Hi there! If your organization utilizes IBM middleware solutions, you‘ve likely come across the need for deploying IBM HTTP Server (IHS) to power your critical web workloads. This robust web server platform takes the popular open source Apache server and adds enterprise-level enhancements tailored for stability, security and performance across large-scale production environments.
In this comprehensive guide just for you, I‘ll explain what IHS offers, its key use cases, and provide a complete step-by-step walkthrough of installing IHS 8.5.5 on Linux systems from start to finish. Whether you‘re setting up a test environment or building the foundation for high-traffic customer-facing applications, stick with me through each section below to have your IBM HTTP Server up and running with confidence!
Why IBM HTTP Server Matters
As one of the most trusted web server technologies globally, IBM HTTP Server powers many of the largest and most trafficked sites across banking, retail, healthcare, government and more. Why has it gained such widespread adoption?
Performance – Benchmark tests clock IBM HTTP Server‘s throughput up to 71% higher than comparable solutions like Apache and nginx. This allows serving more concurrent users especially for read-intensive workloads.
Security – IHS leverages core Apache functionality like HTTPS configuration and access control. But builds on top of it with scanning tools, data encryption, and integration with enterprise identity management systems.
Reliability – With advanced load balancing and failover capabilities, IHS deployments can achieve 99.999% uptime even during peak demand across globally distributed infrastructure.
Manageability – Administrator tooling like a web UI, CLI, logging dashboard, and application monitoring fully integrate with IBM WebSphere suites. This consolidation simplifies ops workflows.
From static content to proxying application servers, serving APIs to hosting microservices, IBM HTTP Server flexibly secures and accelerates delivery of your business‘s digital experiences. Now let‘s jump in and get IHS installed!
Prerequisites
IHS can run on most contemporary Linux distributions. But there are some minimum software requirements before getting the server installed and configured:
| Software | Recommended Version |
|---|---|
| Operating System | RHEL 7+, CentOS 7+, Debian 9+, Ubuntu 16.04+ |
| Java Runtime | Java 8 through Java 11 |
| IBM Installation Manager | v1.8.8+ |
| CUPS | v2.0+ |
1-2 CPU cores and 2 GB of RAM should suffice for average workloads. Increase compute and memory allocation proportionally as your traffic scales up.
Additionally, the user account installing IHS will need sudo or root permissions at a minimum to create system-level configuration files, enable services on boot, define firewall rules, bind to ports below 1024, and more.
Without the right privileges, the installer can fail or only partially work requiring tricky debug later. So be sure whoever is deploying has adequate authority over the box.
Now that your Linux environment meets the base criteria, let‘s continue!
Downloading IBM Installation Manager
IBM packages various middleware offerings, including IBM HTTP Server, into a common installer platform called IBM Installation Manager…
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