Tag: Sitecore 10

XM Cloud local environment – Setup a JSS application – sxastarter for Headless SXA site

In this blog we will create a Headless SXA Site in local instance, setup and resolve any errors while running the rendering app (sxastarter)

We will create a Headless SXA site in Sitecore local instance and then setup the FE application.

With the local Sitecore instance(CM) you should also see the rendering host is configured i.e. https://www.sxastarter.localhost/

While seting up the local instance we haven’t made any changes to docker compose or override files nor to the .env files manually, although while initalizing the app certian key values were updated in .env file.

Check the sxastarter rendering host- https://www.sxastarter.localhost/

At this point you might see the error since we haven;t created a sxastarter app in Sitecore.

This is because the no Site Collection or Headless Site exists in Sitecore. Lets create a Headless Tenant and Site.

2 . Create a Healdess Tenant and Site

In your Sitecore instance create a Healdess Site Collection, you may create a folder Site Collection Folder if required-

Next provide the Site collection name, in this case scxmcloud and select the required modules-

You should see the Site collection created along with the required templates in Project/scxmcloud folder.

Setup should create folders and required items in following location. Note this as this is required whilst setting the item sync using Sitecore SCS (Sitecore Content Serialization)

Layout Placeholder Settings- /sitecore/layout/Placeholder Settings/Project/scxmcloud

Layout Renderings – /sitecore/layout/Renderings/Project/scxmcloud

Media Library – /sitecore/media library/Project/scxmcloud

Templates – /sitecore/templates/Project/scxmcloud

Create a Headless SXA Site

Create headless site under site collection-

Provide the name of the site- sxastarter.

You may choose another name but ensure the package.json file is updated accordingly.

Select the modules- Note I selected the basic site module. This should add sample items to home page along with About page. You may choose not to select the basic site module.

Enter the deployment secret created whilst setting up the JSS app

Site should now be created-

Site without Basic Site module-

Keep the Site Settings as is-

sxastarter site is created along with this the choosen mdoules are installed.

Once this is done ensure the app name in Settings is same as in package.config-

Open the experience editor and you should see the blank page-

Lets add the Title component and images to see if the changes are reflecting in Experience Editor and FE.

Visit the https://www.sxastarter.localhost/ and the images are not loading

This is due to the local instance has relative media url for local instance.

Solution-

Patch the local instance to include – IncludeServerUrlInMediaUrls

<configuration xmlns:patch="http://www.sitecore.net/xmlconfig/" xmlns:set="http://www.sitecore.net/xmlconfig/set/" xmlns:env="http://www.sitecore.net/xmlconfig/env/">
  <sitecore>
    <layoutService env:require="Development">
      <configurations>
        <config name="sxa-jss">
          <rendering>
            <renderingContentsResolver>
              <IncludeServerUrlInMediaUrls>false</IncludeServerUrlInMediaUrls>
            </renderingContentsResolver>
          </rendering>
        </config>
      </configurations>
    </layoutService>
  </sitecore>
</configuration>

I did this in VS, Platform project. Added the config file in App_Config/Include/Feature named z.Plaform.Feature.IncludeServerUrlInMediaUrls.config

Publish the project and this file should be then deployed to CM container.

Now this should display the images-

Testing GraphQL IDE for local environment

Try the graphql ide here on your local instance –

https://xmcloudcm.localhost/sitecore/api/graph/edge/ide

And the request for same should be sent to –

https://xmcloudcm.localhost/api/graphql/v1

We now have site ready to start developing components.

The newly added title in header, images should also be displayed-

This conculdes setting up the local environment with having Sitecore CM instance and the jss app (FE) running in docker. JSS app is runing in container.

In next blog post we will how to setup the FE without having Sitecore local instance and connect to XM Cloud.

But before that we need to setup the XM Cloud project and environments, for that we will configure the Sietcore Content Serilization to push the changes made in local to XM Cloud. Coming in next blog.

Errors-

sxastarter site hosted in docker throws below error.

Solution

See the resolution for this error here

https://sitecore.stackexchange.com/questions/35307/sitecore-xm-cloud-local-setup-error-with-node-js

I updated the rendering Dockerfile –> Entrypoint to clean and install the npm

npm ci && npm run start:connected

This should resolve the issue. Hope this helps.

Loading

Sitecore Asp.Net rendering with Content Resolver for Helix Examples Solution

In my previous post we saw how to create a simple rendering with data source.

