Where Domino Reads Its Web Config: Internet Sites or the Server Document

Oct 22, 2026 972 words

You change a Domino web setting — some HTTP option, a session timeout, which site maps to which database — and nothing happens. Often it isn’t a wrong value, it’s the wrong place: Domino’s Internet-protocol configuration comes from two sources, and a server reads only one of them at a time. Knowing which it reads, and how to switch, is the starting point for every Domino web-config problem.

TL;DR

Two config sources: the older Server document (Web Server Configurations, i.e. the old virtual servers) and the newer Internet Site documents.
One switch decides which: the Server document’s Basics tab option “Load Internet configurations from Server\Internet Sites documents.” Off = the server uses Server document settings; on = it reads Internet Site documents instead (toggling it needs a restart).
What Internet Site documents are: documents in the Domino Directory, one type per Internet protocol (Web/HTTP, IMAP, POP3, SMTP Inbound, LDAP, IIOP); one can serve one or several servers, so they’re managed centrally. And edits are dynamic — no restart.
All-or-nothing (easy to hit): on a given server, once you use an Internet Site document for one protocol, you must use them for all protocols. You can’t run HTTP via Internet Sites and LDAP via the Server document.
Some settings always stay in the Server document: even with Internet Sites on, the TCP/IP port and status, the SSL port and status (including TCP→SSL redirection), and server access are still set in the Server document.
How to confirm: every time HTTP starts/restarts, the console prints whether it’s getting config from Internet Sites or the Server document.

Two models, and that switch

Domino’s web (and other Internet-protocol) config has historically lived in two places:

Web Server Configurations in the Server document (originally “virtual servers”): settings tied to a single Server document.
Internet Site documents: standalone documents in the Domino Directory.

Which one a server reads comes down to the Server document → Basics tab switch “Load Internet configurations from Server\Internet Sites documents” (official: understanding Internet site documents):

Switch off: HCL’s wording is “the server defaults to Server document settings.”
Switch on: it reads from Internet Site documents instead.

Toggling the switch itself requires a server restart (it’s on the Server document; the full enable-and-host steps are in official: Hosting Web sites). This is one of the most common reasons “I created a Web Site document but it does nothing”: the switch is still off, so the server never reads those documents.

Internet Site documents: central and dynamic

An Internet Site document is a Domino Directory document “used to configure the Internet protocols supported by Domino servers.” Three things matter:

One type per protocol: Web (HTTP), IMAP, POP3, SMTP Inbound, LDAP, IIOP.
Across servers: because they live in the Domino Directory, one document can serve one or several servers — so protocol settings can be managed centrally instead of per Server document.
Edits are dynamic: HCL verbatim — “Modifications to Internet site documents (including the creation of new Site documents) are dynamic” — change (or create) one and it takes effect in minutes, no restart. (Note: that’s editing a Site document’s content; the “use Internet Sites at all” switch above still needs a restart when toggled.)

All-or-nothing: the easy trap

This rule catches people: on a given server, once you use an Internet Site document for one protocol, you must use Internet Site documents for all Internet protocols on that server. HCL’s wording: “You must also use Internet site documents for all Internet protocols on that server.”

So you can’t configure HTTP with a Site document while still configuring LDAP through the Server document. It’s the whole server on Internet Sites, or the whole server on the Server document — no mixing. Before switching, inventory every Internet protocol in use on that server and move them together.

Configuring a Web Site document

With the switch on, from Domino Administrator go to Configuration → Web → Internet Sites, and Add Internet Site → Web to create a Web Site document (official: configuring a Web Site document):

Basics tab: the site name, organization, and the host names / addresses mapped to this site (which URLs route to it).
Which servers host the site: an optional field; servers not listed won’t load this site’s config — another common reason “one server just won’t serve this site.”
Configuration tab: allowed HTTP methods, etc.
Domino Web Engine tab: session authentication (how web login works — the next piece covers this).
Security tab: access control.
Afterward you can add Web Site Rules (redirects/substitutions) and file protection.

What still stays in the Server document

An important but easily missed boundary: even with Internet Sites on, these are still set in the Server document —

The TCP/IP port number and status
The SSL port number and status (including TCP→SSL redirection)
Server access settings

So “which port is HTTP on, is SSL enabled” is always in the Server document — don’t look for it in the Web Site document.

How to confirm which source a server reads

Don’t guess: every time the HTTP task starts or restarts, the console prints a line saying whether it’s getting config from Internet Sites or the Server document (Web Server Configurations view). When nothing you set is taking effect, check that line first — it tells you directly where the server is reading from.

Wrap-up

Two sources: the Server document (Web Server Configurations) vs Internet Site documents (Domino Directory, cross-server).
The switch: the Server document Basics option “Load Internet configurations from…Internet Sites documents,” restart to toggle; it decides which source.
Internet Site documents: one type per protocol (six), centrally managed, content edits dynamic (no restart).
All-or-nothing: once one protocol on a server uses Internet Sites, all protocols must.
Always in the Server document: TCP/IP port, SSL port (incl. TCP→SSL redirection), server access.
Confirm: read the HTTP start/restart console line — Internet Sites or Server document.

Sources

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