KB-1219 How to bypass the web server and access Appian via the application server directly

Appian Technical Support might ask you to bypass the web layer (web servers, load balancers, DMZ etc.) and access the Appian environment via the application server directly. This is to identify whether a particular issue is at the web layer or at the application layer.

The steps to access Appian via the application server are provided below.

Ensure that the application server host(s) are directly accessible from the client machines prior to making the changes mentioned. Do not execute these steps if this is not the case and instead report back to the Solution Engineer to explore alternative options to troubleshoot.

Stop the application server(s)
On all servers in the installation, Modify the conf.suite.SCHEME and conf.suite.SERVER_AND_PORT properties in the custom.properties file as follows:
```
conf.suite.SCHEME=http
conf.suite.SERVER_AND_PORT=<hostname of the application server>:<port>
```
For example, the default port for JBoss is 8080 and for Weblogic’s admin server is 7001
Follow the Action in KB-1100 to disable any secure cookies. You can make a backup of your existing web.xml to ensure the change back is seamless.
Start the application server(s)

The Appian environment can now be accessed using this URL:

http://<hostname of the application server>:<port>/suite

Affected Versions

This article applies to all versions of Appian.

Last Reviewed: March 2017