For creating rendering using content resolver first follow the blog <<enter blog url here>>

Content resolvers help provice more complex data beyond the serialization of a component data source.

In this blog will list all the Articles on the page which are marked as Featured Article.

The custom logic for filtering will go in Content resolver.

Craete a project for Content Resolver(.net framework 4.8) . This framework is used just to follow with the exisitng content resolvers provided by Helix Examples Solution.

Content Resolver Project (BasicCompany.Feature.Articles.Platform)

Create a new .Net Framework project

Instead of creating new poroject I will copy the project from Navigation/Platform folder and rename it to BasicCompany.Feature.Articles.Platform.

Delete all the files from this project as it relates to Navigation. You may also want to change the AssemblyName and the AssemblyInfo file.

Create Models for Articles and Article

Create Models Folder and add below models

Articles.cs

using Sitecore.Data.Items;
using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace BasicCompany.Feature.Articles.Models
{
    public class Articles
    {
        public Item ArticlesPage { get; set; }

        public IList<Article> ArticleItems { get; set; }
    }
}

Article.cs

using Sitecore.Data.Items;

namespace BasicCompany.Feature.Articles.Models
{
    public class Article
    {
        public Item Item { get; set; }

        public Item ItemData { get; set; }
        public string Url { get; set; }
    }
}

Create Service for ArticleBuilder and ArticleRootResolver

Create a new folder Services and following-

//IArticleBuilder
 public interface IArticleBuilder
    {
        Articles.Models.Articles GetArticles(Item contextItem);
    }
//ArticleBuilder 

 public class ArticleBuilder : IArticleBuilder
    {
        private readonly IArticleRootResolver _articleRootResolver;
        private readonly BaseLinkManager _linkManager;

        public ArticleBuilder(BaseLinkManager linkManager, IArticleRootResolver articleRootResolver)
        {
            _articleRootResolver = articleRootResolver;
            _linkManager = linkManager;
        }

        public Articles.Models.Articles GetArticles(Item contextItem)
        {
            var articleRoot = _articleRootResolver.GetArticleRoot(contextItem);
            if (articleRoot == null)
            {
                return new Articles.Models.Articles();
            }

            return new Articles.Models.Articles()
            {
                ArticlesPage = articleRoot,
                ArticleItems = GetArticleItems(articleRoot, contextItem)
            };
        }

        private IList<Article> GetArticleItems(Item articleRoot, Item contextItem)
        {
            var items = new List<Item>();

            items.AddRange(articleRoot.Children.Where(item => item.DescendsFrom(Templates.ArticleItem.Id)));

            var articleItems = items.Select(item => new Article()
            {
                Item = item,
                ItemData = item.Axes.GetDescendants().FirstOrDefault(itemData => itemData.DescendsFrom(Templates.ArticleItemData.Id)),
                Url = _linkManager.GetItemUrl(item)
            }).ToList();

            return articleItems;
        }
    }
//IArticleRootResolver

 public interface IArticleRootResolver
    {
        Item GetArticleRoot(Item contextItem);
    }

namespace BasicCompany.Feature.Articles.Services
{
    public class ArticleRootResolver : IArticleRootResolver
    {
        public Item GetArticleRoot(Item contextItem)
        {
            if (contextItem == null)
            {
                return null;
            }
            return contextItem.DescendsFrom(Templates.ArticleRoot.Id)
                ? contextItem
                : contextItem.Axes.GetAncestors().LastOrDefault(x => x.DescendsFrom(Templates.ArticleRoot.Id));
        }
    }
}

Create Layout Service i.e. content resolver class

Create new folder LayoutServices and add following-

namespace BasicCompany.Feature.Articles.LayoutService
{
    public class ArticleContentResolver : Sitecore.LayoutService.ItemRendering.ContentsResolvers.RenderingContentsResolver
    {
        private readonly IArticleBuilder _articleBuilder;

        public ArticleContentResolver(IArticleBuilder articleBuilder)
        {
            _articleBuilder = articleBuilder;
        }

        public override object ResolveContents(Rendering rendering, IRenderingConfiguration renderingConfig)
        {
            var articles = _articleBuilder.GetArticles(this.GetContextItem(rendering, renderingConfig));

