Installation and Upgrade Guides › Web Agent Installation Guide › Install a Web Agent on a Windows System › Register Your System as a Trusted Host on Windows › Modify the SmHost.conf File (Windows)

Modify the SmHost.conf File (Windows)

Web Agents and custom Agents act as trusted hosts by using the information in the SmHost.conf file to locate and make initial connections to a Policy Server. Once the Agent connects to the Policy Server, the initial connections are closed. Any further communication between the Agent and the Policy Server is based on settings in the Host Configuration Object that is located on the Policy Server.

You can modify portions of the SmHost.conf file to change the initial Agent-to-Policy Server connection.

To modify the SmHost.conf file

1. Navigate to the web_agent_home\config directory.
2. Open the SmHost.conf file in a text editor.
3. Enter new values for the any of the following settings that you want to change:

   Important! Change only the settings of the parameters listed here. Do not modify the settings of any other parameters in the SmHost.conf file.

   • hostconfigobject

     Specifies the host configuration object that defines connectivity between the Agent that is acting as trusted host and the Policy Server. This name must match a name defined in the Administrative UI.

     If you want to change the host configuration object an object so the Web Agent u, you need to modify this setting.

     Example: hostconfigobject="host_configuration_object"

   • policyserver

     Specifies the Policy Server to which the trusted host will try to connect. The proper syntax is as follows:

     "IP_address, port,port,port"

     The default ports are 44441,44442,44443, but you can specify non-default ports using the same number or different numbers for all three ports. The unified server responds to any Agent request on any port.

     To specify additional bootstrap servers for the Agent, add multiple Policy Server entries to the file. Multiple entries provide the Agent with several Policy Servers to which it can connect to retrieve its Host Configuration Object. After the Host Configuration Object is retrieved, the bootstrap servers are no longer needed for that server process.

     Multiple entries can be added during host registration or by modifying this parameter. If a Policy Server is removed from your SiteMinder environment or is no longer in service, delete the entry.

     Important: If an Agent is configured on a multi-process web server, specifying multiple Policy Server entries is recommended to ensure that any child process can establish a connection to the secondary Policy Server if the primary Policy Server fails. Each time a new child process is started, it will not be able to initialize the Web Agent if only one Policy Server is listed in the file and that Policy Server is unreachable.

     Default: IP_address, 44441,44442,44443

     Example (Syntax for a single entry): "IP_address, port,port,port"

     Example (Syntax for multiple entries, place each Policy Server on a separate line):
     policyserver="123.122.1.1, 44441,44442,44443"
     policyserver="111.222.2.2, 44441,44442,44443"
     policyserver="321.123.1.1, 44441,44442,44443"

   • requesttimeout

     Specifies an interval of seconds during which the Agent that is acting as a trusted host waits before deciding that a Policy Server is unavailable. You can increase the time-out value if the Policy Server is busy due to heavy traffic or a slow network connection.

     Default: 60

     Example: requesttimeout="60"

4. Save and close the SmHost.Conf file.

   The changes to the SmHost.conf file are applied.