Troubleshooting
Problem
This technote explains how to resolve an issue, that can occur when using IBM Rational Host Access Transformation Services. Attempts to start multiple HATS sessions when running Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) will fail even when using separate browser processes.
Symptom
When attempting to start a second HATS session using Internet Explorer 8, the user will not receive a new, unique session but will instead see the same instance of their currently running HATS session.
Cause
Internet Explorer 8 has a new feature where multiple open browser windows, or frames, share the same session cookies across all of the open browser tabs and windows. By default, HATS uses cookies for session tracking and when this cookie is shared across all browser instances it prevents a new, unique HATS session from being started.
Environment
Resolving The Problem
There are two solutions that can be done on the client workstation.
- Use the New Session menu option found in the File menu of IE8. Using this feature will force IE8 to start a new window that doesn't share session information with the original window.
- Use the noframemerging command line option when starting IE8.
The following link shows the command line options that can be used with IE8:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee330728%28VS.85%29.aspx?ppud=4
In this example, the shortcut which starts IE8 would look similar to this:
“C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe” -noframemerging
An alternate solution would be to use the URL Rewriting feature of the WebSphere Application Server. URL rewriting stores a unique session identifier in the pages returned to the user. WebSphere Application Server then encodes this session identifier as a parameter on any link or form the user submits from the web page.
Follow these steps to enable URL Rewriting for the HATS application.
- Open the Administrative Console for WebSphere Application Server.
- Locate the Applications section on the left panel and then select the Enterprise Application link. For WebSphere Application Server 7, under Applications, expand the Application Types section and select WebSphere enterprise applications.
- Find the EAR file for the HATS application in the list and click on it to open the configuration
panel for the EAR. - On the main configuration page there will be a section labeled Web
Module Properties. In that section, click on the link called Session management. - On the configuration page, under the General Properties, check the box
next to Override session management. - Then below this, in the section called Session tracking mechanism,
uncheck the box that says Enable cookies. - In the same section, check the box next to Enable URL rewriting.
- Click Apply at the bottom of the screen.
- Click the Save link at the top of the page.
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Document Information
Modified date:
02 August 2018
UID
swg21434005