            var contents = new
            {
                ArticleItems = articles.ArticleItems.Select(item => new
                {
                    Item = item.Item,
                    ItemData = item.ItemData,
                    Serialized = base.ProcessItem(item.ItemData, rendering, renderingConfig)
                }).Select(article => new
                {
                    Url = LinkManager.GetItemUrl(article.Item),
                    Id = article.Item.ID,
                    Fields = new
                    {
                        Title = article.Serialized[article.ItemData.Fields["Title"].Name],
                        Description = article.Serialized[article.ItemData.Fields["Description"].Name],
                        ShortDescription = article.Serialized[article.ItemData.Fields["ShortDescription"].Name],
                    }
                })
            };

            return contents;
        }
    }
}

Create Service Configurator to register the services-

namespace BasicCompany.Feature.Articles
{
    public class ServicesConfigurator : IServicesConfigurator
    {
        public void Configure(IServiceCollection serviceCollection)
        {
            serviceCollection.AddTransient<Services.IArticleBuilder, Services.ArticleBuilder>();
            serviceCollection.AddTransient<Services.IArticleRootResolver, Services.ArticleRootResolver>();
        }
    }
}

Create Template Class

Change the Item ID’s as per your Sitecore Instance

namespace BasicCompany.Feature.Articles
{
  public static class Templates
  {
        public static class ArticleItem
        {
            public static readonly ID Id = new ID("{EE5CE126-890D-4F01-9DD5-3D81FC397A91}"); //
        }

        public static class ArticleItemData
        {
            public static readonly ID Id = new ID("{8AA19CA1-99A6-4588-B1D7-3FA9A8F6756A}"); //
        }

        public static class ArticleRoot
        {
            public static readonly ID Id = new ID("{A46A11C6-C7F9-4F61-BF0C-FFF060F0FECC}"); //
        }
  }
}

Create App Config to register the ServiceConfigurator-

Create Feature.Articles.config file in App_Config/Include/Feature folder

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<configuration xmlns:patch="http://www.sitecore.net/xmlconfig/">
  <sitecore>
    <services>
      <configurator type="BasicCompany.Feature.Navigation.ServicesConfigurator, BasicCompany.Feature.Navigation" />
    </services>
  </sitecore>
</configuration>

Create Templates for Article

These templates are used to indicate the different level s of Article. i..e Article Page- will inherit from _ArticleRoot, ArticlePage will inherit from _ArticleItem and Article Content will inherit from _ArticleItemData

Sitecore Items

Create Rendering Content Resolver

Create a New “Rendering Contents Resolvers Folder” in /sitecore/system/Modules/Layout Service

Craete a New “Rendering Contents Resolver” in this folder.

Provide the type – BasicCompany.Feature.Articles.LayoutService.ArticleContentResolver, BasicCompany.Feature.Articles

Create Articles Json Rendering

Craete a neJson rendering name “Articles” and newly created content resolver in the “Rendering Contents Resolver” field.

Add the new rendering to the page

Publish items

Rendering Project

Create Models Articles.cs

using Sitecore.AspNet.RenderingEngine.Binding.Attributes;
using Sitecore.LayoutService.Client.Response.Model.Fields;

namespace BasicCompany.Feature.Articles.Models
{
    public class Articles
    {
        [SitecoreComponentField]
        public ContentListField<Article> ArticleItems { get; set; }
    }
}

Create new view Articles.cshtml in /Views/Shared/Components/SitecoreComponent

@using Sitecore.AspNet.RenderingEngine.Extensions
@model BasicCompany.Feature.Articles.Models.Articles


<div class="container">
    <div class="product-list-columns columns is-multiline">
        @foreach (var article in Model.ArticleItems)
        {
            <partial name="_ArticleList" model="article" />
        }
    </div>
</div>

Create _ArticleList.cshtml in Views/Shared folder

Note its using ItemLinkField

@model ItemLinkField<Article>

<a href="@Model.Url" class="column product-list-column is-4-desktop is-6-tablet">
    <div class="card">
        <div class="card-content">
            <div class="content">
                <h4 asp-for="@Model.Fields.Title"></h4>
                <p asp-for="@Model.Fields.ShortDescription"></p>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
</a>

Update the RenderingEngineOptionsExtensions

namespace BasicCompany.Feature.Articles.Extensions
{
    public  static class RenderingEngineOptionsExtensions
    {
        public static RenderingEngineOptions AddFeatureArticle(this RenderingEngineOptions options)
        {
            options

                .AddModelBoundView<Article>("Article")
                .AddModelBoundView<Models.Articles>("Articles");
            return options;
        }
    }
}

