Configuring Private Stations to Work with a Customized HTTPS 3DEXPERIENCE Launcher

If you have customized the 3DEXPERIENCE Launcher domain name and certificate for HTTPS, you must configure your 3DOrchestrate private stations for interoperability. These changes are required for local simulation process execution on a private station.

For more information about 3DEXPERIENCE Launcher HTTPS configuration, see 3DEXPERIENCE Platform Native Apps Installation Guide: Customizing the 3DEXPERIENCE Launcher Domain Name and Certificate for HTTPS Communication

If the 3DEXPERIENCE Launcher has been customized in this way, your out-of-the-box 3DOrchestrate private stations will not be able to communicate with the simulation client apps unless you make the configurations described below.

You must configure the 3DEXPERIENCE Launcher public key certificate and private key as a special PKCS#12 keystore for the private station. The private station application will use its own HTTPS server (with this public/private key pair) to communicate with the simulation client apps.

This private station HTTPS configuration applies only to an on-premises installation of the 3DEXPERIENCE servers and the 3DOrchestrate Distribution Server. It does not work with a DS cloud server. Private station HTTPS configuration works with all simulation apps except for Process Composer (Web).

This task shows you how to:

Configure Localhost Ports for the Station

Choose the localhost ports that all customized HTTPS private stations will use.

You can specify these port numbers in either the <server_install_dir>/config/SMAExeServer-xxxx.properties file of the 3DOrchestrate Distribution Server or in the user interface of the Station Administration app. If you do not specify the ports, the default ports used are 35125, 45341, and 55447.

  • To use the server properties file, set the following property to a comma-separated list of your desired ports:

    smaexe.privatestation.ports=port1,port2,port3

    For example: smaexe.privatestation.ports=30300,40301,50302

    After editing the properties file, you must restart the 3DOrchestrate Distribution Server.

  • To specify your port numbers in the Station Administration app UI, edit the server properties and enter the desired port numbers in the Private Station Ports field.

    Warning: This port configuration will be lost the next time the 3DOrchestrate Distribution Server is shut down and restarted. If you want to be sure that the ports configuration is kept after a server restart, use the smaexe.privatestation.ports property in the SMAExeServer-xxxx.properties file.

Configure Public/Private Key Pair

You can define the 3DEXPERIENCE Launcher public key certificate and private key as a special PKCS#12 keystore for the HTTPS private station.

  1. Get the certificate and private key that was used to customize the 3DEXPERIENCE Launcher; for example, in a file named mylauncherdomain.mycom.com.p12.

    This file must be in PKCS#12 format and must contain both the private key and public key. PKCS#12 keystore files usually have the file name extension .p12 or .pfx.

  2. Place a copy of this keystore file on a file system that is accessible to the private station (usually on the local computer).
  3. Create a small plain-text properties file to identify the .p12 keystore for the private station.

    This file can have any name; for example, custom-cert-props.txt.

    Put the following three property definitions in this file:

    keystore=<path_to_p12_keystore_file>
keystorepwd=<password_to_unlock_the_keystore>
keypwd=<password_for_recovering_keys>

  4. Define an environment variable STATION_CUSTOMCERT_PROPFILE that points to your custom-cert-props.txt file.

    Make sure that this environment variable is defined on every private station computer; for example, as a Windows system variable or in a batch file used to start the private station.

Verify the Configuration

When the private station starts, it will start its own HTTPS server using this special keystore. The HTTPS server handles communication to and from the private station, the custom-domain 3DEXPERIENCE Launcher, and the simulation client apps. This communication will occur on the port numbers you specified (or the defaults).

Simulation client apps will communicate with the private station's HTTPS server using the 3DEXPERIENCE Launcher custom-domain URL when the end user chooses localhost execution.

The customized URL (with the protocol but without the port) is similar to:

https://mylauncherdomain.mycom.com

After the private station starts, you can verify that the configuration is correct by checking two things:

  • Verify that the title bar of the station UI shows the custom-domain URL and custom port number like this:



  • Enter the following test URL in a web browser:

    <customdomainURL:port>/SMAExeStation-REST/station/info

    For example: https://mylauncherdomain.mycom.com:35125/SMAExeStation-REST/station/info

    You should see that the web browser has made a successful secure connection, and the following XML data should be displayed in the browser:

    <StationData name="stationname" status="Running" ip="xxx.xx.xx.xx" os="WINDOWS" 
cosid="<3DOrch-server>" user="username" spaceurl="<3DSpace-URL>"