Create a HTTP Connection shortcut

This procedure guides you through the process of creating a HTTP Connection Shortcut through a web server using the Shortcut Wizard.

Shortcut Wizard page 1: Shortcut identification and Connection type

1. Complete the fields of the Shortcut identification section:
   1. In the Name field, provide a name for the shortcut.
   2. Optional: In the Icon field, provide a file name that will be used to display an icon associated with this shortcut.
   3. Optional: If you want to store the shortcut locally for the current user, select the Store shortcut in settings checkbox.
      By default, shortcuts are saved in the &AppDataDir/config.xml file (see GDC configuration file directories for more information). Shortcuts written to this file are shared amongst all users who use this installation of the GDC. Selecting the Store shortcut in settings option is useful when the GDC is on a shared network drive and you do not want the current user to modify the common shortcuts.

      Note: When the config.xml file is read-only, the Store shortcut in settings checkbox is selected by default and you do not have the option to deselect it.

      Note: Any modification to a non-local shortcut displays a warning and creates a local copy of the shortcut.
2. In the Connection type section, select the HTTP, through a web server and click Next.

Shortcut Wizard page 2: Web server

3. In the URL field, enter the URL for the application that you want to access.
   • When accessing applications using a web server, a typical URL would be: http://myserver/gas/ua/r/gdc-demo.
   • When accessing applications without using a web server, a typical URL would be: http://myserver:6394/ua/r/gdc-demo.

   Note: If the URL of the web server that you enter begins with https (secure), a fourth page of the wizard is automatically added that provides the option to edit the client certificate mode. See Optional: Shortcut Wizard page 4: Client certificate mode.

Shortcut Wizard page 3: Login form and Authentication

4. In the Login form section, enter a file path in the Form file field. To ensure the form is on top, select the Always On Top checkbox.
5. Enter a user in the User field.
   Whether to enter a username in this field will depend on the authentication mechanism configured on the Web server. It is common to chose "anonymous" as the authentication method and handle the authentication directly in the application; in this situation, you would leave this field blank.

   Depending on Web servers, you might opt to use a different authentication mechanism (such as Basic, Digest, etc.) that will prompt you to enter your credentials (username and password) in the login form. With this field, you can enter a value to auto-populate the username field in the login form.

Optional: Shortcut Wizard page 4: Client certificate mode

6. If the URL that you entered in step 3 began with https, you can specify a client certificate mode to authenticate the client to the https server from the following options:
   • Disabled
   • Use certificate/key files
     Note: Currently, except for Microsoft™ Windows® systems where you can use a system certificate, only two types of certificate are supported:

     • PEM certificate: which requires a certificate and a private key.
     • PKCS12 certificate: which includes both certificate and private key.

     If your certificate is password protected, you will be prompted for a password when the certificate is installed. Please note that the password may be requested again, depending on the password options you selected in Step 1.
     Important: When credentials are required for connecting to an application, the Genero Desktop Client attempts to use single sign-on, in order to avoid requiring the user to enter a password. If single sign-on fails, the Genero Desktop Client switches to the NTLM authentication protocol. The Genero Desktop Client only supports NTLM v1.

     If you are using the NTLM authentication protocol with a Microsoft IIS Web server, you must verify that NTLM v1 is also supported. Starting with Microsoft IIS Web server 7.0 (Windows 2008 server), NTLM v2 is required and the Genero Desktop Client is not compatible.

     See the Genero Application Server User Guide for more information on configuring applications.

   • Use system certificates
     Note: On Microsoft Windows, there are five methods of selecting a system certificate:

     • SUBJECT: use the first certificate in which the subject field contains the given string.
     • ISSUER: use the first certificate in which the issuer field contains the given string.
     • HASH: use a hexadecimal hash that identifies a certificate. (eg: A5 C8 3F 34 21 C5 FF 8B 0A 0B 24 57 DD B2 C8 9F 1C 7A 45 76)
     • ANY: select the first one
     • ASK: ask the user to choose in a list
7. Click Finish to complete the setup and exit the Shortcut Wizard.