Update Articles.modules.json to serialiaze content resolver

{
  "namespace": "Feature.Articles",
  "items": {
    "includes": [
      {
        "name": "templates",
        "path": "/sitecore/templates/Feature/Articles"
      },
      {
        "name": "renderings",
        "path": "/sitecore/layout/Renderings/Feature/Articles"
      },
      {
        "name": "contents-resolvers",
        "path": "/sitecore/system/Modules/Layout Service/Rendering Contents Resolvers/Articles"
      }
    ]
  }
}

IMP – Ensure the Startup.cs has AddFeatureArticle() added in AddSitecoreRenderingEngine

Output

List of Articles-

When we click on any of the Article take to the Article page-

The above pages are shown as per this structure in Sitecore

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

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>>

Debug Helix Examples solution using Asp.Net Rendering hosted in Docker Containers

See this blog to setup the development environment for Helix Examlpes using Docker

Open the solution from following location – \examples\helix-basic-aspnetcore

Open the containers tab and should list all the containsers with its status-

You may also use following command to check the status of contrianers-

docker ps

Lets debug the Navigation which has content resolver-

Right click the CD container and Attach to Process

Select Managed(.Net 4.x) debug type. Select w3wp.exe and click Attach.

Helix Examples Solution should now run in debug mode.

Build the solution, add a breakpoint to any of the resolvers (Header or Footer)

Refresh or visit the site – https://www.basic-company-aspnetcore.localhost/ and should be able to see the debugger-

Issues debuging or just building the solution-

Bad Gateway-

Solution- You may see the errors with command-

docker-compose logs -f rendering

Following log appears- binary is being used by another process. This is the issues with the dotnet watch with the docker

Solution- Restart the rendering container

This should bring up the site.

You can also watch the changes outside the docker. See here for more details-

https://sitecore.stackexchange.com/questions/29566/asp-net-core-rendering-sdk-every-time-i-have-to-run-docker-compose-restart-ren

Sitecore Headless Development with ASP.NET Rendering SDK – Helix Examples Solution – The Docker Way

This blog will give a quick overview of setting development environment for Headless Development with ASP.Net Rendering SDK using the Helix Examples and the docker.

Although there are videos and blogs around same I will do a quick walk through on setting Helix Examples and any errors I faced whilst setting up the environment.

Refer the following for same – https://github.com/Sitecore/Helix.Examples/tree/master/examples/helix-basic-aspnetcore

Install .Net Core 3.1

https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/3.1

Install .Net core 3.1 on your machine and this is required to create any rendering or platform projects later to extend the Helix Examples Solution or compiling the existing code.

Install Docker Desktop on Windows

https://docs.docker.com/desktop/windows/install/

Run this on Hyper-V mode and Switch to Windows Containers

Install Visual Studio Code and Visual Studio 2022 Community Edition

https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/community/

https://code.visualstudio.com/download

Whilst installing Visual Studio 2022 select the .Net Framework project and templates option as the platform projects uses .Net Framework 4.8 version. This will also help further if you want to extend the solution.

Install and Configure Windows Terminal (optional)

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/terminal/install

https://dev.to/shahinalam02/customize-your-terminal-using-oh-my-posh-theme-38if

https://www.hanselman.com/blog/my-ultimate-powershell-prompt-with-oh-my-posh-and-the-windows-terminal

Install Windows Terminal, refer above link and if you fancy applying the themes, although this is optional.

Install git

https://git-scm.com/download/win

Clone Helix Examples Solution

https://github.com/Sitecore/Helix.Examples

https://github.com/Sitecore/Helix.Examples.git

Initialise the config

Navigate to \examples\helix-basic-aspnetcore and run following-

.\init.ps1 -LicenseXmlPath C:\<<path to license>>\license.xml -SitecoreAdminPassword "b"

This should initalise teh .env file and fill in the values of the variables for License and Admin Password. Also it will populate other variables.

Build Images

Once the config are initialised run folowing command-

up.ps1

Once all the images are downloaded and built along with solution login to CM should will be asked.

Login to the CM and Allow access to Sitecore API and Offline Access

Once this done the CD and CM app should be ready along with the data been synched.

