Example: Specifying a URL Alias

Any Web resource—such as a Web application, a Web portal, or a Web server—can be defined as a URL resource. Defining a Web resource as a URL provides several advantages:

• You can create a Web shortcut for WorkPlace to give users quick access to a URL resource.

• You can define very specific access rules to control which users can access the URL.

• You have the option of obscuring (or “aliasing”) the internal host name so it is not publicly exposed. When a user accesses an alias, the request is proxied to the downstream Web resource and its private URL is translated using the alias you specify. The user sees only the public (or aliased) URL.

The below image illustrates how the private address for an inventory application might be translated into a public URL.

Private address translated to a public URL

The private URL for this resource is http://inventory.example.com, and the administrator has created an alias for it named supplier.

Instead of using the private URL (which would publicly expose a sensitive host name), suppliers access a public URL: https://vpn.example.com/supplier.

A public URL consists of the following:

• An https:// prefix rather than http://: this is because all traffic to and from the SMA appliance is secured using SSL

• The appliance’s fully qualified domain name (in this example, vpn.example.com)

• The resource’s alias name (in this example supplier)

 

• Some Web-based applications use JavaScript or other browser extensions that submit traffic using protocols other than HTTP. Examples of such applications include Citrix XenApp and certain versions of SAP. Although accessed using a Web browser, these applications may need to be defined as a client/server resource and proxied through OnDemand using the client/server access service.
• The private URL for which you create an alias must be a directory on the back-end server; it cannot be a file, and it must begin with either http:// or https://.
• Use ASCII characters when specifying an alias. Users who connect to WorkPlace using translated Web access will see an error message if non-ASCII characters are used.
• For information on defining URL resources, see Adding Resources.