Special considerations when using a Host On-Demand portlet

When using Host On-Demand with Portal Server, you may want to consider the following issues:
  • Host On-Demand sessions when the user logs out of Portal Server. Host On-Demand runs as an applet on the user's machine and therefore does not know when the user logs out of Portal Server. If the session is running in a separate window (default), the Host On-Demand session will continue until the user either closes the session or closes the browser. If the Host On-Demand session is running embedded in the Portal Server window and the user logs out of Portal Server, the session may appear to have ended, although the connection may remain until the browser window is closed. We strongly recommend that users close their browser window at the time they log out of Portal Server. In addition, you may wish to configure a session inactivity timeout for your sessions.
  • Session inactivity timeout. By default, Host On-Demand does not force a timeout on session connections. However, when running a portlet, it may be beneficial to timeout inactive sessions to reduce consumption of resources. The inactivity timeout can be set for most emulator types, including 3270 display and printer sessions, 5250 display and printer sessions, and VT. You can enable and set the timeout parameter Session Inactivity Timeout in minutes for every one of these sessions in the Connection window of session Properties.
  • Installing WebSphere Portal and Host On-Demand on different servers. If you install WebSphere Portal and Host On-Demand on different servers, certain browsers might give you a security violation when accessing the Host On-Demand portlet. The problem occurs because some aspects of Host On-Demand functionality rely heavily on the interaction between Java (from the Host On-Demand server) and JavaScript (from WebSphere Portal), and some browsers will not allow the interaction simply because they come from different servers. One solution is to use proxying to make it appear to the browser that WebSphere Portal and Host On-Demand are on the same server. Below is an example of the steps you would need to follow to set up proxying on the Apache/IBM HTTP server:
    1. Configure your Host On-Demand portlet's "HOD Server URL" (hodCodeBase) to point to the host on which WebSphere Portal resides, with the context root of /hod/ (for example, http://portal.company.com/hod).
    2. Uncomment the line (remove the #) in httpd.conf beginning with LoadModule proxy_module.
    3. Add a ProxyPass rule to httpd.conf to convert the HOD Server URL request into a request for the actual Host On-Demand server (for example, ProxyPass /hod/ http://hod.company.com/hod/).
    4. Restart the Web server.

  • Now, the client's browser will request Host On-Demand files from the same host as the portal, but these requests will be internally rerouted by the Web server to the actual location of your Host On-Demand install.

  • Caching vs. no caching. The default setting in the Deployment Wizard is to cache Host On-Demand on each user's machine. Many customers like this option with Host On-Demand because it effectively installs all necessary code on the user's machine and does not require network loads each time the user accesses the HTML file or portlet. However the caching behavior may not be familiar to many Portal Server users, and you may elect to reject the caching option.
  • Choosing the Deployment Wizard model. The model you choose for your portlet (Configuration server, HTML, or Combined) reflects where your sessions are configured and determines how user changes are stored. Although Host On-Demand treats portlets the same as HTML files, consider the following characteristics as you decide how to configure your portlet:
    • HTML model: This model is the recommended configuration model for Host On-Demand portlets. It has no dependency on the Host On-Demand configuration server. If users are allowed to make updates, these updates are stored as part of the WebSphere Portal configuration and not on the local machine of the user. This allows users to roam from machine to machine and still have access to the updates.

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      		 User preferences are stored in WebSphere Portal only if you have granted users the appropriate access to the portlet and the Web page that will access the portlet. WebSphere Portal users must have Privileged User, Editor, Manager, or Administrator access. For more information about how to grant access to users, refer to WebSphere Portal documentation.
    • Configuration server-based model: This model requires users to access the Host On-Demand configuration server. It allows users to roam from one machine to another and still see any session modifications they may have made; however, it requires users to be authenticated through both the Host On-Demand configuration server and WebSphere Portal.
    • Combined model: This model requires users to have access to the Host On-Demand configuration server in order to obtain the initial session configurations. Because user changes are stored as part of the WebSphere Portal configuration and not locally, it allows users to roam from one machine to another and still see any session modifications they may have made; however, it requires users to be authenticated through both the Host On-Demand configuration server and WebSphere Portal.

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      		 User preferences are stored in WebSphere Portal only if you have granted users the appropriate access to the portlet and the Web page that will access the portlet. WebSphere Portal V5 users must have Privileged User, Editor, Manager, or Administrator access. For more information about how to grant access to users, refer to WebSphere Portal documentation.
  • Configuring additional parameters. When using Host On-Demand portlets, you may want to configure the following additional parameters to achieve the desired appearance on the portal page:
    • Start Automatically: Set this option to Yes on the Preferences > Start Options window of session properties to allow the Host On-Demand portlet to start automatically.
    • Start in Separate Window: Set this option to No on the Preferences > Start Options window of session properties to allow the Host On-Demand portlet to display as an embedded portlet.
    • Hide HOD Desktop at Startup: Select this option on the Advanced Options > Appearance window to hide the Host On-Demand desktop.
  • Specifying unique portlet names in Portal Server. Use the Page Title field on the File Name and Output Format page in the Deployment Wizard to specify unique portlet names within Portal Server.