6.10 Using an Authenticating Proxy to Run Oracle Forms Applications

The default configuration as set up by the Oracle Application Server installation process supports authenticating proxies. An authenticating proxy is one that requires the user to supply a username and password in order to access the destination server where the application is running. Typically, authenticating proxies set a cookie to detect whether the user has logged on (or been authenticated). The cookie is sent in all subsequent network requests to avoid further logon prompts.

If users are running Netscape with JInitiator, there are certain configuration requirements necessary to ensure that the proxy's authentication cookie gets sent with all requests to the server. The basic requirement is that every URL that JInitiator has to access (for the Jar files and for the Forms Listener Servlet) MUST be under the document base of the HTML page. This is achieved by using the Forms Servlet to generate the page, invoking it using a URL under /forms, such as https://myserver.com/forms/frmservlet?config=myApp.

The codebase and server URL values set up by the Oracle Application Server installation process are /forms/java and /forms/lservlet. As these are under the document base of the page (/forms), authenticating proxies will work.