Configure multiple Content Management instances

Version:

Important

Indexing must be performed by one instance only. If you install additional Content Management instances, you must remove the Indexing sub-role from those instances.

See Enable the indexing sub-role

To configure multiple Content Management (CM) instances, do the following for each instance you have installed:

By default, Sitecore assigns each CM instance a name based on the machine name plus the IIS server name. You must ensure that each CM instance has a unique name. To set the instance name, create the following patch file at <your CM instance>/App_Config/include/InstanceName.config:
<setting name="InstanceName"> <patch:attribute name="value"><your unique CM instance name></patch:attribute> </setting>
Only one CM instance can perform publishing, and you must ensure that each CM instance points to the publishing CM instance. To set the publishing CM instance name, create the following patch file at <your CM instance>/App_Config/include/PublishingInstance.config:
<setting name="Publishing.PublishingInstance"> <patch:attribute name="value"><your publishing CM instance name></patch:attribute> </setting>
Important

The Publishing.PublishingInstance setting is only relevant when you are using the built-in publishing methods in the Content Management role. It is not relevant if you are using the optional Content Publishing service.
In the <your CM instance>/Web.config file, set the validationKey and the decryptionKey attributes of the /configuration/system.web/machineKey setting to a non-auto generated value. Ensure that the value is the same on all the Sitecore instances within the environment and that the IsolateApps modifier is not present in either value.

On all but one instance, create a patch file that disables Scheduled Task processing:

<configuration xmlns:patch="http://www.sitecore.net/xmlconfig/">
  <sitecore>
    <scheduling>      
      <agent name="Core_Database_Agent">
        <patch:delete />
      </agent>      
      <agent name="Master_Database_Agent">
        <patch:delete />
      </agent>
    </scheduling>
  </sitecore>
</configuration>

In the <your CM instance>/App_Config/include/Example/ folder you can find a ScalabilitySettings.config.example patch file containing the logic to set InstanceName and PublishingInstance as well as other settings that might be relevant to a scaled set-up.

Note

Shared session state is not supported on Content Management (CM) servers and you have to use a load balancer to use sticky session.

Important

If you have multiple CM instances, you must set up a dedicated Reporting Service instance.

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