This chapter covers features which are specific to the operating system, as well as reserving IP addresses for RealProxy's use, and running RealProxy on the same system as a Web server.
When RealProxy starts, it uses the primary IP address assigned to the machine's host name to listen for incoming requests. You can configure RealProxy to always listen on specific IP addresses by setting up the IP Binding list. Within this list, you cite individual addresses to use, or you use a special address to use all the IP addresses available on the RealProxy machine.
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Note |
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| The IP Binding list does not affect the address used for outgoing connections; those are determined by the operating system. |
The recommended method is to capture all addresses for RealProxy's use by specifying the special IP address of 0.0.0.0. If you specify this address, RealProxy automatically binds to all addresses and to the loopback address (127.0.0.1).
Or, if you only want to reserve certain addresses, put those addresses on the list instead. If you do bind to a specific address or addresses, you must also add the loopback address.
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Warning |
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Use either 0.0.0.0 or a specific address (and loopback),
but not both. If you use both, RealProxy will not start.
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If you leave this feature blank, RealProxy binds to the primary host IP address and the loopback address. It does not bind to any other addresses.
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Note |
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| If a firewall is in use, you may need to configure it to allow traffic to pass on the addresses you added to the IP Binding list. See "Working with Multiple IP Addresses" for information. |
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Note |
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Remember, if you use 0.0.0.0, there should be no other
addresses on the list.
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Warning |
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| Type the address carefully. If you type an IP address that does not exist on this computer, RealProxy will not be able to restart or to start. Should this happen, refer to "I can't start RealProxy at all." in Chapter 15, "Troubleshooting RealProxy". |
127.0.0.1.
If you install RealProxy on the same system as your Web server, you may need to complete additional steps. Most Web servers use port 80 for HTTP requests. At installation, RealProxy's default HTTP Port is 8080, but if you configure RealProxy to use port 80 (the same port as the Web server), problems may ensue. You may have to perform the following steps:
Because RealProxy can serve requests for HTML pages sent via HTTP (such as RealSystem Administrator), if RealProxy is on the same system as a Web server, requests that begin with http:// may be misdirected. When a user clicks a link that begins with http:// and does not contain a port number, the client supplies a port number—80. When the Web server and RealProxy are on the same machine, the Web server will attempt to serve the file. If the link points to what's meant to be a RealSystem presentation, the Web server will not find the file and will display the error message "File not found."
To prevent this problem from occurring, make sure the HTTP Port value is not the same as the port number your Web server is using. The default value is 8080. Most Web servers use port 80. Be sure that you include the port number in the URL.
You may need to reserve at least one IP address for RealProxy's use, and instruct your Web server not to use that address. See "Reserving IP Addresses for RealProxy's Use".
If you are the administrator of both RealProxy and RealServer (for example, if you administer a corporate Web presence for both internal (RealProxy) and external (RealServer) use, or if you are an ISP host and you offer RealServer streaming services to your clients), here are some things to keep in mind:
While RealProxy functions nearly identically on both Windows NT and UNIX platforms, there are a few differences that allow you to take advantage of unique characteristics of each operating system.
This section describes features unique to RealProxy running on a Windows NT system.
When you install RealProxy, you have the option to install it as a service. You can also configure this later. Several instances of RealProxy can be run from the same machine, with different configuration files.
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Additional Information |
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| See "Setting Up RealProxy as a Service". |
This section describes features unique to RealProxy running on a UNIX system.
The User setting indicates the user name under which RealProxy runs. The user name must exist on the computer on which RealProxy is running; otherwise, RealProxy will not start.
If you do not specify a user name when installing RealProxy, the user name defaults to the user name of the user who first logs in and starts RealProxy; this is accomplished with the default value of %-1.
The Group variable gives the group name under which RealProxy runs. The group name must already exist on the computer on which RealServer is running; otherwise, RealProxy will not start.
If you do not specify a group name, this variable defaults to the group name of the user who first starts RealProxy.
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Note |
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Be sure that the user or group name you assign has
write permissions for the Logs and Secure directories.
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%-1, which means RealProxy uses the user name of the user who logged in and started RealProxy.
%-1, which means RealProxy uses the group name of the user who logged in and started RealProxy.
RealProxy creates a text file that stores the current value of the process ID of the main RealProxy file, rmserver. The file is stored in the directory indicated by the PIDPath variable (which you can see by opening the RealProxy configuration file), and is named rmserver.pid at installation. If PIDPath is omitted from the configuration file, RealProxy stores the information in the directory specified by the LogPath variable.
Some changes that you make to RealProxy require that it re-read the changes while still running. Other changes require that RealProxy be restarted. If you use RealSystem Administrator to change settings, it will either force RealProxy to re-read the configuration file while RealProxy is still running (thus preserving all connections), or it will display a message instructing you to restart the Server at your convenience. The new settings will take effect once you restart RealProxy.
If you make changes to the configuration file manually, you will need to instruct RealProxy to re-read the configuration file. This is possible for RealProxy running on a UNIX platform with the SIGHUP command. Use the following command at a command prompt:
kill -HUP processID
where processID is the RealProxy process number, as shown in the rmserver.pid file.
On systems with multiple CPU processors, the ProcessorCount variable should be set to the number of processors available to RealProxy. If this variable is not present, RealProxy will use its automatic processor test, but the test may not be accurate if the system is busy doing other things when the test is performed.
You must manually configure this variable by editing the configuration file. The setting is:
<Var ProcessorCount="0"/>
The default value of 0 means that RealProxy will use its test to determine the number of processors available. If you have more than one processor on your system, you should change this variable.