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iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition Administrator's Guide


Access Control Entries (ACEs). A hierarchy of rules which the web server uses to evaluate incoming access requests.


admpw. The username and password file for the Enterprise Administrator Server superuser.




browser. See client.

cache. A copy of original data that is stored locally. Cached data doesn't have to be retrieved from a remote server again when requested.

certificate. A nontransferable, nonforgeable, digital file issued from a third party that both communicating parties already trust.

certification authority (CA). An internal or third-party organization that issues digital files used for encrypted transactions.

Certificate revocation list (CRL). CA list, provided by the CA, of all revoked certificates.

Compromised key list (CKL). A list of key information about users who have compromised keys. The CA also provides this list.


chroot . An additional root directory you can create to limit the server to specific directories. You'd use this feature to safeguard an unprotected server.

cipher . A cipher is a cryptographic algorithm (a mathematical function), used for encryption or decryption.

ciphertext. Information disguised by encryption, which only the intended recipient can decrypt.

client. Software, such as Netscape Navigator, used to request and view World Wide Web material. Also known as a browser program.

client auth. Client authentication.

cluster. A group of remote `slave' administration servers added to and controlled by a `master' andministration server. All servers in a cluster must be of the same platform and have the same userid and password.


Common LogFile Format. The format used by the server for entering information into the access logs. The format is the same among all major servers, including the iPlanet Web Server.

DHCP. Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. An Internet Proposed Standard Protocol that allows a system to dynamically assign an IP address to individual computers on a network.

daemon (Unix). A background process responsible for a particular system task.


DNS. Domain Name System. The system that machines on a network use to associate standard IP addresses (such as with hostnames (such as Machines normally get this translated information from a DNS server, or they look it up in tables maintained on their systems.



drop word. See stop word.

encryption. The process of transforming information so it can't be decrypted or read by anyone but the intended recipient.

Administration Server. A web-based server that contains the forms you use to configure all of your iPlanet Web Servers.

expires header. The expiration time of the returned document, specified by the remote server.

extranet. An extension of a company's intranet onto the Internet, to allow customers, suppliers, and remote workers access to the data.




firewall. A network configuration, usually both hardware and software, that protects networked computers within an organization from outside access. Firewalls are commonly used to protect information such as a network's email and data files within a physical building or organization site.

flexible log format. A format used by the server for entering information into the access logs.

FORTEZZA. An encryption system used by U.S. government agencies to manage sensitive but unclassified information.

FTP. File Transfer Protocol. An Internet protocol that allows files to be transferred from one computer to another over a network.


hard restart. The termination of a process or service and its subsequent restart. See also soft restart.

home page. A document that exists on the server and acts as a catalog or entry point for the server's contents. The location of this document is defined within the server's configuration files.

hostname. A name for a machine in the form machine.domain.dom, which is translated into an IP address. For example, is the machine www in the subdomain iplanet and com domain.


HTTP. HyperText Transfer Protocol. The method for exchanging information between HTTP servers and clients.

HTTP-NG. The next generation of HyperText Transfer Protocol.

HTTPD. An abbreviation for the HTTP daemon or service, a program that serves information using the HTTP protocol. The iPlanet Web Server is often called an HTTPD.


imagemap. A process that makes areas of an image active, letting users navigate and obtain information by clicking the different regions of the image with a mouse. Imagemap can also refer to a CGI program called "imagemap," which is used to handle imagemap functionality in other HTTPD implementations.

inittab (Unix). A Unix file listing programs that need to be restarted if they stop for any reason It ensures that a program runs continuously. Because of its location, it is also called /etc/inittab. This file isn't available on all Unix systems.



ISDN. Integrated Services Digital Network.

ISINDEX. An HTML tag that turns on searching in the client. Documents can use a network navigator's capabilities to accept a search string and send it to the server to access a searchable index without using forms. In order to use <ISINDEX>, you must create a query handler.


ISP. Internet Service Provider. An organization that provides Internet connectivity.


JavaScript. A compact, object-based scripting language for developing client and server Internet applications.




LDAP database. A database where lists of users and gorups is stored for use in authentication.

listen socket. The combination of port number and IP address. Connections between the server and clients happen on a listen socket.


MD5. A message digest algorithm by RSA Data Security. MD5 can be used to produce a short digest of data that is unique with high probability. It is mathematically extremely hard to produce a piece of data that produces the same message digest email.