Check the logs for any errors in rendering with following command-

docker-compose logs -f rendering

Access Application

Site can be accessed with the following url –

Sitecore Content Management: https://cm.basic-company-aspnetcore.localhost/sitecore/

Sitecore Identity Server: https://id.basic-company-aspnetcore.localhost

Basic Company site: https://www.basic-company-aspnetcore.localhost

Use following to stop/remove containers-

docker compose down

Issues while building the images

Error response from daemon: Unrecognised volume spec: file ‘\\.\pipe\docker_engine’ cannot be mapped. Only directories can be mapped on this platform

Solution-

Disable Docker Compose V2 using command or in Docker Desktop-

docker-compose disable-v2

or Uncheck the “Use Docker Compose V2” option

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/68010612/error-response-from-daemon-unrecognised-volume-spec-file-pipe-docker-engi

Setup Sitecore 10.2 JSS using next js in secured and connected mode

Sitecore 10.2 uses Sitecore Headless Rendering 19.0.0. See link here

See this blog for prerequisites and setting jss using next js in disconnected mode.

Follow below steps after the steps completed in above blog

Download Sitecore Headless Services for Sitecore XM

Prerequisite

Install Sitecore 10.2 XP0 on local development environment. See hte blog here if not already installed

Install downloaded package for Headless Service

https://dev.sitecore.net/Downloads/Sitecore_Headless_Rendering/19x/Sitecore_Headless_Rendering_1900.aspx OR

https://dev.sitecore.net/Downloads/Sitecore_Headless_Rendering/20x/Sitecore_Headless_Rendering_2000.aspx

Run the next js app in connected mode

Before working on connected mode create API Key

Navigate to – /sitecore/system/Settings/Services/API Keys

Create a new API Key e.g.:- nextjsservice

API key here is Item ID

Create a custom binding-

For this create a self signed certificate with a custom domain name in this case – next-jss-prj.dev.local

New-SelfSignedCertificate -CertStoreLocation C:\certificates -DnsName "next-jss-prj.dev.local" -FriendlyName "My First Next JSS App" -NotAfter (Get-Date).AddYears(10)

Create a new https binding and assign the newly create SSL certificate

Add domain to the host file – next-jss-prj.dev.local

Inititate JSS

Run the command

npm init sitecore-jss nextjs

Where would you like your new app created? C:\projects\nextjs
Initializing ‘nextjs’…
What is the name of your app? next-jss-prj.dev.local
What is your Sitecore hostname (used if deployed to Sitecore)? next-jss-prj.dev.local
How would you like to fetch Layout and Dictionary data? REST
How would you like to prerender your application? SSG
Would you like to include any add-on initializers? nextjs-styleguide – Includes example components and setup for
working disconnected
Initializing ‘nextjs-styleguide’…
Which additional language do you want to support (en is already included and required)? da-DK

Setup JSS

jss setup

Is your Sitecore instance on this machine or accessible via network share? [y/n]: y
Path to the Sitecore folder (e.g. c:\inetpub\wwwroot\my.siteco.re):
Invalid input.
Path to the Sitecore folder (e.g. c:\inetpub\wwwroot\my.siteco.re): C:\inetpub\wwwroot\xp102sc.dev.local
Sitecore hostname (e.g. http://myapp.local.siteco.re; see /sitecore/config; ensure added to hosts): next-jss-prj.dev.local
Invalid input. Must start with http(s)
Sitecore hostname (e.g. http://myapp.local.siteco.re; see /sitecore/config; ensure added to hosts): https://next-jss-prj.dev.local
Sitecore import service URL [https://next-jss-prj.dev.local/sitecore/api/jss/import]: https://next-jss-prj.dev.local/sitecore/api/jss/import
Sitecore API Key (ID of API key item): {2318A20A-6DF1-4AB8-B49E-F933A3B79160}
Please enter your deployment secret (32+ random chars; or press enter to generate one):

Deployment secret– Leave this blank as this will generate new secret key

Deployment secret key is generate and stored in <<jss development folder>>\sitecore\config\next-jss-prj.deploysecret.config

JSS connection settings saved to scjssconfig.json

Connection and the deployment secret is created, now this needs to be deployed to Sitecore instance so the JSS app is able to establish a connection with Sitecoore

To deploy the config setting deploy the config to Sitecore instance-

jss deploy config

Configs are copied to Sitecore instance App_Config\Include\zzz…

Deploy the artifacts to Sitecore instance-

Since we don’t know hte thumbprint use the below command with –acceptCertificate as test

jss deploy app –includeContent –includeDictionary –acceptCertificate test

This will provide the thumbprint. highllighted in red

Copy the certificate and try deploying again-

jss deploy app –includeContent –includeDictionary –acceptCertificate E4:54:12:A0:7E:D5:95:9B:B0:C2:00:17:3A:26:1B:AD:71:73:9F:05

if you see this error while importing – Message: An item name must satisfy the pattern: ^[\w*\$][\w\s-\$]*((\d{1,})){0,1}$ (controlled by the setting ItemNameValidation)

