Patrick,
Your correct, you can use Apache to change the hostname of the Windchill application without executing a rehost. The issue you ran into was Windchill giving you a redirect back to the installed URL. You need to change the URL in both Apache and Windchill. We've found the easiest way to do this is by using the Apache Reverse Proxy feature and changing a few settings in Windchill. A second instance of Apache is required to run the Reverse Proxy, which can be installed on same system as Windchill or a separate server.
The communication will be as follows:
Client <-> Reverse Proxy Apache <-> Windchill Apache <-> Windchill Tomcat
Example: Apache installed on different servers both listening on port 80:
Installed URL: windchill.olddomain.com
New URL: wc.newdomain.com
1) Install a second Apache server (ie the Reverse Proxy Apache) - If you install the reverse proxy Apache on the same server as Windchill be sure to change the Listen line on the Windchill Apache service in the httpd.conf file and specify a different IP or port to bind too (eg 8880). If you define a different port you'll also need to change all urls below referencing http://windchill.olddomain.com to include the port (eg. http://windchill.olddomain.com:8880).
2) Configure the Reverse Proxy Apache server
a)Uncomment or add the following modules to the httpd.conf file:
LoadModule proxy_module modules/mod_proxy.so
LoadModule proxy_connect_module modules/mod_proxy_connect.so
LoadModule proxy_http_module modules/mod_proxy_http.so
b) Added the Proxy settings for the Windchill application and Windchill Help to httpd.conf
ProxyPass /Windchill/ http://windchill.olddomain.com/Windchill/
ProxyPassReverse /Windchill/ http://windchill.olddomain.com/Windchill/
ProxyPass /Windchill-WHC http://windchill.olddomain.com/Windchill-WHC
ProxyPassReverse /Windchill-WHC http://windchill.olddomain.com/Windchill-WHC
3) Update Windchill to use Reverse Proxy:
xconfmanager -s wt.rmi.clientSocketFactory=wt.boot.WTRMIMasterSocketFactory -t codebase/wt.properties
xconfmanager -s wt.rmi.serverSocketFactory=wt.util.WrappedRMISocketFactory -t codebase/wt.properties
xconfmanager -s wt.rmi.javarmicgi=servlet/JavaRMIServlet -t codebase/wt.properties
xconfmanager -s wt.server.codebase=http://wc.newdomain.com/Windchill -t codebase/wt.properties
xconfmanager -s com.ptc.core.ca.co.client.doer.task.default.repository=windchill.olddomain.com -t codebase/wt.properties
xconfmanager -s wt.httpgw.mapCodebase=http://windchill.olddomain.com/Windchill -t codebase/wt.properties
xconfmanager -s wt.federation.rpc.endpoint=http://windchill.olddomain.com:18080/Windchill/servlet/RPC -t codebase/wt.properties
xconfmanager -p
4) Add the following to %WT_HOME%/codebase/urlmap.properties files
wtcore/=http://wc.newdomain.com/Windchill/wtcore/
servlet/=http://wc.newdomain.com/Windchill/servlet/
wt/=http://wc.newdomain.com/Windchill/wt/
com/=http://wc.newdomain.com/Windchill/com/
netmarkets/=http://wc.newdomain.com/Windchill/netmarkets/
wtx/=http://wc.newdomain.com/Windchill/wtx/
tx/=http://wc.newdomain.com/Windchill/tx/
infoengine/=http://wc.newdomain.com/Windchill/infoengine/
5) Restart all services and enjoy your new URL!
The Advanced Deployment Guide has additional information on Reverse Proxies.
http://www.ptc.com/WCMS/files/78982/en/WCAdvDeployGuide.pdf
We've wrapped the commands above into a script that allows us to change the name of Windchill to anything in a few seconds. This comes in very handy when you need to clone a Windchill system and don't want to deal with a full rehost.
