

#define XYZZY   "xyzzy"
// #undef XYZZY

After recompiling the adaptor, and restarting the web server, try entering a URL such as:

http://your_web_server/cgi-bin/WebObjects/xyzzy

The following output is an example of what you'll see:

Server Adaptor: Server = Netscape/NSAPIWebObjects
Server Adaptor version = 4.0
Load balancing algorithm = roundrobin
Custom Adaptor File Name = libapple.so
Custom Adaptor File Version Name = 1.1
Customer Adaptor Config File Name = dflink.conf
Configuration File Path = WebObjects/Configuration/WebObjects.conf
Log File Name = WO.log
Log File Flag = logWOHeaders

Question 8 : What databases/adaptors are supported by WebObjects Enterprise?

Answer : Apple provides Sybase, Oracle and generic ODBC adaptors for most versions of WebObjects. Third-party adaptors may be available for other databases, including Informix, Quickbase, AS/400, Supra, DB2, Gupta SQL Base, VSAM, ADABAS, IMS/DB, and NCR Teradata. Other databases may be accessed programmatically through custom libraries provided by your database vendor.

Question 9 : How do I configure Microsoft IIS for WebObjects?

Answer : If you're using Microsoft IIS or PWS as your HTTP server, The CGI user must have Administrator privileges to access the NEXT_ROOT environment variable. This is necessary if you want to enable load balancing (distributing the processing load among multiple instances of a WebObjects application). Load balancing is a performance feature that you'd use on a deployment site.

To grant Administrator privileges to the CGI user, do the following:

• Open the "User Manager for Domains" application under Administrative Tools.
• Double-click the entry with the full name "Internet Guest Account." (The user name usually starts with "IUSR_".)
• In the window that opens, click the Groups button.

• Move the Administrators group from the "Not member of" table to the "Member of" table.
• Click the OK button.

Answer : It seems that on some systems the /tmp or C:\TEMP directories either don't exist or don't have read/write permissions set correctly. Be sure the directory can be seen and accessed by all. WebObjects, other apps and users need access to this directory to work properly. On Windows NT, also make sure that your environment variables (TMP and TEMP) are set to C:\TEMP.