Installing the Web Connector as a separate web application

An instance of the Web Connector is installed automatically with your IBM® Interact runtime server, and is enabled by default. However, you can also deploy the Web Connector as its own web application (for example, in a web application server on a separate system) and configure it to communicate with the remote Interact runtime server.

These instructions describe the process of deploying the Web Connector as a separate web application with access to a remote Interact runtime server.

Before you can deploy the Web Connector, you must have installed the IBM® Interact runtime server, and you must have a web application server on another system with network access (not blocked by any firewall) to the Interact runtime server.

Copy the jsconnector directory containing the Web Connector files from your Interact runtime server to the system where the web application server (such as WebSphere® Application Server) is already configured and running.

You can find the jsconnector directory in your Interact installation director.

On the system where you'll be deploying the Web Connector instance, configure the jsconnector/jsconnector.xml file using any text or XML editor to modify the interactURL attribute.

This is set by default to http://localhost:7001/interact, but you must modify it to match the URL of the remote Interact runtime server, such as http://runtime.example.com:7011/interact.

After you deploy the Web Connector, you can use a web interface to customize the remaining settings in the jsconnector.xml file. See Configuring the Web Connector for more information.

For the web application server on which you will be deploying the Web Connector, set the following Java™ property:

-DUI_JSCONNECTOR_HOME=<jsconnectorHome>

Replace <jsconnectorHome> with the actual path to where you copied the jsconnector directory onto the web application server.

The way in which you set the Java™ properties depends on your web application server. For example, in WebLogic, you would edit the startWebLogic.sh or startWebLogic.cmd file to update the JAVA_OPTIONS setting, as in this example:

JAVA_OPTIONS="${SAVE_JAVA_OPTIONS} -DUI_JSCONNECTOR_HOME=/InteractFiles/jsconnector"

In WebSphere® Application Server, you would set this property in the Java™ virtual machine panel of the administration console.

See your web application server documentation for specific instructions on setting Java™ properties.

Restart your web application server if it was already running, or start your web application server in this step, to make sure that the new Java™ property is used.

Wait for the web application server to complete its startup process before continuing.

Connect to your web application server management interface with the necessary privileges to deploy an application.

Follow the instructions for your web application server to deploy and run the following file:

jsConnector/jsConnector.war

The Web Connector is now deployed in the web application. After you have your fully-configured Interact server up and running, the next step is to connect to the Web Connector Configuration web page at http:// <host>: <port>/interact/jsp/WebConnector.jsp, where <host> is the system running the web application server on which you just deployed the Web Connector, and <port> is the port on which the Web Connector is listening, as specified by the web application server.