Managing the Server > Performing administration tasks > Understanding basic server settings

Understanding basic server settings

When Flash Communication Server is first installed, it's configured in a generic way so that you can begin using it with the sample client applications. You should become familiar with this configuration so that you can make decisions about how to change it to suit your needs.

The server is installed with a set of configuration files in XML format. These files define a default server adaptor, a default applications directory, default server administrators, and default settings for application behavior.

The default server adaptor uses port 1935, the number assigned to Flash Communication Server by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. Although you can use any port number, this increases the risk of conflicting with another application that may be assigned to the same port; for example, if you configure the server to use port 80 to support HTTP tunneling, the server might not run both a web server and the Flash Communication Server bound to port 80. Applications must be authored to connect to the same port the server is using, in the NetConnection.connect statement. Be sure the port is not blocked by a firewall.

The server is preconfigured with one adaptor containing one virtual host. The virtual host is equivalent to a domain name. The default applications directory for the default virtual host is the the applications directory in the Flash Communication Server directory. You can view this location by looking at the value for the <AppsDir> tag in the vhost.xml file. This directory is where the server will look for application subdirectories at startup; you must place an application subdirectory here for each client application that you plan to connect to the server, and the client subdirectory must have the same name as the client application. The presence of the application subdirectory registers the application with the server.

If you installed the sample applications, the applications directory includes sample applications that are provided to illustrate the essential capabilities of the server. The server-side files for each sample application reside in its self-named directory in the applications directory. The SWF files for the sample applications are located in the samples subdirectory of either the web publishing directory or the installation directory.

You can add adaptors and virtual hosts and change the location of the applications directory by editing the server's configuration files and creating directories in the server's conf directory. For more information, see Configuring Flash Communication Server.

The default server administrator has the user name and password you chose during the Flash Communication Server installation, and is defined in the Server.xml configuration file. The server administrator can connect to the Admin service with the Administration Console and perform a variety of server administration tasks, including shutting down the server and disconnecting client applications. (In the nomenclature of server administration, this server administrator is equivalent to the "superuser.")

Virtual host administrators can only perform tasks relating to the applications running on their own virtual host. There are no virtual host administrators defined when the server is first installed. Server administrators, including the default server administrator defined during installation, have access to all virtual hosts. Server administrators can add or delete virtual host administrators using the Administration Console. For more information about adding administrators, see Adding and editing administrators.