IBM Support

IIS - Configuring the WebSphere Application Server Web server plug-in to serve custom error pages

Question & Answer


Question

When the WebSphere Application Server Web server plug-in encounters a run-time error while processing a request, it will return a generalized Error page with one of the following error codes: 500 - INTERNAL SERVER ERROR This will be returned for most error conditions including but not limited to: failure to reach or receive a response from all back-end Application Servers within a cluster, failures encountered by the GSKIT during SSL related processing. 503 - SERVICE UNAVAILABLE This will be returned if all available Application Servers within a cluster have reached their MaxConnections value limit as defined in the plugin-cfg.xml. 413 - REQUEST ENTITY TOO LARGE This will be returned if a POST request's content-length exceeds the PostSizeLimit value as defined in the plugin-cfg.xml. Is it possible to configure custom Error pages in place of these generalized HTTP Error responses returned by the WebSphere Application Server Web server plug-in for Internet Information Services (IIS).

Answer

Yes. Configuring the plug-in to serve custom Error pages is supported. The following guide provides steps for accomplishing this.

Tab navigation


Prerequisites

*Minimum plug-in versions: 9.0. 8.5, 8.0, 7.0
*The following guide is meant as a post-install configuration. The initial plug-in installation wizard must be completed prior to performing these steps. For the WebSphere Application Server Web server plug-in v8.0 and higher, the WebSphere Customization Toolbox > Plugin Configuration Tool must also be completed prior to performing these steps.


Configuring IIS Error Location

Warning: Modifying the Windows registry incorrectly can cause adverse effects to the Windows operating system. It is recommended that before you make any manual adjustments to the Windows registry, you make a backup of the registry first.

  1. From the Windows Start menu, choose Run. Type regedit and click OK.

  2. Navigate to the appropriate key based on the plug-in version that is installed:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\IBM\Web server Plug-ins for IBM WebSphere Application Server\6.0.0.0


    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\IBM\Web server Plug-ins for IBM WebSphere Application Server\6.1.0.0


    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\IBM\Web server Plug-ins for IBM WebSphere Application Server\7.0.0.0

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\IBM\Web server Plug-ins for IBM WebSphere Application Server\8.0.0.0

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\IBM\Web server Plug-ins for IBM WebSphere Application Server\8.5.0.0

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\IBM\Web server Plug-ins for IBM WebSphere Application Server\9.0.0.0




  3. Click on the key from the previous step so it is highlighted. Then click the Edit menu at the top and select New > String Value. Type IIS Error Location as the name and press Enter.

  4. Right-click the new IIS Error Location string and choose Modify. Click in the "Value data" field and enter the complete path to the directory that contains the HTTP Error pages. The default HTTP Error directory for IIS is:

    C:\inetpub\custerr\en-US


  5. Click OK. The result should look similar to the following:



Configuring IIS Error Pages

The following example shows where Error Pages can be defined explicitly for the WebSphere Application Server Web server plug-in under the default IIS configuration.

Perform the following steps from the IIS Administrative console:

  1. From the connections pane, expand the Web site intended for use with the WebSphere Application Server Web server plug-in and select the 'sePlugins' Virtual Directory.

  2. From the features pane, double-click "Error Pages".

  3. Configure the desired HTTP Error code(s). For example:




    * Refer to Microsoft Internet Information Services documentation for detailed information on configuring Error Pages.

  4. Close the IIS Administrative Console and restart the following services:

    "IIS Admin Service"
    "World Wide Web Publishing Service"


Result: When the plug-in encounters an error state, it will now retrieve the "IIS" Error Page that has been defined for the corresponding HTTP error code and serve this back to the client.

[{"Product":{"code":"SSEQTP","label":"WebSphere Application Server"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU053","label":"Cloud & Data Platform"},"Component":"Plug-in","Platform":[{"code":"PF033","label":"Windows"}],"Version":"9.0;8.5;8.0;7.0","Edition":"","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB45","label":"Automation"}}]

Document Information

Modified date:
23 June 2018

UID

swg21405555