Change the ItemnameValidation to .* while importing and revert back to original in Sitecore.config file. Refer this –

https://sitecore.stackexchange.com/questions/470/an-item-name-must-satisfy-the-pattern-w-w-s-d1-0-1-c

To run the app run following command

jss start:connected

If you receive this error-

Execute following command to get this working on port 3000

$env:NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=0

Execute JSS start again-

jss start:connected

ERROR-

Connection to your rendering host failed with a Not Found error. Ensure the POST endpoint at URL http://localhost:3000/api/editing/render has been enabled.

Copy the deploy secret and update the – value of setting of JavaScriptServices.ViewEngine.Http.JssEditingSecret in Sitecore.JavaScriptServices.ViewEngine.Http with the deploy secret.

This now work in connected mode. Any content changes in Sitecore should reflect localhost:3000 and Sitecore instance (https://next-jss-prj.dev.local/)

Sitecore next js working in connected mode with SSL

Error-

Exception thrown while importing JSS app
Exception: System.UnauthorizedAccessException
Message: The current user does not have write access to this item. User: sitecore\JssImport, Item: ContentBlock ({23CE8001-F405-5E50-AE61-AD3057660BBD})
Source: Sitecore.Kernel

Resolution-

Error-

Resolution-

Check if the API key is correct at the location – /sitecore/system/Settings/Services/API Keys

Also check if the CORS and Allowed Controllers are set correctly

For developement environment put * for both the highlighted fields

Setup Sitecore 10.2 JSS using next js with disconnected mode

Prerequisite

Install Node js – Download the latest node js from here

Install JSS CLI

npm install -g @sitecore-jss/sitecore-jss-cli

Create a new next js app using JSS CLI

Note the project name should be valid as per below error

next-jss-prj1 is not a valid name; you may use lowercase letters, hyphens, and underscores only.

Numbers not allowed in project name

jss create next-jss-prj nextjs

Installs all the required artifacts in the specified folder

Run the next jss app in desconneted mode-

jss start

The app should listen to port 3000

Errors

JSS CLI is running in global mode because it was not installed in the local node_modules folder.

Resolution– Install jss cli locally. Also ensure you are in correct directory. Should be in project directory

npm install @sitecore-jss/sitecore-jss-cli

Create a new Sitecore 10 SXA module

Sitecore SXA module contains templates, Renderings, Layouts, Placeholder Settings, branch etc. It helps structure the SXA site by scaffolding items required to setup the component.

In this blog post I will walkthrough the steps to create a module manually to have a better understanding and helps specially to debug when there are issues with the existing modules.

Create Module (Part 1)

Navigate to – /sitecore/system/Settings/Feature

Right click Featur folder to create module

Create new module overlay will open.

  1. Provide a Module name – i.e. Custom Image Block
  2. Choose the location where this module to be created.
  3. Select the system areas the module folders to be created
  4. Choose the module should be applied to tenant or site

When module is created should be able to see the folder with the Site Setup Root item

Once the Site Setup Root is created you should be able to see folders with name “Custom Image Block” will be created in Branch, Template, Renderings, Placeholder Settings, Layouts and Media Library or the system areas selected.

Create template required for creating Branch

For creating a branch you will need a template and rendering. Create a template in “Custom Image Block” folder. For now you don’t have to add fields. See blog the fields that were created for component.

Create “Image Block Folder” Template

Create rendering required for creating Branch

Create controller rendering with name “Image Block” in – /sitecore/layout/Renderings/Feature/Wits/Custom Image Block.

For now don’t setup anything in rendering. See blog for the configuration required in rendering-

Create Branch

Navigate to /sitecore/templates/Branches/Feature

Create a new branch. Right click on the folder “Custom Image Block” and insert new branch option

Select the template earlier created-

Branch with name “Image Block” will be created.

Delete $name item in the branch

Rename the Image Block to “Available Image Block Renderings”.

