WebGIS Q&A

[#1]

Question

How can I configure Consumer Portal layout to work under secured (HTTPS) protocol?

Answer

In order to make Consumer Portal work under secured connections there are few additional configuration settings needed.

Background Information

The Consumer Portal is a lightweight client application and thus requires a server backend service to provide necessary data and search services. There are two backend services used:

• Backend
  Default Application Pool assigned: BackendAppPool
  Location: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Hexagon\Services\AdminInstances\Backend
• BackendWMPS
  Default Application Pool assigned: BackendWMPSAppPool
  Please see comment below how to properly configure this service...

Those backend services use unsecured HTTP protocol by default and this will cause either mixed-content errors or service unavailable errors (depending on IIS settings) when HTTPS Consumer Portal tries to access them.

Solution

To fix this, make copies of the backend services under the secured web site, or simply make sure that you can access them through HTTPS.

This sample request can be used to check if the backend works with HTTPS: https://<server_address>/backend/v2/connection/setcookie

It should respond with a blank page and 200 OK status (e.g. when checking in browser developer console).

Please refer to attached screenshot showing a sample configuration.

Additional Constraints

• In default configuration, OSM tiles will throw mixed-content errors in the console, since they use HTTP protocol. Still, they will display.
  • You can specify different OSM tile server which supports HTTPS in the <ConsumerInstance>\data\Default_OSM.json file, "services" JSON configuration section.
• Only HTTPS services (WMS/WMTS) can be used in such Consumer portal configuration
• WMPS won't work as it currently does not support HTTPS

[#2]

Hi Hugo,

There's no general reason for the pins not displaying. Please inspect response of the calls to the Backend or BackendWMPS. In the response message, you should find out more. I also suggest to open a new Community topic in the discussion board to keep things more organized.

Thanks,

Jan