Using CMS-only mode to run Sitecore without the xDB

Current version: 9.3

A server role is said to be running in CMS-Only mode when you disable the xDB and optionally the tracker in configuration. Reasons to disable the xDB or the tracker include:

  • You have an XP topology and want to temporarily disable the xDB. Reasons to temporarily disable the xDB include:

    • An unexpected traffic spike.

    • Upgrading from 8.X to 9.X.

    • You need to assess the impact of new or changed data privacy legislation.

  • You have used the pre-built XP Scaled packages to deploy the Content Delivery and Content Management roles and do not want to use the xDB. In this scenario, you must manually disable the xDB and the tracker in configuration.

    Note

    The xDB is automatically disabled if you have an Experience Management license. This is true even if you used the XP Scaled packages to deploy the Content Delivery and Content Management roles.

See Disabling the xDB and the tracker for step-by-step instructions.

You cannot enable the xDB and the tracker if you use the Sitecore 9.1 XM Scaled packages

In Sitecore 9.1, you cannot enable the xDB and the tracker if you use the XM Scaled packages to install the Content Delivery and Content Delivery roles. This is because the XM Scaled packages for Sitecore 9.1 and later do not contain many of the binaries and configuration files used by Sitecore XP. To enable the xDB, you must re-deploy the Content Delivery and Content Management roles using the XP Scaled packages.

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