Activate HTTPS on the Web Portal Server

To protect the transported information from eavesdropping, you can encrypt the communications by activating HTTPS on the Web Portal Server.

If you secure the Web Portal connections using HTTPS, the Web Portal Server requires a certificate. You can either self-sign the certificate directly in the dialog box or use an externally signed certificate:

  • If you self-sign the certificate directly, web browsers display a warning to the users and require them to accept the certificate. The certificate is valid for one year. Renewing is done by recreating the certificate in the same way as a new certificate is created.
  • Alternatively, you can sign the certificate using an external certificate authority that the clients already trust. An example would be one of the large commercial certificate authorities or a company-internal certificate authority that all clients are configured to trust.

Certificates have a fixed validity time (from a certain date and time to a certain date and time). Make sure that the date, time, and time zone settings are correct on both the Management Server and the Web Portal Server computers. Clients also check the certificate validity, but incorrect time settings on the client computers typically do not prevent the Web Portal from being used. Instead, browsers typically display a warning that users can dismiss.

  For more details about the product and how to configure features, click Help or press F1.

Steps

  1. Select Home.
  2. Browse to Others > Web Portal Server.
  3. Right-click the Web Portal Server, then sleect Properties.
  4. On the Web Portal tab click Select next to the Server Certificate field.
  5. Select a TLS Credentials element.
  6. Click OK.

Web Portal Server Properties dialog box

Use this dialog box to define Web Portal Server properties.

Option Definition
General tab
Name The name of the element.
IPv4 Address Enter the IPv4 address of the server. The server can have both an IPv4 and an IPv6 address.
IPv6 Address Enter the IPv6 address of the server. The server can have both an IPv4 and an IPv6 address.
Resolve Automatically resolves the IP address of the server.
Location Specifies the location for the server if there is a NAT device between the server and other SMC components.
Log Server Selects the Log Server to which the Management server sends its logs.
Category

(Optional)

 Includes the element in predefined categories. Click Select to select a category.
Tools Profile Adds commands to the element right-click menu.Click Select to select an element.
Comment

(Optional)

 A comment for your own reference.
Option Definition
Web Portal tab
Enable Enables Web Portal options.
Host Name

(Optional)

Enter the host name that the Web Portal uses.
Port Number

(Optional)

Enter the TCP port number that the service listens to.
By default, the standard HTTP port 80 is used on Windows and 8080 on Linux (which does not allow the use of reserved ports for this type of service).
Note: Make sure that the listening port is not in use on the server.
Listen Only on Address

(Optional)

If the Management Server has several addresses and you want to restrict access to one address, specify the IP address to use.
TLS Credentials Shows the TLS Credentials element selected for the server. TLS Credentials enable the use of HTTPS for the server's connections.
Select Allows you to select a TLS Credentials element. Opens the Select Element dialog box.
Generate Server Logs

(Optional)

Select if you want to log all file load events for further analysis with external web statistics software.
Use SSL for session ID Track sessions to the Management Server in your web application. Do not select this option if your network requires you to use cookies or URIs for session tracking.
Option Definition
Announcement tab
Display announcement to Web Portal Users

Enables you to display announcements to the administrators who log on to the Web Portal.

Enter the announcement in the field below. The length is limited to 160 characters. You can add formatting to the announcement with standard HTML tags (which are also included in the character count).
Option Definition
NAT tab
Firewall Shows the selected firewall.
NAT Type Shows the NAT translation type: Static or Dynamic.
Private IP Address Shows the Private IP Address.
Public IP Address Shows the defined Public IP Address.
Port Filter Shows the selected Port Filters.
Comment An optional comment for your own reference.
Add NAT Definition Opens the NAT Definition Properties dialog box.
Edit NAT Definition Opens the NAT Definition Properties dialog box for the selected definition.
Remove NAT Definition Removes the selected NAT definition from the list.