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  3. Configuring Webtops
Manual Chapter : Configuring Webtops

Applies To:

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BIG-IP APM

  • 15.0.1, 15.0.0, 14.1.5, 14.1.4, 14.1.3, 14.1.2, 14.1.0, 14.0.1, 14.0.0
Manual Chapter

Configuring Webtops

About webtops

There are three webtop types you can define on Access Policy Manager (APM®). You can define a network access only webtop, a portal access webtop, or a full webtop.
Do not assign a webtop for a portal access connection configured for minimal patching mode. This configuration does not work.
  • A network access webtop provides a webtop for an access policy branch to which you assign only a network access resource for starting a network access connection that provides full network access.
  • A portal access webtop provides a webtop for an access policy branch to which you assign only portal access resources. When a user selects a resource, APM communicates with back-end servers and rewrites links in application web pages so that further requests from the client browser are directed back to the APM server.
  • A full webtop provides an access policy ending for an access policy branch to which you can optionally assign portal access resources, app tunnels, remote desktops, and webtop links, in addition to network access tunnels. Then, the full webtop provides your clients with a web page on which they can choose resources, including a network access connection to start.
    If you add a network access resource with Auto launch enabled to the full webtop, the network access resource starts when the user reaches the webtop. You can add multiple network access resources to a webtop, but only one can have Auto launch enabled.
Resource assign action with resources and a webtop assigned
resource assign with resources and webtop

Configuring a webtop for network access

A webtop allows your users to connect and disconnect from the network access connection.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    Access
    Webtops
    Webtop Lists
    .
    The Webtops screen displays.
  2. Click
    Create
    .
    The New Webtop screen opens.
  3. In the
    Name
     field, type a name for the webtop.
  4. Select the type of webtop to create.
    Network Access
    Select
    Network Access
     for a webtop to which you will assign only a single network access resource.
    Portal Access
    Select
    Portal Access
     for a webtop to which you assign only portal access resources.
    Full
    Select
    Full
     for a webtop to which you assign one or more network access resources, multiple portal access resources, and multiple application access app tunnel resources, or any combination of the three types.
  5. Click
    Finished
    .
The webtop is now configured, and appears in the list. You can edit the webtop further, or assign it to an access policy.
To use this webtop, it must be assigned to an access policy with an advanced resource assign action or with a webtop, links and sections assign action.

Configuring a full webtop

A full webtop allows your users to connect and disconnect from a network access connection, portal access resources, SAML resources, app tunnels, remote desktops, and administrator-defined links.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    Access
    Webtops
    Webtop Lists
    .
    The Webtops screen displays.
  2. Click
    Create
    .
    The New Webtop screen opens.
  3. In the
    Name
     field, type a name for the webtop.
  4. From the
    Type
     list, select
    Full
    .
    The Configuration area displays with additional settings configured at default values.
  5. Click
    Finished
    .
The webtop is now configured, and appears in the list. You can edit the webtop further, or assign it to an access policy.
To use this webtop, it must be assigned to an access policy with an advanced resource assign action or with a webtop, links, and sections assign action. All resources assigned to the full webtop are displayed on the full webtop.

Creating a webtop link

You can create and customize links that you can assign to full webtops. In this context,
links
 are defined applications and websites that appear on a webtop, and can be clicked to open a web page or application. You can customize these links with descriptions and icons.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    Access
    Webtops
    Webtop Links
    .
  2. Click
    Create
    .
    The New Webtop Link screen opens.
  3. In the
    Name
     field, type a name for the webtop link.
  4. From the
    Link Type
     list, select whether the link is a URI or hosted content.
    • If you selected
      Application URI
      , in the
      Application URI
       field, type the application URI.
    • If you selected
      Hosted Content
      , select the hosted file to use for the webtop link.
  5. In the
    Caption
     field, type a descriptive caption.
    The
    Caption
     field is pre-populated with the text from the
    Name
     field. Type the link text that you want to appear on the web link.
  6. If you want to add a detailed description, type it in the
    Detailed Description
     field.
  7. To specify an icon image for the item on the webtop, click in the
    Image
     field and choose an image, or click the
    Browse
     button.
    Click the
    View/Hide
     link to show or hide the currently selected image.
  8. Click
    Finished
    .
The webtop link is now configured, and appears in the list, and on a full webtop assigned with the same action. You can edit the webtop link further, or assign it to an access policy.
Before you can use this webtop link, it must be assigned to an access policy with a full webtop, using either an advanced resource assign action or a webtop, links and sections assign action.

