Manual Chapter : Configuring Rewrite Profiles for Portal Access

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BIG-IP APM

  • 16.0.1, 16.0.0, 15.1.0
Manual Chapter

Configuring Rewrite Profiles for Portal Access

About rewrite profiles for Portal Access

A Portal Access rewrite profile defines certificate settings for Java patching, client caching settings for a virtual server, split tunneling settings, and URI translation settings. You can configure a rewrite profile and select the rewrite profile when you configure the virtual server for a portal access policy. Alternatively, you can use the default Portal Access rewrite profile,
rewrite-portal
.

Portal access rewrite profile Portal Access settings

Use these properties to configure a resource item for a portal access resource.
In the rewrite profile Portal Access settings, you can configure settings for client caching and split tunneling.
These options are available for Portal Access in the rewrite profile.
Client Cache setting
Description
CSS and JavaScript
Caches CSS and JavaScript. This is the default rewrite caching configuration, and provides a balance between performance and security.
CSS, Images and JavaScript
Caches CSS, images, and JavaScript. This provides faster client performance but is slightly less secure because of cached images in the client browser cache.
No Cache
Caches nothing. This provides the slowest client performance and is the most secure.
Cache All
Uses the unmodified cache headers from the backend server.
Enable split tunneling:
Set this option to
Yes
to enable split tunneling for portal access sessions that use this rewrite profile. Set this option to
No
to force all traffic through the tunnel for portal access sessions that use this rewrite profile.

About split tunneling with rewrite profiles

Consider these factors when split tunneling is enabled:
  • Access Policy Manager matches the URI to the expressions specified on the
    Bypass
    list first. If an expression matches, then the URI is bypassed and links are not rewritten.
  • If the URI does not match the
    Bypass
    list, then it is compared to the
    Rewrite
    list. If the URI matches the expressions specified on the
    Rewrite
    list, the URI links are rewritten. If there are no matches, links are not rewritten.
  • If the URI does not match anything on the
    Bypass
    or
    Rewrite
    lists, and if the host name in the URI is a short name, not a fully qualified domain name, then links for that URI are rewritten.

Portal access rewrite profile JavaPatcher settings

Use these properties to configure a resource item for a portal access resource.
In a rewrite profile, you can configure settings for Java patching. These settings configure certificate authorities, signing rights, and certificate revocation that is required for to patch some Java apps.
These options are available for JavaPatcher in the rewrite profile.
Setting
Value
Description
Trusted Certificate Authorities
List selection
Select the certificate authority to use for Java app link rewriting from the list of predefined Certificate authorities on the system, to use with Java app rewriting.
Signer
List selection
Select the Java app signer to use for app re-signing, from a list of existing signers on the system. Select None if the app is unsigned.
Signing Key
List selection
Select the private key from a list of existing keys on the system for Java app re-signing. Select None if the app is unsigned or does not require a signing key.
Signing Key Pass Phrase
Text (obscured)
To encrypt the private signing key with a passphrase, type the private key pass phrase.
Certificate Revocation List (CRL)
List selection
Select the CRL from the list, if one is defined on the system.

Portal access rewrite profile URI translation settings

Use these properties to configure URI translation for a rewrite profile with Portal Access.
In a rewrite profile, you can configure settings for rewriting headers in the request and the response.
These options are available for URI translation in Request Settings.
Property
Description
Rewrite Headers
Select this option to rewrite headers in Request Settings.
Insert X-Forwarded For Header
Select this option to add the X-Forwarded For (XFF) header, to specify the originating IP address of the client.
Insert X-Forwarded Proto Header
Select this option to add the X-Forwarded Proto header, to specify the originating protocol of the client.
Insert X-Forwarded Host Header
Select this option to add the X-Forwarded Host header, to specify the originating host of the client.
These options are available for URI translation in Response Settings.
Property
Description
Rewrite Headers
Select this option to rewrite headers in the response.
Rewrite Content
Select this option to rewrite links in content in the response.

Creating a rewrite profile

You can create a rewrite profile to specify the rewriting and bypass lists, and define client caching in the virtual server definition.
  1. Click
    Access
    Connectivity / VPN
    VDI / RDP
    Portal Access
    Rewrite
    .
    The Rewrite Profile List screen opens.
  2. Click
    Create New Profile
    .
    The Create New Profile Rewrite screen opens.
  3. In the
    Name
    field, type a name for the rewrite profile.
  4. From the
    Parent Profile
    list, select a parent profile.
    For Portal Access, you should select the
    /Common/rewrite
    or
    /Common/rewrite-portal
    profile as the parent. The new rewrite profile inherits the
    Client Caching Type
    setting from the parent profile.
  5. From the
    Rewrite Mode
    list, select
    Portal (Access)
    .
  6. On the left side, click the Portal (Access) link.
  7. From the
    Client Caching Type
    list, select the caching option.
  8. To enable split tunneling for portal access connections, select
    Split Tunneling
    from the list.
    Split tunneling provides two options to access your web page:
    Rewrite
    and
    Bypass
    . If you enable split tunneling, Access Policy Manager presents only web pages that satisfy one of these filters. Others are blocked (although a blocked public site may still be available outside the webtop). If you do not use split tunneling, Access Policy Manager processes all portal access URLs through the rewriting engine. You can specify a URL pattern using the following syntax:
    scheme: //host[:port]/path
    . You can also use wildcards such as the asterisk ( * ) to denote any sequence of characters and the question mark ( ? ) for any single character. Access Policy Manager rewrites links in all pages specified for
    Rewrite
    .
    • Rewrite
      - Rewrites URLs. When you use this option, Access Policy Manager controls the redirection of the URL. Use this option to access URLs inside the network. Type a URL match pattern for the sites where you need to create the reverse-proxy and click the
      Add to Rewrite List
      button.
    • Bypass
      - Directly accesses the URL and leaves the URL unmodified. Use this option to speed up serving public sites. Type a URL match pattern for URLs to be accessed directly, bypassing the rewrite engine, and click the
      Add to Bypass List
      button.
  9. To configure Java patching, click
    JavaPatcher Settings
    . Configure the Java Patcher options for verification and re-signing of signed applets.
  10. To configure the
    Trusted Certificate Authorities
    , from the list select a CA against which to verify signed applets signatures.
  11. To configure a
    Signer
    ,from the list select a certificate to use for re-signing.
  12. To configure a
    Signing Key
    , from the list select a corresponding private key for re-signing.
  13. To set a
    Signing Key Pass Phrase
    , type a passphrase with which to encrypt the private key.
  14. To select a
    Certificate Revocation List (CRL)
    , from the list select a CRL with which to check certificate validity.
  15. To configure URI Translation request and response settings, under
    URI Translation
    select
    Settings
    .
  16. Configure translation settings.
  17. Click
    OK
    to complete the rewrite profile.
The rewrite profile appears in the Rewrite Profiles list.
To use this profile for portal access rewriting, you must next assign the rewrite profile to the virtual server that is also assigned the access profile for portal access.