Complete Contents
About This Guide
Chapter 1 Before You Install
Chapter 2 Installing iPlanet Web Server
Chapter 3 Troubleshooting Installation
Chapter 4 Migrating and Upgrading
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Chapter 1 Before You Install

The following sections discuss the information you need to know before you install iPlanet Web Server.

This chapter contains the following sections:


Supported Platforms
iPlanet Web Server runs on these platforms:


Required Patches
For the latest information on required patches and service packs, see the release notes at http://www.iplanet.com/docs.


Hardware and Software Requirements
iPlanet Web Server requires specific software and hardware. In addition to the Unix, Linux, or Windows NT operation system, before you can install the server, your computer must have the following hardware and software:

Unix
Windows NT
Linux

Other Technical Requirements
Once you have the proper hardware and software necessary to install iPlanet Web Server, you should make sure that you meet the following requirements:

Creating a DNS Alias for the Server
If your server will run on one machine among many in a network, you or your system administrator should set up a DNS CNAME record or an alias that points to the actual server machine. Later, you can change the actual hostname or IP address of the server machine without having to change all URLs that point to the server machine.

For example, you might call the server my_server.my_company.com and then use an alias like www.my_company.com. So the URLs to documents on your server would always use the www alias instead of my_server.

Unix and Linux User Accounts for the Server
When the iPlanet Web Server starts, it runs with a Unix or Linux user account that you specify during installation. Any child processes of the server are created with this account as the owner. It is best to create a Unix or Linux account for the server that has restricted access to your system resources. The account needs read permissions for the configuration files and write permissions for the logs directory. For security reasons, the user account shouldn't have write permissions to some of the configuration files, though some, such as the access control files, should be group writable.

In addition, the user account you create for the server should belong to a group that contains the server users for all iPlanet servers so that multiple servers can have access to shared files.

If you don't create a dedicated user account for iPlanet Web Server, on many platforms you can use the account with the name nobody, but you might not want to give the user nobody permissions for running the iPlanet Web Server. In addition, the user nobody might not work on some systems. Some systems assign a user ID of -2 for the user nobody. A user ID of less than 0 generates an error during installation. Check the /etc/passwd file to see if the uid for nobody exists, and make sure it is greater than 0.

Note. It's strongly recommended that you use a dedicated account for the server.

The Administration Server can also run with a user account that has write permissions to the configuration files for all installed servers. However, it's much easier to run the Administration Server as root because then the Administration Server user can start and stop servers with port numbers less than 1024. (Port numbers greater than 1024 can be started by any user).

The user you use to run the iPlanet Web Server (often nobody) must be in the same group as the user you use to run the Administration Server (often root).

Warning. If you plan to use SNMP, you must run both the iPlanet Web Server instance and the Administration Server as root.

Windows NT User Accounts for the Server
You should create a Windows NT user account for your iPlanet Web Server. It should have restricted access to your system resources and run under a nonprivileged system user account (one that has a limited set of system permissions to your system). When the server starts, it runs with this user account. Any server extension modules the server uses are created with this user account as the owner.

During installation, the server uses the LocalSystem account, not the user account you created. Once you start and run the server, you should use the user account you created. You can change the user account for the server after the installation process. You can configure that user account so that is has permissions to get files on another computer, so that your server can serve files that are mounted from another computer.

In addition, the user account you create for the server should belong to a group that contains the server users for all iPlanet servers so that multiple servers can have access to shared files.

Note. It's strongly recommended that you use a dedicated account for the server.

Choosing Unique Port Numbers
You need multiple port numbers: one for the Administration Server and one for each instance of iPlanet Web Server. The Administration Server is a special instance of the iPlanet Web Server that you use to manage your iPlanet Web Server. This Administration Server is not the same as the Netscape Administration Server shipped with the Netscape Console.

The standard web server port number is 80 and the standard SSL-enabled web server port number is 443, but you can install iPlanet Web Server to use any port. If you use a port other than the default port (port 80), the URL used to gain access to your home page changes. For example, if your computer is called www.siroe.com and you choose port 9753, your server's URL will be http://www.siroe.com:9753/.

You should choose a random number for the Administration Server to make it harder for anyone to breach your server. When you configure your server, you use the Administration Server's port number. For example, for server mozilla.com, the server's URL could be
http://www.mozilla.com:2634/.

Make sure the port you choose isn't already in use. On Unix and Linux systems, you can check the file /etc/services on the server machine to make sure you don't assign a port number that is reserved for another service. If you choose a port that is currently being used by another service, the installation program prompts you for another port.

Note. If you use Unix or Linux, and you choose a server port number lower than 1024, you must be logged in as root to start the server. After the server binds to the port, the server changes from the root user account to the user account you specify. If you choose a port number higher than 1024, you don't have to be the root user to start the server.

 

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