Modify a Web Interface site
From the Web Interface page in the Configuration Center main window, you can make changes to existing Web Interface sites: Click an entry in the list of sites and then click Modify on the toolbar. The Modify Web Interface Site wizard starts, allowing you to:
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Choose the website to contain the web application that implements the Web Interface site.
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Supply the desired alias for that web application. The alias defines the virtual path that becomes part of the Web Interface site’s address (URL).
Then, the wizard lets you specify the object to hold the site’s configuration and customization data on the Active Roles Administration Service. You can choose from the following options:
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Keep on using the current object (default option): The site’s configuration will remain intact. The wizard displays the name and version of the current configuration object.
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Create the object from a template: The site will have the default configuration and customization based on the template you select.
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Use an existing object: The site will have the same configuration and customization as any existing Web Interface site that also uses the object you select. You could use this option to deploy an additional instance of one of your existing Web Interface sites on a different web server.
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Create the object by importing data from another object: The site will inherit the configuration and customization of the site that used the object you select for data import. You could use this option to deploy a Web Interface site of the new Active Roles version with the same configuration and customization as one of your Web Interface sites of an earlier Active Roles version. In this case, you import the configuration data of the earlier version to the Administration Service of the current version (which also imports the site configuration objects of the earlier version), then create the site configuration object by importing data from the appropriate site configuration object of the earlier version.
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Create the object by importing data from an export file: The site will inherit the configuration and customization of the site whose configuration data was saved to the export file you specify. You can choose an export file of any supported Active Roles version.
For more information and step-by-step instructions, see the “Additional configuration” topic in the Active Roles Quick Start Guide.
Delete a Web Interface site
On the Web Interface page in the Configuration Center main window, you can delete Web Interface sites: Click an entry in the list of sites and then click Delete on the toolbar. This operation only deletes the Web Interface site from the web server, without deleting the site’s configuration object from the Administration Service.
When you delete a site, the site’s configuration object remains intact on the Administration Service. You can set up a Web Interface site with the same configuration as the site you have deleted, by choosing the option to use that object on the Configuration step in the wizard for creating or modifying Web Interface sites.
Export a Web Interface site’s configuration object to a file
From the Web Interface page in the Configuration Center main window, you can export site configuration objects: Click an entry in the list of sites and then click Export Configuration on the toolbar. A wizard starts, prompting you to specify the export file. The wizard then retrieves the site’s configuration object from the Administration Service, and saves the data from that object to the export file.
The export file could be considered a backup of the site’s configuration. You can set up a Web Interface site with the configuration restored from an export file, by importing that file on the Configuration step in the wizard for creating or modifying Web Interface sites.
Configure Web Interface for secure communication
By default, Active Roles users connect to the Web Interface using a HTTP protocol, which does not encrypt the data during communication. However, it is recommended to use a HTTPS protocol to transfer data securely over the web. You can use the Force SSL Redirection option in the Configuration Center to enable secure communication over HTTPS for the Web Interface on local or remote servers.
To configure the Web Interface for secure communication for the first time
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In the Configuration Center main window, click Web Interface.
The Web Interface page lists every Web Interface sites that are deployed on the web server running the Web Interface.
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To modify the secure communication settings for the sites, click Force SSL Redirection.
The Manage Force SSL Redirection Settings for sites window is displayed.
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In the Available Websites field, select the required website from the drop-down list.
The configuration status of the website is displayed.
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To enable the force SSL redirection, switch between the Enable Force SSL Redirection states. Turn it on.
NOTE: Consider the following when configuring the Web Interface for secure communication for the first time:
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If the website is not configured earlier for secure communication, the Enable Force SSL Redirection option is not selected by default and the HTTPS configuration status is shown as Not configured.
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If the website is configured earlier for secure communication, then the Enable Force SSL Redirection option is selected by default and the HTTPS configuration status shows as Configured.
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If the website is configured earlier for secure communication, and the SSL bindings was deleted in the IIS site, the Enable Force SSL Redirection option is selected by default. The status Binding Deleted is displayed. In this case, the secure communication must be configured again for the website.
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In the Available HTTPS Bindings field, click the drop-down list and select the required binding for the website.
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Click Modify.
After successful completion of configuration changes, in the Web Interface window, the Force SSL Redirection configuration state for the selected website is displayed as green and enabled.
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Click Finish.
NOTE: The browser cache must be cleared after any changes are made to SSL settings.
For the configured website, any HTTP communication is now redirected to HTTPS automatically.