Month: August 2022

Configure Sitecore Content Serialization for ASP.Net Rendering with Helix Examples Solution

August 15, 2022 /

Last Updated on August 15, 2022 by sandeeppote

In this blog will creata a new component name Article in the Helix Examples Solution to demonstrate how to configure and use Sitecore Content Serlialization (SCS).

Assuming the Sitecore CLI is installed along with Sitecore.DevEx.Extensibility.Serialization,  Sitecore.DevEx.Extensibility.Publishing plugins are installed.

For more details on the plugin installation please see this link- https://doc.sitecore.com/xp/en/developers/101/developer-tools/install-sitecore-command-line-interface.html

Open the helix-basic-aspnetcore folder in Visual Studio and see Sitecore.json file. This file has the configuration settings for SCS.

modules – willl look into the src folder for *.module.json file for any component specific configuration the items that need to be serialized.

So lets create a new module or rendering feature named “Articles”. Just a folder and not a project itself

1. Create a module json for serlialization configuration

IMP – Create Articles.module.json file in the project root folder

Add following to the json file-

{
  "namespace": "Feature.Articles",
  "items": {
    "includes": [
      {
        "name": "templates",
        "path": "/sitecore/templates/Feature/Articles"
      },
      {
        "name": "renderings",
        "path": "/sitecore/layout/Renderings/Feature/Articles"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Here the items that will be serliazed are templates and rendering from the given path in Sitecore to the local Solution Folder configured in Sitecore.json file the path mentioned in defaultModuleRelativeSerializationPath property. See step 1

IMP- Ensure the module file is in Articles folder. Your project folder should looks like this-

2. Create a Sitecore Template and Rendering for Articles

Create a Json Rendering for now(fill in the details later)

3. Sync the items (manual)

Execute following command to serlaize the items for Articles-

dotnet sitecore ser pull

Project folder should now have items folder with templates and rendering-

Thats it any Templates and rendering created for Articles (new component) should be serliazed.

Refer BasicCompany.module.json for any placeholders, layouts etc serlization at the project level.

Hope this helps.

Kubernetes commands for managing Pods

August 5, 2022 /

Last Updated on January 20, 2023 by sandeeppote

To get the cluster info use-

kubectl cluster-info

To get list of nodes user-

kubectl get nodes

Creating Pod – imperative way

Create a POD with nginx image and name nginx in default namespace

// kubectl run <<pod name>> --image <<image in docker hub>> 
kubectl run nginx --image nginx

Create a POD with nginx image and name nginx in different namespace

// kubectl run <<pod name>> --image <<image in docker hub>> -n <<namespace name>>
kubectl run nginx --image nginx -n production

Get Pods and details

Get a list of POD’s in default namespace

kubectl get pods

Get a list of POD’s in other namespace

//kubectl get pods -n <<namespace name>>
kubectl get pods -n production

Check the node of the Pod it is created-

kubectl get pods -o wide

Create POD using yaml – declarative way

// file name- pod-definition.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: nginx-pod-yaml
spec:
  containers:
    - name: nginx-container-yaml
      image: nginx

Create a pod declarative way-

kubectl create -f pod-definition.yaml

Deleting Pod

Delete a pod in default namespace

// kubectl delete pod <<pod-name>>
kubectl delete pod nginx-pod-yaml

Delete all pods in default namespace

kubectl delete --all pods

Delete a pod in custom namespace

//kubectl delete pod <<pod-name>> -n <<namespace-name>>
kubectl delete pod nginx-pod-yaml -n development

Delete all pods in custom namespace

//kubectl delete --all pods -n <<namespace-name>>
kubectl delete --all pods -n development

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Create a Asp.Net simple rendering using data source in Helix Examples Solution

August 2, 2022 /

Last Updated on August 3, 2022 by sandeeppote

In this blog will create a simple rendering uing Asp.Net Rendering SDK in Helix Examples Solution

Please refer the blog to create a rendering folder and configure the SCS before proceeding this blog.

So lets create a new module or rendering feature named “Articles”.

1. Create a Feature project using Razor Class Library

Project Name – BasicCompany.Feature.Articles.Rendering

Notice the project path

Choose .Net Core 3.1 Framework-

Delete any exisitng files and folders under this project-

Edit the project to use netcoreapp3.1 and AddRazorSupportForMvc to true

Rename helix-basic-aspnetcore\src\Feature\Articles\BasicCompany.Feature.Articles.Rendering to rendering. Just to follow other feature fodler structure.

2. Install Sitecore packages

Sitecore.AspNet.RenderingEngine

Sitecore.LayoutService.Client

I have installed verions 16 just to be in sync with other projects. You may install the latest.

