Configuring alternate access mappings on a SharePoint server

In Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, each Web application can be associated with a collection of mappings between internal and public URLs. Both internal and public URLs consist of the protocol and domain portion of the full URL (for example, https://www.fabrikam.com). A public URL is what users type to get to the SharePoint site, and that URL is what appears in the links on the pages. Internal URLs are in the URL requests that are sent to the SharePoint site. Many internal URLs can be associated with a single public URL in multi-server farms (for example, when a load balancer routes requests to specific IP addresses to various servers in the load-balancing cluster).

Each Web application supports five collections of mappings per URL; the five collections correspond to five zones (default, intranet, extranet, Internet, and custom). When the Web application receives a request for an internal URL in a particular zone, links on the pages returned to the user have the public URL for that zone.

The following tasks are performed on the SharePoint server to configure alternate access mapping

To manage alternate access mappings

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Office Server, and then click SharePoint 3.0 Central Administration.

2. On the Central Administration home page, on the top navigation bar, click Operations.

3. On the Operations page, in the Global Configuration section, click Alternate access mappings.

To add an internal URL

1. On the Alternate Access Mappings page, click Add Internal URLs.

2. If the mapping collection that you want to modify is not specified, then choose one. In the Alternate Access Mapping Collection section, click Change alternate access mapping collection on the Alternate Access Mapping Collection menu.

3. On the Select an Alternate Access Mapping Collection page, click a mapping collection.

4. In the Add internal URL section, in the URL protocol, host and port box, type the new internal URL (for example, https://www.fabrikam.com).

5. In the Zone list, click the zone for the internal URL.

6. Click Save.

To edit or delete an internal URL

1. On the Alternate Access Mappings page, click the internal URL that you want to edit or delete.

2. In the Edit internal URL section, modify the URL in the URL protocol, host and port box.

3. In the Zone list, click the zone for the internal URL.

4. Do one of the following:

   • Click Save to save your changes.
   • Click Cancel to discard your changes and return to the Alternate Access Mappings page.

5. Click Delete to delete the internal URL.

   Note

   You cannot delete the last internal URL for the default zone.

To edit public URLs

1. On the Alternate Access Mappings page, click Edit Public URLs.

2. If the mapping collection that you want to modify is not specified, then choose one. In the Alternate Access Mapping Collection section, click Change alternate access mapping collection on the Alternate Access Mapping Collection menu.

3. On the Select an Alternate Access Mapping Collection page, click a mapping collection.

4. In the Public URLs section, you may add new URLs or edit existing URLs in any of the following text boxes:

   • Default
   • Intranet
   • Extranet
   • Internet
   • Custom

5. Click Save.

   Note

   There must always be a public URL for the default zone.

Mapping to an external resource

You can also define mappings for resources outside internal Web applications. To do so, you must supply a unique name, initial URL, and a zone for that URL. (The URL must be unique to the farm.)

To map to an external resource

1. On the Alternate Access Mappings page, click Map to External Resource.

2. On the Create External Resource Mapping page, in the Resource Name box, type a unique name.

3. In the URL protocol, host and port box, type the initial URL.

4. Click Save.