Right click branch and insert item from template-

/sitecore/templates/Foundation/Experience Accelerator/Presentation/Available Renderings/Available Renderings

Give it a name $name as this will create a item in “Available Renderings” folder in site with the component name

Select $name and select the newly created rendering-

Create or Copy the existing branch and name it as “Image Block Variant”

Create a variant, name it as “$name” from template – /sitecore/templates/Foundation/Experience Accelerator/Rendering Variants/Variants

Create Variant Definition under Variant name it as “Default” from template

Path of the variant definition- /sitecore/templates/Foundation/Experience Accelerator/Rendering Variants/Variant Definition

Create Scriban Variant named “Scriban” from template – /sitecore/templates/Foundation/Experience Accelerator/Scriban/Scriban

Add markup in template field or the same can be added when the module is installed on the site – if the markup is specific to the site.

Branch structure should like this-

Create Module (Part 2)

Add Site Item to add Available rendering to the site module is installed

Name it “Add Available Renderings”

Select the Location from the Site>>Presentation>>Available Renderings

In Template field select the “Available Image Block Renderings” from the newly created branch.

Provide the Name

Add Site Item to add rendering variant to the site module is installed

Add another site item, name it “Add Image Block Variant”

Select “Rendering Variant” in Location and “Image Block Variant” created in branch

This will create a “Image Block” in the “Rendering Variant” folder in the site where the module will be installed

Add Site Item to add data folder to the site module is installed

Add another site item, name it “Add Image Block Data Item”

This will create a “Image Block Folder” in “Data” folder in the site where the module will be installed

That’s it you are good to install “Image Block” module.

Sitecore Commerce 10 Create a custom plugin project

If you want to get started and create a custom plugin for XC 9.3 here is the post for same First Steps | Sitecore Commerce Development | Create a Custom Plugin

There are few updates on how the plugins are created in XC 10.

Sitecore Commerce 10 SDK does not include Visual Studio Extension (VSIX) package for creating a plugin project.

Let’s get started and look into the steps to create a new plugin in Sitecore Commerce 10. If you have already set up your commerce development environment, please skip to step 2

Step 1 – Setup developer environment

Create a developer environment for Sitecore Commerce to run the engine from Visual Studio, can be either VS 2017 or 2019. Follow this blog post for same Setup development environment for Sitecore Commerce 10 Engine

Step 2: Download Sitecore.Commerce.Plugin.Template from Nuget Feed

  • Navigate to Official Sitecore Commerce Nuget Feed
  • Search for Sitecore.Commerce.Plugin.Template
  • Download the package for Sitecore.Commerce.Plugin.Template 6.0.4. Copy to file Sitecore.Commerce.Plugin.Template.6.0.4.nupkg desired folder.

3. Install Sitecore Commerce Plugin Template Nuget Package

  • Open Powershell in admin mode and navigate to the folder nupkg file is copied and execute following command to install package
dotnet new -i .\Sitecore.Commerce.Plugin.Template.6.0.4.nupkg
  • Run the dotnet new command and should be able to see Sitecore Commerce Sample Plugin template

4. Create a new Sitecore Commerce Plugin Project

As we have a plugin project template we should be able create a new plugin project.

Execute following command in Powershell. Navigate to the solution src folder-

dotnet new pluginsample -o Sitecore.Commerce.Plugin.SampleTest

New plugin project is created with the project name specified in command.

Include the project in Customer.Sample.Solution and compile.

Notice even though the command has project name “Sitecore.Commerce.Plugin.SampleTest” the actual project is created as “Sitecore.Commerce.Plugin.Sample”. You will have to rename this unfortunately as per your requirement.

Setup development environment for Sitecore Commerce Engine 10 and 10.2

Update: Below is applicable for Sitecore Commerce 10.2. Change the SDK version accordingly. Ignore the step mention for Content Hub

Sitecore Experience Commerce 10 has come up with great new features like Dynamic Bundles, Free gift with Purchase promotion and a sample Sitecore DAM to Commerce connector.

Before you start looking into this, it is important to setup the development environment to debug and test the changes you are making to engine.

Main changes I could see compared to previous versions are integration with Content Hub and Configuring the Commerce Engine using environment variables which not only helps for on-premise installation of Commerce Instance but also helps setup the Docker technology where XC solution is running in containers.

In this post I will walk you through on how to setup the development environment. This post assumes you have Sitecore Commerce Engine along with Visual Studio 2019 installed on developer workstation. If Commerce not installed no worries see this post on how to install Sitecore XC 10 step-by-step.