Customizing a webtop link

You can customize links that you assign to full webtops.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    Access
    Webtops
    Webtop Links
    .
  2. Click the name of the webtop link you want to customize.
    The properties screen for the webtop link appears.
  3. To change the description of the link, in the
    Description
     field, type a new description.
  4. To change the URI of the link, in the
    Application URI
     field, type the application URI.
  5. If you made changes on the properties screen, click
    Update
    .
  6. Click the Customization tab.
  7. Select the
    Language
     to customize, or click the
    Create
     button to create a new language customization.
  8. If you clicked
    Create
     to create a new language customization, from the
    Language
     list, select the language to customize.
  9. In the
    Caption
     field, type a descriptive caption.
  10. In the
    Detailed Description
     field, type a detailed description.
  11. In the
    Image
     field, click
    Browse
     to select an image to show on the webtop to represent the webtop link. Click the
    View/Hide
     link to show the currently assigned image.
    A webtop link image can be a GIF, BMP, JPG or PNG image up to 32 x 32 pixels in size.
  12. Click
    Finished
    .
The webtop link is now configured, and appears in the list, and on a full webtop assigned with the same action. You can edit the webtop link further, or assign it to an access policy.
Before you can use this webtop link, it must be assigned to an access policy with a full webtop, using either an advanced resource assign action or a webtop, links and sections assign action.

Overview: Organizing resources on a full webtop

At your option, you can override the default display for resources on a full webtop by organizing resources into user-defined sections. A
webtop section
 specifies a caption, a list of resources that can be included in the section, and a display order for the resources. The order in which to display webtop sections is also configurable.

Task summary

About the default order of resources on a full webtop

By default, resources display on a webtop in these sections: Applications and Links, and Network Access. Within the sections, resources display in alphabetical order.

Creating a webtop section

Create a webtop section to specify a caption to display on a full webtop for a list of resources. Specify the order of the webtop section relative to other webtop sections.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    Access
    Webtops
    Webtop Sections
    .
    The Webtop Sections screen displays.
  2. In the
    Name
     field, type a name for the webtop section.
  3. From the
    Display Order
     list, select one the options.
    Specify the display order of this webtop section relative to others on the webtop.
    • First
      : Places this webtop section first.
    • After
      : When selected, an additional list displays; select a webtop section from it to place this webtop section after it in order.
    • Specify
      : When selected, an additional field displays. Type an integer in it to specify the absolute order for this webtop section.
  4. From the
    Initial State
     list, select the initial display state:
    • Expanded
      : Displays the webtop section with the resource list expanded.
    • Collapsed
      : Displays the webtop section with the resource list collapsed.
  5. Click
    Finished
    .
The webtop section is created.
Specify resources for this webtop section.

Specifying resources for a webtop section

Specify the resources to display in a webtop section.
When these resources are assigned to a session along with the webtop section, they display in the section on the webtop.
  1. On the Main tab, click
    Access
    Webtops
    Webtop Sections
    .
    The Webtop Sections screen displays.
  2. In the table, click the name of the webtop section that you want to update.
    The Properties screen displays.
  3. Repeat these steps until you have added all the resources that you require:
    1. Click
      Add
      .
      A properties screen displays the list of resources.
    2. Locate the appropriate resources, select them, and click
      Update
      .
      The Webtop Sections screen displays.
Webtop sections can be assigned in an access policy using Webtop, Links and Sections, or Advanced Resource Assign actions.

Webtop properties

Use these properties to configure a webtop.
Property setting
Value
Description
Type
Network Access
,
Portal Access
, or
Full
  • Use
    Network Access
     for a webtop to which you assign only a single network access resource.
  • Use
    Portal Access
     for a webtop to which you assign only portal access resources.
  • Use
    Full
     for a webtop to which you assign one or more network access resources, multiple portal access resources, and multiple application access application tunnel resources, or any combination of the three types.
Portal Access Start URI
URI.
Specifies the URI that the web application starts. For full webtops, portal access resources are published on the webtop with the associated URI you define when you select the
Publish on Webtop
 option.
Minimize to Tray
Enable
 or
Disable
.
If this check box is selected, the webtop is minimized to the system tray automatically after the network access connection starts. With a network access webtop, the webtop automatically minimizes to the tray. With a full webtop, the webtop minimizes to the system tray only after the network access connection is started.
The
Enable
 option does not work, however, for web browsers that do not support NPAPI plugins. The result is the main APM web browser window is not minimized to the system tray after network access connects successfully. 
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