OJS Virtual Host Proxy Configuration

Overview

Configuring Open Journal Systems (OJS) to work with Stanford's Virtual Host Proxy (aka, "vanity URL") service requires some configuration tweaks to get all paths working properly. When installing a new instance of OJS (or adding a new journal to an existing installation, with its own virtual host proxy), you'll need to make changes to the following files to get it working:

• index.php
• config.inc.php
• classes/core/Request.inc.php

The instructions below assume that you have a working OJS installation, and want your vanity URL to point to your journal. Let's assume you have OJS installed in the cgi-bin directory of your AFS group called publicknowledge. Let's also say that your journal is called Ephemera, and you want https://ephemera.stanford.edu to point to your journal.

Step 1: Request a Virtual Host Proxy

Go to http://vanityurl.stanford.edu to request a virtual host proxy for your journal from ITS.

Enter the following information on the form:

• Virtual Host Name: ephemera
• Website Address: https://www.stanford.edu/group/publicknowledge/cgi-bin/index.php/ephemera/
• Virtual Host Type: Proxy
• Additional Configuration: Please configure this proxy to use SSL, i.e., https://ephemera.stanford.edu

Configuration options for requesting the virtual host proxy.

Step 2: Modify index.php

Add the following lines to index.php, right after the opening <?php tag:

// mrmarco: take care of PHP < 5.24 bug when run under CGI
$_SERVER['PATH_INFO'] = $_SERVER['ORIG_PATH_INFO'];

The first few lines of your index.php should therefore look like this:

<?php
// mrmarco: take care of PHP < 5.24 bug when run under CGI
$_SERVER['PATH_INFO'] = $_SERVER['ORIG_PATH_INFO'];
 
/**
 * @mainpage OJS API Reference
 * 

Step 3: Modify config.inc.php

Comment out disable_path_info

Find the line that reads:

disable_path_info = On

; disable_path_info = On

Add an index base_url and a base_url for your journal

Add the following lines to the base_url section:

base_url[index] = https://www.stanford.edu/group/publicknowledge/cgi-bin
base_url[ephemera] = https://ephemera.stanford.edu

Step 4: Modify Request.inc.php

In classes/core/Request.inc.php, modify the getServerHost function (starting at line 189) to the following:

	/**
	 * Get the server hostname in the request.
	 * @return string
	 */
	function getServerHost($default = 'localhost') {
		static $serverHost;
		if (!isset($serverHost)) {
			$serverHost = 
            // mrmarco: removed test for HTTP_X_FORWARDED_HOST
            // isset($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_HOST']) ? $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_HOST']
		    // :
                (isset($_SERVER['HTTP_HOST']) ? $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST']
				: (isset($_SERVER['HOSTNAME']) ? $_SERVER['HOSTNAME']
				: $default));
			HookRegistry::call('Request::getServerHost', array(&$serverHost));
		}
		return $serverHost;
	}