Modifying the default web container configuration

A web container handles requests for servlets, JavaServer Pages (JSP) files, and other types of files that include server-side code. The web container creates servlet instances, loads and unloads servlets, creates and manages request and response objects, and performs other servlet management tasks. The web server plug-ins, provided by the product, help supported web servers to pass servlet requests to web containers.

About this task

If the property to start servlets during application server startup is enabled, part of its startup process calls the Servlet.init method on its servlets when you start the web container. Therefore, when the web container starts and calls the init method, other components such as Naming and Work Load Management might not be fully started yet. As a result, application server related calls may not work because all of the application server components might not be ready yet. Once the application server is 'ready for e-business', it is completely ready. If application server related calls fail during Servlet.init method, you can either:
  • Start the servlet manually when the server is ready for e-business instead of starting the servlet upon startup or
  • You can choose not to make application server related calls in the servlet's init method.

The web container is created initially with default properties values suitable for simple web applications. However, these values might not be appropriate for more complex web applications.

Your application is considered complex if it requires any of the following features:

  • Additional virtual host aliases
  • Servlet caching
  • Persistent HTTP session support
  • Session tracking support with URL rewriting
  • Special web container transport chain settings
  • Asynchronous or remote dispatching
  • No request or response pooling

Make the following configuration changes if you have a complex application:

Procedure

  1. In the administrative console, click Servers > Server Types > WebSphere application servers > server_name. Then under web container settings, click on one of the following:
    1. Web container, if your web application requires a virtual host, other than the default_host, or requires servlet caching.
    2. Web container transport chains, if you need to reconfigure your HTTP connections.
  2. [AIX Solaris HP-UX Linux Windows][IBM i]If your application handles special client request loads, in the administrative console, click Servers > Server Types > WebSphere application servers > server_name. Then under Additional Properties, click Thread pools to modify your thread pool settings.
  3. If your application requires global settings for internal servlets for web application archive (WAR) files packaged by third-party tools, in the administrative console, click Servers > Server Types > WebSphere application servers > server_name > Web Container Settings > Web container. Then under Additional Properties, click Custom properties and enter the appropriate custom property.
  4. [z/OS]If your application uses transaction class mappings to classify workload, in the administrative console, click Resources > Asynchronous Beans > Work managers > workmanager_name. Then enter the name of the transaction class mapping file in the Default transaction class field.