Portal Administration Guide : Xinet Portal Server Properties : Behind the Scenes: What Happens When you Update Server Settings?

Behind the Scenes: What Happens When you Update Server Settings?
The settings established on the Server Defaults page will be loaded, when necessary, into users’ sessions when users log into a Xinet Portal site. The settings are recorded in the following location:
/usr/etc/portal/PORTAL/defaults/DEFAULTS.php
Site Configuration page settings (explained in Site Configuration), which in some ways, Server Defaults closely resemble, have their own locations within config.inc.php files within individual sites. Settings on each site’s Configuration page take precedence over settings on the Server Defaults page whenever there is a conflict. For new sites based on the Exhibit theme, Server Defaults settings will have little effect, with a few exceptions noted later, because the options on their Configuration pages are so closely identical to those on the Server Defaults page.
For one circumstance in particular, all sites rely on the applicable setting from the Server Defaults page, i.e., either the Default Portal Site. As Xinet Portal servers can simultaneous host many different Web sites, when a user pastes into his or her browser a URL for an asset that does not contain the name of the site or the site has been deleted from the server but the asset still resides there, Xinet Portal will automatically divert users to the site specified in the applicable Default Portal Site.
The Default Portal Site pop-up lists allow you to establish appropriate Default Portal sites. The lists will display previously-configured sites on the server.
In addition, the settings you establish on the Server Defaults page for the following parameters will automatically be transferred to the respective Configuration pages when you add new sites, although of course, you can always change the information that appears there:
Xinet Server (http)://(addr):(port)
If you have questions about these or other Server Default options, refer to Site Configuration.
Site Configuration
A config.inc.php file at the top level of each Xinet Portal site controls important functionality in the site. (Xinet Portal Themes contains information about the structure of individual Xinet Portal sites.) You will automatically change settings contained within the config.inc.php file for your default site when you edit their Configuration pages. Although it is possible to edit config.inc.php files by hand, it is recommended that administrators do so through GUI settings.
The following steps provide information about establishing settings on Configuration pages. The corresponding entry within the config.inc.php file has been noted in parenthesis for each step.
To update settings:
1.
Using your PORTALADMIN URL, click Site Manager > Edit Site, select a site from the menu and click Submit.
The Configuration page is displayed.
2.
3.
[optional] Determine whether you want to turn on portalDI debugging. (ENABLE_PDI_DEBUGGING)
Debugging information will be sent to the venture.log file on the Xinet server, which you can view easily using the Logging, Database page from the nativeadmin GUI.
Only enable this option for very brief periods, e.g., 30 seconds while debugging a reproducible problem.
This option may be useful if you’re customizing Xinet Portal functionality and need more information about what’s going on; but will unnecessarily fill up the log file when you’re not making use of such information.
4.
Xinet Portal is a dynamic web hosting application especially designed for hosting secure, highly customized asset management websites. It runs on a server hardware separate from the production/database server and usually lives in a dual firewall protected DMZ to provide an additional layer of security to the local area network.