MaxVirtualHosts (MV)

MaxVirtualHosts (also written as MV) specifies the maximum number of virtual web servers that EZproxy can create for proxying remote web servers. The default value of 200 is adequate for institutions that license only a limited number of database records, but must often be increased for institutions that license many database resources.

If EZproxy reaches the maximum virtual host limit, it will record an error in the messages.txt file. Remote users may also see an error message indicating that this limit needs to be increased.

When increasing this value on a server that uses proxy by port, you also increase the number of incoming ports used by EZproxy. Depending on your firewall configuration, this may require updating the firewall to permit incoming access to these additional ports.

In proxy by port, if you need to increase this value beyond 2000, you should consider moving from proxy by port to proxy by hostname to reduce the amount of network resources and operating system resources required to operate EZproxy.

Institutions that use proxy by hostname often have the incorrect impression that MaxVirtualHosts no longer applies to their configuration. Even in proxy by hostname, MaxVirtualHosts restricts the maximum number of virtual web servers created by EZproxy.

MaxVirtualHosts is a repeatable, position-dependent config.txt directive.

MV limit

MV 1000