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  5. Configuring Rewrite Profiles for Portal Access
Manual Chapter : Configuring Rewrite Profiles for Portal Access

Applies To:

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BIG-IP APM

  • 13.1.5, 13.1.4, 13.1.3, 13.1.1, 13.1.0
Manual Chapter
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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.
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