Install and configure the Experience Edge Connector

Version:

This topic shows how you install and perform basic post-installation configuration of the Experience Edge Connector module.

To install and use this module, you must meet the following pre-requisites:

Sitecore Experience Management 10.1, or later
An active Sitecore Experience Edge subscription

Note

You can also use SIF to install the module.

Install the Experience Edge Connector

To install the Sitecore Experience Edge connector:

Go to the Downloads page for Sitecore Headless Rendering, and choose the link for the package that is compatible with your version of XP.
Download the installation package for the Experience Edge Connector module.
In the Sitecore Launchpad, open the Control Panel, and in the Administration section, select Install a package.
Follow the steps in the installation wizard.
Before you close the wizard, select Restart the Sitecore Client and Restart the Sitecore Server.

Note

Do not connect more than one Sitecore instance to an Edge instance.

Configure the Experience Edge Connector

Before you can use the connector module, you must first configure the authorization credentials, the delivery and CDN settings, create the publishing target for Edge, check the Solr index prerequisites and validate the configuration.

To configure the Experience Edge Connector:

In the Website root folder, open the App_Config\ConnectionStrings.config file.

Add a new connection string with the name experienceedge.authority and set the value to the Experience Edge authorization credentials you have been provided with when you signed up:

<add name="experienceedge.authority" connectionString="url=AUTHORITY_URL_HERE;client_id=CLIENT_ID_HERE;client_secret=CLIENT_SECRET_HERE;audience=AUDIENCE_HERE"/>

Note

Replace the placeholders (AUTHORITY_URL_HERE, and so on) with the correct values for your subscription.

To configure the delivery and CDN settings:

Set the delivery API endpoint and CDN settings as Sitecore settings (patched), not as connection strings. The target file (the file you are patching) is the App_Config\Modules\ExperienceEdgeConnector\ExperienceEdgeConnector.config file. Create a patch file, for example: App_Config/Include/zzz/ExperienceEdge.Settings.config:

<configuration xmlns:patch="http://www.sitecore.net/xmlconfig/">  
    <sitecore>    
        <settings>      
        <!-- Delivery (GraphQL) endpoint -->      
        <setting name="ExperienceEdge.DeliveryEndpoint"               
                 patch:attribute="value"               
                 value="https://edge.sitecorecloud.io/api/graphql/v1" />      
        <!-- CDN base URI for media -->      
        <setting name="ExperienceEdge.CDN.Uri"               
                 patch:attribute="value"               
                 value="https://saas-cdn.marketingcontenthub.cloud" />      
        <!-- Tenant-specific media prefix -->      
        <setting name="ExperienceEdge.CDN.MediaPrefix"               
                 patch:attribute="value"               
                 value="your-tenant/media" />    
        </settings>  
     </sitecore>
</configuration>

In the 10.1 connector, these three values must be supplied as Sitecore configuration entries

To create the publishing target for Edge:

In Content Editor, navigate to /sitecore/system/Publishing targets.
Create a new item (for example, Edge).
Set Target database to experienceedge.

This connects the publish UI to the Edge target used by the connector.

To check the Solr index prerequisites:

The connector uses a custom Solr index to track dynamic dependencies (standard values, template inheritance, rendering datasources) during publish. Ensure Solr is healthy and the connector’s core(s) exist.

If your solution relies on language fallback and you want it applied during Edge publishes, enable it explicitly:

<setting name="ExperienceEdge.EnableItemLanguageFallback"  patch:attribute="value" value="true" /><setting name="ExperienceEdge.EnableFieldLanguageFallback" patch:attribute="value" value="true" />

Use as needed and validate against your content model.

To validate the configuration:

Perform a Smart publish to the Edge target.
Open the GraphQL IDE for your region/tenant and run a simple item query to confirm that your content is available at the Delivery endpoint. (Use the token/authorization flow associated with your subscription.)

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