Configuration metadata for outbound HTTP connections

You can add general proxy configuration parameters to the file proxy-config.xml by using meta-data settings.

You can specify all of these parameters within a proxy-rules or mapping setting.

HTTP connection handling parameters:

Use the following configuration parameters to determine how the proxy handles the HTTP connection:
- socket-timeout
  
  Use this parameter to define the default socket timeout in milliseconds. The socket timeout determines how long the proxy server waits for data after it successfully establishes a connection with the target server. The default value is 20 seconds. A timeout value of zero means that a timeout is not applied.
- retries
  
  Use this parameter to define the number of retries that you want the proxy to do if it cannot establish a connection with the target server. The default value is 2 retries.
- max-total-connections
  
  Use this parameter to define the maximum number of HTTP connections that the proxy can open to connect to arbitrary target hosts. The default value is 100 connections.
- max-connections-per-host
  
  Use this parameter to define the number of HTTP connections that the proxy can open to connect to a specific host. The default value is 50 connections per host.
User Agent identifier:

Use the following configuration parameter to redefine the user agent parameter:
- user-agent
  
  Use this parameter to specify the user agent identifier that you want to be used for the outbound connection.
Control Redirection:

Use the following configuration parameter to specify the reaction on an HTTP redirect status (HTTP status 302):
- follow-redirects
  
  Set this parameter to true if the caller wants an HTTP redirect status to be resolved automatically, that is, the connection is reestablished to the redirection URL. Set this parameter to false if no automated redirection is required. In that case, the proxy returns an HTTP status 302 to the caller. If you do not set this parameter, then the default reaction on a 302 HTTP status depends on the HTTP request method:
  - For all requests of HEAD and GET, the portal follows the HTTP redirection.
  - For all other request methods, the portal does not follow the HTTP redirection.
  - Deactivate policy rules, mappings, or custom connection filters:
A policy rule, a mapping, or a custom connection filter can be set to be deactivated. In this case, the disabled policy rule or mapping remains in the configuration, but does not take effect at run time. Ensure that you use the metadata setting to control the activation state of a policy rule or mapping:
- active
  
  Valid values are false and true:
  - true
    
    This is the default value. If you set this parameter to true, the policy rule is in effect.
  - false
    
    If you want the policy rule to be deactivated, set the active parameter to the value false.
Security parameters:

Use the following configuration parameters to specify security-related settings of the proxy. You can also define these security-related parameters within policy settings.
- unsigned_ssl_certificate_support
  
  Valid values are false and true:
  - true
    
    If you set this parameter to true, the proxy connects to any HTTPS URL that is allowed by the policy, regardless of whether it trusts the specified host. This is the default value.
  - false
    
    If you set this parameter to false, the proxy connects only to HTTPS URLs that it trusts.
- forward-http-errors
  
  This parameter defines whether the proxy forwards extra HTTP error codes to the client. Valid values are false and true:
  - false
    
    This value is the default value. It means that only 2xx and 3xx status codes are forwarded, whereas 4xx error codes are automatically mapped to a 404 'Not Found' error.
  - true
    
    If you set the forward-http-errors parameter to true, the proxy forwards every status code, even if it represents an error code.
- forward-credentials-from-vault
  
  This parameter defines whether user credentials that are retrieved from the credential vault of the portal can be forwarded to the specified target host by using an HTTP authorization request header. Valid values are false and true:
  - false
    
    This is the default value. If you set this parameter to false, the proxy does not forward credentials.
  - true
    
    If you set this parameter to true, the proxy forwards credentials.
- xhr-authentication-support
  
  This parameter defines whether HTTP BASIC user credential challenges from the external service are rewritten. Valid values are false and true:
  - false
    
    This value is the default value. If you set this parameter to false, the proxy does not change the WWW-Authenticate HTTP header, and the user is prompted for credentials.
  - true
    
    If you set this parameter to true, the browser does not ask the user to provide credentials. Instead, the client-side code can handle that challenge. In detail, the proxy changes the value of the HTTP header WWW-Authenticate from BASIC to XHRBASIC.
Configuring a Boundary (pass-through) Proxy:

Use the following configuration parameters to make connections through a boundary (pass-through) proxy:
- passthru_host
  
  This parameter defines the host name of the pass-through proxy.
- passthru_port
  
  This parameter defines the port of the pass-through proxy.
- passthru_realm
  
  This parameter is optional. It defines the authentication realm of the pass-through proxy.
- passthru_username
  
  This parameter is optional. It defines the user name for the pass-through proxy.
- passthru_password
  
  This parameter is optional. It defines the password for the pass-through proxy.

The following example shows a typical metadata setting:

<proxy-rules xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"    
    xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="http://www.ibm.com/xmlns/prod/sw/http/outbound/proxy-config/2.0">
     <policy url="http://www.myremotehost.com/*" name="SamplePolicy">
          <actions><method>GET</method></actions>
     </policy>

     <meta-data>
          <name>socket-timeout</name>
          <value>10000</value>
     </meta-data>
     <meta-data>
          <name>retries</name>
          <value>2</value>
     </meta-data>
     <meta-data>
          <name>max-connections-per-host</name>
          <value>50</value>
     </meta-data>
     <meta-data>
          <name>max-total-connections</name>
     <value>100</value>
     </meta-data>
</proxy-rules>

Related information

Configuring overlay reports