MD5 signature. A message digest produced by the MD5 algorithm.

MIB. Management Information Base.

MIME. Multi-Purpose Internet Mail Extensions. An emerging standard for multimedia email and messaging.

mime.types. The MIME (Multi-purpose Internet Mail Extension) type configuration file. This file maps file extensions to MIME types, to enable the server to determine the type of content being requested. For example, requests for resources with .html extensions indicate that the client is requesting an HTML file, while requests for resources with .gif extensions indicate that the client is requesting an image file in GIF format.

modutil. Software utility required for installing PKCS#11 module for external encryption or hardware accelerator devices.

MTA. Message Transfer Agent. You must define your server's MTA Host to use agent services on your server.

Netscape Console. A Java application that provides server administrators with a graphical interface for managing all Netscape servers from one central location anywhere within your enterprise network. From any installed instance of Netscape Console, you can see and access all the Netscape servers on your enterprise's network to which you have been granted access rights.


network management station (NMS) . A machine users can use to remotely manage a network. A managed device is anything that runs SNMP such as hosts, routers, and iPlanet servers. An NMS is usually a powerful workstation with one or more network management applications installed.


NSAPI. See Server Plug-in API.

obj.conf. The server's object configuration file. This file contains additional initialization information, settings for server customization, and instructions that the server uses to process requests from clients (such as browsers). iPlanet Web Server reads this file every time it processes a client request.



primary document directory. See document root.


private key. The decryption key used in public-key encryption.

public key. The encryption key used in public-key encryption.

public information directories (Unix). Directories not inside the document root that are in a Unix user's home directory, or directories that are under the user's control.

Quality of Service. the performance limits you set for a server instance, virtual server class, or virtual server.


rc.2.d (Unix). A file on Unix machines that describes programs that are run when the machine starts. This file is also called /etc/rc.2.d because of its location.




root (Unix). The most privileged user on Unix machines. The root user has complete access privileges to all files on the machine.


Server Plug-in API. An extension that allows you to extend and/or customize the core functionality of iPlanet servers and provide a scalable, efficient mechanism for building interfaces between the HTTP server and back-end applications. Also known as NSAPI.


simple index. The opposite of fancy indexing—this type of directory listing displays only the names of the files without any graphical elements.

SNMP. Simple Network Management Protocol.




SSL authentication. Confirms users' identities with security certificates by using the information in the client certificate as proof of identity, or verifying a client certificate published in an LDAP directory.

stop word. A word identified to the search function as a word not to search on. This typically includes such words as the, a, an, and. Also referred to as drop words.

strftime. A function that converts a date and a time to a string. It's used by the server when appending trailers. strftime has a special format language for the date and time that the server can use in a trailer to illustrate a file's last-modified date.

superuser (Unix). The most privileged user available on Unix machines (also called root). The superuser has complete access privileges to all files on the machine.

Sym-links (Unix). Abbreviation for symbolic links, which is a type of redirection used by the Unix operating system. Sym-links let you create a pointer from one part of your file system to an existing file or directory on another part of the file system.





top (Unix). A program on some Unix systems that shows the current state of system resource usage.


uid (Unix). A unique number associated with each user on a Unix system.

URI. Uniform Resource Identifier. A file identifier that provides an additional layer of security by using an abbreviated URL. The first part of the URL is substituted with a URL mapping that hides the file's full physical pathname from the user. See also URL mapping.


A sample URL is


URL mapping. The process of mapping a document directory's physical pathname to a user-defined alias so that files within the directory need only refer to the directory's alias instead of the file's full physical pathname. Thus, instead of identifying a file as usr/iplanet/servers/docs/index.html, you could identify the file as /myDocs/index.html. This provides additional security for a server by eliminating the need for users to know the physical location of server files.

virtual server class. A collection of virtual servers that shares the same basic configuration information in a obj.conf file.



Web Application Archive (WAR). An archive file that contains a complete web application in compressed form. iPlanet Web Server cannot access an application in a WAR file. You must uncompress a web application (deploy it using the wdeploy utility) before iPlanet Web Server can serve it.

Windows CGI (Windows NT). CGI programs written in a Windows-based programming language such as Visual Basic.

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Last Updated May 09, 2002