Configure a processing server

Current version: 8.2

Configure one or multiple processing servers for aggregation or other kinds of processing. You can configure a processing server in much the same way as you configure a content delivery or content management server. Multiple processing servers can provide better scalability and performance. As a general rule, the more aggregation server instances you create, the faster aggregation processing will be.

Recommendations

  • Application initialization - If you have one or more processing, dedicated publishing, and or indexing servers that do not handle requests, ensure that you use Application Initialization (IIS 8.0) or the appropriate module (IIS 7.5), so you can successfully start Sitecore after you recycle the application pool. If you do not do this, Sitecore will not be launched and its application pool may shut down due to inactivity.

  • xDB Cloud configuration – if you are running xDB Cloud edition, then configure your processing environment according to this topic and the instructions for configuring xDB Cloud.

Important

Synchronize all servers to a single reliable time source, for example, by means of the Network Time Protocol (NTP). The aggregation of engagement automation states depends on the system time and changing this can lead to incorrect aggregation results or loss of data.

Note

Do not make changes directly to the configuration files. Instead, you must create a patch file that performs the required changes during runtime.

Configure a processing server

To configure a processing server:

  1. Ensure that you have read the hardware guidelines for:

  2. Install a Sitecore instance using the Installing the Sitecore Experience Platform guide on the Sitecore Developer Portal website.

    Note

    If you are using Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5.2, in the web.config, add targetFramework="4.5.2" to httpRuntime node. This change only applies to Sitecore 8.2 initial release. Refer to the Sitecore installation guide for more information.

  3. Remove or restrict access to the client. You do not need the Sitecore client on a processing server.

  4. Configure database connection strings. This topic contains a list of all database connection strings required for each server type.

  5. Download the spreadsheet that lists of all the configuration files that you must enable or disable for each server type.

    Important

    If you are using Windows File Explorer, you must ensure that file extensions are displayed. To display file extensions, in the File Explorer Options window, on the View tab, ensure that the Hide extensions for known file types check box is clear.

  6. Enable or disable the relevant files for a processing server.

    Note

    If you do not use the Sitecore Commerce product in your Sitecore XP installation, then you must disable the configuration files that belong to Sitecore Commerce Connect, regardless of whether the spreadsheet says to disable them or enable them.

  7. In the following config files, update each of the parameter values:

    Configuration file

    Section

    Parameter

    Value

    Sitecore.ContentSearch.DefaultConfigurations.config

    configuration/sitecore/contentSearch/ indexConfigurations/indexUpdateStrategies

    Comment out all strategies using the web database.

    RequestResponse
    <onPublishEndAsync type="Sitecore.ContentSearch.Maintenance.Strategies.OnPublishEndAsynchronousStrategy, Sitecore.ContentSearch">
                <param desc="database">web</param>            
                <CheckForThreshold>true</CheckForThreshold>
              </onPublishEndAsync>

    Sitecore.config

    configuration/sitecore/<database id="web"

    Comment out this section

    database

    RequestResponse
    <database id="web"
        </database>

    configuration/sitecore/<agent type="Sitecore.Tasks.PublishAgent"

    Comment out this section

    agent

    RequestResponse
        <agent type="Sitecore.Tasks.PublishAgent" method="Run" interval="00:00:00">
          <param desc="source database">master</param>
          <param desc="target database">web</param>
          <param desc="mode (full or smart or incremental)">incremental</param>
          <param desc="languages">en, da</param>
        </agent>

    <sites>

    <site name="website" database="web"/>

    database

    master

    Web.config

    <system.webServer>

    <modules

    Comment out the entry for SitecoreAntiCSRF

    RequestResponse
    <add name="SitecoreAntiCSRF" type="Sitecore.Security.AntiCsrf.SitecoreAntiCsrfModule, Sitecore.Security.AntiCsrf" />.
    Note

    In Sitecore, you can create your own names for databases and indexes. This table uses the default Sitecore names for all databases and indexes, such as master, web, and sitecore_marketing_asset_index_web.

  8. Configure a search and indexing provider. This topic contains a list of links and other information you need to configure Lucene or Solr as your search and indexing provider.

Optional configuration

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