Deploying the Web Interface component has two main procedures:
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Installing the component via the Active Roles installer.
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Using the Active Roles Configuration Center to configure the Web Interface service.
For more information on these procedures, see Deploying the Web Interface in the Active Roles Quick Start Guide.
Once the Web Interface component is deployed, you can create new Web Interface sites, or modify and delete the existing ones. You can create any number of Active Roles Web Interface sites, either with each site having its own configuration, or sharing the configuration with other sites.
These site configuration entities contain all customizable settings of the user interface elements, such as the website menus, commands, and web page forms that appear on the Web Interface. Each configuration is identified by name, stored as an entity, and applied on a per-site basis. In addition, each Web Interface site configuration is stored and replicated by the Administration Service, with the same configuration files reusable for additional Web Interface sites. This allows you to:
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Reuse the configuration of existing Web Interface sites.
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Share a common configuration among multiple Web Interface sites.
NOTE: If multiple Web Interface sites share a common configuration, any customization made to one site will be automatically applied to the other sites using the same configuration. For example, if you add a command or modify a form on one site, the new command or modified form appears on all the other sites using the same configuration.
To create, modify or delete a Web Interface site
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In the Active Roles Configuration Center, on the Dashboard page, click Web Interface > Manage Sites.
Alternatively, on the side bar, click Web Interface.
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On the Web Interface page, click the applicable button:
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To create a new site, click Create.
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To modify an existing site, select it from the list, then click Modify.
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To delete an existing site, select it from the list, then click Delete.
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(Optional) If you selected to Create or Modify a site, in the Web Application step, configure the following settings:
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IIS Web site: Specifies the IIS website containing the web application that implements the Web Interface site. The list is populated from the websites defined on the web server.
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Alias: Specifies the alias of the web application that implements the Web Interface site. The alias defines the virtual path used in the address of the Web Interface site on the web server.
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(Optional) If you selected to Create or Modify a site, in the Configuration step, specify how to set the configuration of the new website. The website configuration contains all customizable settings of the user interface elements, such as the website menus, commands, and web page forms that appear on the Web Interface.
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Keep the current configuration: Uses the configuration currently assigned to the site. Select this option if you do not want to assign a different configuration to the site.
NOTE: This setting is only available when modifying an existing site.
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Create from a template: Creates a new configuration for the Web Interface site based on a template. When selected, you must specify a unique Configuration name and must also select a Template used as a baseline for the new configuration. Active Roles contains a default template for Administration, Helpdesk and Self-Service sites.
TIP: Select this option if you want the Web Interface site to use a separate configuration that is initially populated with the default template data and settings.
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Use an existing configuration: Assigns an existing configuration to the Web Interface site. When selected, you must specify the desired configuration from a list of saved configurations stored by the Administration Service.
NOTE: The list includes configurations compatible with the currently installed Active Roles version only.
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Import from an existing configuration: Creates a new configuration for the Web Interface site by importing data from an existing configuration. When selected, you must specify a unique Configuration name for the new configuration and must also select the desired Configuration to import from the list of supported configurations stored by the Administration Service.
NOTE: The list includes configurations compatible with the currently installed Active Roles version only.
TIP: Select this option if you want the Web Interface site to use a separate configuration that is:
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Populated with data imported from the configuration of an earlier Active Roles version, or
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Copied from an existing configuration of the current Active Roles version.
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Import from a file: Creates a new configuration for the Web Interface site by importing data from an exported configuration file. When selected, you must specify a unique Configuration name for the new configuration and must also select the File to import.
TIP: Select this option if you want the Web Interface site to use a separate configuration that is:
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Populated with data imported from the exported configuration file of an earlier Active Roles version.
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Copied from an existing exported configuration file of the current Active Roles version. You can export existing configurations with the Web Interface > Export Configuration option of the Configuration Center after selecting a web site.
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(Optional) To commit your changes when creating or modifying a site, click Create or Modify, respectively. The Configuration Center then performs the configured changes, and will indicate the results.
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(Optional) If you selected to Delete a site, in the Ready to Delete step, review the site data, then click Delete. The Configuration Center then performs the configured changes, and will indicate the results.
Once you configured a new site or modified an existing one, you can access it from your browser by using the specified web application alias in the following format:
http://<website>/<alias>
In this alias, <website> identifies the IIS website containing the web application that implements the Web Interface site, while <alias> is the alias of the web application as specified in the Configuration Center. For example, if the web application is contained in the default website, the address will be the following:
http://<computer>/<alias>
In this example, <computer> is the network name of the computer (web server) running the Web Interface.
By default, you can connect to Web Interface sites via the HTTPS protocol, which encrypts the data transferred from the web browser to the Web Interface. If your organization does not require a secure protocol for accessing the Web Interface sites, you can disable using the HTTPS protocol in the Active Roles Configuration Center.
The HTTPS protocol uses SSL protection provided by the web server for data encryption. For more information on how to enable SSL on your web server, see Configuring Secure Sockets Layer in IIS 7 in the Microsoft Windows Server documentation.