New rendering project should have these packages installed-

Remove these packages as this may be not required at thi point of time or downgrade this to 3.1.1

Refer the new created rendering project to BasicCompany.Project.BasicCompany.Rendering

When the solution is build you may see this error-

Severity Code Description Project File Line Suppression State
Error The package reference ‘Sitecore.AspNet.RenderingEngine’ should not specify a version. Please specify the version in ‘C:\projects\Helix.Examples\examples\helix-basic-aspnetcore\Packages.props’ or set VersionOverride to override the centrally defined version. BasicCompany.Feature.Articles.Rendering C:\projects\Helix.Examples\examples\helix-basic-aspnetcore\src\Feature\Articles\rendering\BasicCompany.Feature.Articles.Rendering.csproj

Solution– Remove the version for the plugin fropm project file

Edit the project file and remove version from the PackageReference-

Solution should build successully.

3. Ensure Articles.modules.json file in Feature folder

Please see this blog <<Enter blog url here>> how to create a module.json file to serliaze the Sitecore items for new Feature.

4. Create required Sitecore Templates, content, renderings and Placeholder Settings

Template – Article in following path- /sitecore/templates/Feature/Articles

Page Type Template – Create 2 page type templates “Articles” and “Article” page as below.

Add any required Insert Options where necessary.

IMP- inherit from _NavigationItem to display the Articles as Navigation option

Enter Navigation Title for Articles page-

Content

Create content in Home page based on the Article templates created.

Rendering

Create a new Json Rendering Article. See previous post

Set Datasource Location- ./Page Components|query:./ancestor-or-self::*[@@templatename=’Site’]/Shared Content/Articles

Datasource Template- /sitecore/templates/Feature/Articles/Article

Add rendering to Template

Add Header, Article and Footer Controls to the Presentation

Select appropriate datasource for the Article component-

You can also add the component from experience editor. For simplicity purpose I am adding this from the presentation details manually.

Publish the changes and see https://www.basic-company-aspnetcore.localhost

Note:- If you get bad gateway error the resolution is in this blog <<blog for resolution>>

you should see the Articles option in Navigation-

Note- We wont be configuring “Articles” page in this blog. Will see that in next blog when uing Content Resolver.

See thie Article page-

https://www.basic-company-aspnetcore.localhost/Articles/Sitecore%20Content%20Serialization%20structural%20overview

There is a error – “Unknown component ‘Article'”. This is because we havent yet created view for this component.

Create Model in BasicCompany.Feature.Articles.Rendering project for rendering Article component

Note the propeties are using Sitecore.LayoutService.Client.Response.Model.Fields

using Sitecore.LayoutService.Client.Response.Model.Fields;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;

namespace BasicCompany.Feature.Articles.Rendering.Models
{
    public class Article
    {
        public TextField Title { get; set; }

        public RichTextField Description { get; set; }

        public TextField ShortDescription { get; set; }
    }
}

Create View in BasicCompany.Feature.Articles.Rendering project for rendering Article component

Create Article.cshtml file under Views/Shared/Components/SitecoreComponent

Add following markup-


@model Article

<div class="container">
    <section class="hero is-small product-detail-hero">
        <div class="hero-body">
             <h3  class="title" asp-for="Title"></h3>
            <sc-text class="subtitle is-one-quarter" asp-for="Description"></sc-text>
        </div>
    </section>
</div>

InViews Folder create _ViewImports.cshtml file and put the following in file-

@using Sitecore.LayoutService.Client.Response.Model
@using Sitecore.LayoutService.Client.Response.Model.Fields
@using Sitecore.AspNet.RenderingEngine.Extensions
@using BasicCompany.Feature.Articles.Rendering.Models

@addTagHelper *, Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.TagHelpers
@addTagHelper *, Sitecore.AspNet.RenderingEngine

Add Extensions for registering the ModelBoundView. This is a static class and will be used in Project Rendering on application startup (BasicCompany.Project.BasicCompany.Rendering).

using BasicCompany.Feature.Articles.Rendering.Models;
using Sitecore.AspNet.RenderingEngine.Configuration;
using Sitecore.AspNet.RenderingEngine.Extensions;

namespace BasicCompany.Feature.Articles.Extensions
{
    public  static class RenderingEngineOptionsExtensions
    {
        public static RenderingEngineOptions AddFeatureArticle(this RenderingEngineOptions options)
        {
            options
                .AddModelBoundView<Article>("Article");            
            return options;
        }
    }
}

In BasicCompany.Project.BasicCompany.Rendering project, Startup.cs register the component-

Build the Project

Output– https://www.basic-company-aspnetcore.localhost/Articles/Sitecore%20Content%20Serialization%20structural%20overview

Issues–

Bad gateway error while accessing – https://www.basic-company-aspnetcore.localhost/

Solution-

Restart the rendering container

docker ps
docker restart <<rebdering container>>