Policy Server Guides › Policy Server Configuration Guide › Agents and Agent Groups › Web Agent Configuration Overview › Web Agent Components

Web Agent Components

On the Agent-side of a SiteMinder network, there are several main components involved in Web Agent operation:

• SiteMinder Web Agent

  Virtual interface to a Web Server; triggers rules and enforces policies

• Trusted Host

  A client computer where one or more Web Agents is installed. It handles the connection to the Policy Server. The term trusted host refers to the physical system. You can have more than one trusted host on a physical server, but each must be identified by a unique name.

  The trusted host is "trusted," because it is registered with the Policy Server. You must register a trusted host so the Web Agents installed on that host can communicate with the Policy Server.

  A trusted host is identified by the following data:

  • Host name
  • Host IP address
  • Host description
  • Shared secret
  • Host Object Identifier (OID)
• Web Agent Configuration File (WebAgent.conf or LocalConfig.conf)

  Stored on the web server where the Agent resides, this file is used for local configuration. It holds the Agent configuration parameters for each Web Agent. All Web Agents use the WebAgent.conf file; however, the IIS 6.0 Web Agent uses WebAgent.conf file only for core settings needed for the Agent to start and connect to a Policy Server. For its configuration settings, the IIS 6.0 Web Agent uses the LocalConfig.conf file. There is a pointer to the LocalConfig.conf file in the IIS 6.0 WebAgent.conf file.

• Host Configuration File (SmHost.conf)

  Stored on the web Server where the Web Agent resides, this file holds initialization parameters for the trusted host. Once the trusted host connects to a Policy Server, the trusted host uses the settings in the Host Configuration Object stored at the Policy Server. The Host Configuration Object is named in the hostconfigobject parameter of this file.