Step-by-step install Sitecore Commerce (XC) 10

For previous version of XC you may follow this blog post

Step-by-step – Setup development environment for Sitecore Commerce 9.3 Engine

Step 1- Extract Commerce Engine SDK

  • Copy the downloaded SDK Sitecore.Commerce.Engine.SDK.6.0.130.zip on your development folder. e.g: c:\development. Note– there is an update on 19th August where the external dependencies are removed. Download the package again if you have a version before this date.
  • If not available you may download Packages for On Premise WDP 2020.08-6.0.238. Login before you download the file.
  • Extract the commerce package and then extract Sitecore.Commerce.Engine.SDK.6.0.130.zip in your development folder

Step 2 – Setup Visual Studio Solution

  • Open the Solution, by default this is Customer.Sample.Solution.sln
  • Ensure Package Source is configured for Commerce- https://sitecore.myget.org/F/sc-commerce-packages/api/v3/index.json
  • Whilst opening solution login from slpartners.myget.org will be prompted
  • Create an account on https://slpartner.myget.org/ and login here. You may unload Plugin.Sample.ContentHub project if you dont want to integrate ContentHub and the login should not require. Also note myget account has a trial for 14 days.
  • Build the Solution. It should restore the package and build successfully.
  • (optional)Rename the Solution name. In this case I have renamed to Retail.Commerce
  • (Optional) Create Foundation and Feature projects. Build the solution again.

Step 3- Important – Commerce Engine configuration

Sitecore.Commerce.Engine project should have a config.json file in wwwroot folder. Open this file you will see the placeholders that needs to be filled in.

Instead updating config file, you should update the launchSettings.json and the placeholders in config.json will be updated on launch on commerce engine.

Similarly Global.json you can find this in wwwroot/bootstrap folder of your Sitecore.Commerce.Engine project. Again this file has the Placeholders that will be populated from launchSettings.json,

You need to update mainly following variables in launchSettings.json file for both config and global json. There are other variables apart from listed below, you may need to update those based on your site instance name etc.-

  1. COMMERCEENGINE_Caching__Redis__Options__Configuration
  2. COMMERCEENGINE_GlobalDatabaseServer
  3. COMMERCEENGINE_GlobalDatabaseUserName
  4. COMMERCEENGINE_GlobalDatabasePassword
  5. COMMERCEENGINE_SharedDatabaseServer
  6. COMMERCEENGINE_SharedDatabaseUserName
  7. COMMERCEENGINE_SharedDatabasePassword
  8. COMMERCEENGINE_AppSettings__SitecoreIdentityServerUrl
  9. COMMERCEENGINE_EngineAuthoringUrl
  10. COMMERCEENGINE_EngineShopsUrl
  11. COMMERCEENGINE_EngineMinionsUrl
  12. COMMERCEENGINE_EngineHealthCheckUrl
  13. COMMERCEENGINE_AppSettings__AllowedOrigins

Step 4 – Generate Development Certificate

Generate development certificate using script “New-DevelopmentCertificate”, so the localhost runs on SSL(https)

  1. Create a folder named “dev” in the root directory of SDK
  2. Create a folder named “Sitecore.Commerce.Engine_Dev” under “dev” folder
  3. Create a folder named “wwwroot” under “Sitecore.Commerce.Engine_Dev” folder
  4. Open powershell script and navigate to scripts folder.
  5. Change the Path($certificateOutputDirectory) if required. Certificate should be copied to \src\Project\Engine\code\wwwroot
  6. Execute New-DevelopmentCertificate script. This script should be available in script folder in SDK folder.

Step 5 – Update EngineUri in BizFx Site

  • Open config.json file. Should be in assets folder of your BizFx instance
  • Change EngineUri to https://localhost:5000
  • Change BizFxUri to https://localhost:4200
  • Restart BizFx site

Step 6- Run the Commerce Engine from Visual Studio

  • Set the Sitecore.Commerce.Engine project as Startup Project
  • Change the emulator to Engine
  • Stop the CommerceAuthoring_SC site hosted in IIS
  • Run the solution

Hope there should be nothing that should block to run the Business Tools requesting a call to Engine running from Visual Studio

Note: some places you may have to restart IIS also clear the browser cache before you start checking Business Tools is highly recommended.

Hope this post helps you setting your XC 10 development environment.

ISSUES

Request origin https://bizfx.sc.com does not have permission to access the resource

Resolution- Follow Step 5