Sitecore Commerce 9 Update 2 and Step-by-step Install Guide on your machine

This one is a summary of my own experience for Sitecore Experience Commerce 9 Update 2 (aka Sitecore XC 9.0.2) installation on my machine. I’ve had much experience with Sitecore XC9 installation and Sitecore XC9 Update 1 installation so I decided to go only with:

• Installation Guide – On Premises (Thanks Sitecore team!)

I do hope that this blog post is helpful for your journey as well.

Setup Prerequisites

Please refer to the Sitecore Experience Commerce 9 Compatibility Table for the software and version prerequisites:

• Windows 10
• Sitecore Experience Platform 9.0 Update 2
• Sitecore Experience Accelerator 1.7.1(Note: must log into https://dev.sitecore.net/ before downloading)
• Sitecore Powershell Extensions 4.7.2
• .NET Core SDK 2.0.0
• .NET Core Windows Server Hosting 2.0.0
  • Note: you may get Sitecore Commerce APIs 500 error so should upgrade to .NET Core Windows Server Hosting 2.0.8
• Packages for On Premises 2018.07-2.2.126(Note: must log into https://dev.sitecore.net/ before downloading)

Step-by-step guide

1. install the ones below if not yet
   • a fresh Sitecore 9.0 Update 2 instance, let’s say sc9com.local and sc9com.xconnect.local (xConnect site)
   • .NET Core SDK 2.0.0
   • .NET Core Windows Server Hosting 2.0.0
2. rebuild the Link databases for the master and core databases if not yet:
   • on the Sitecore Launchpad, click Control Panel, and in the Database section, click Rebuild Link Databases
   • select the master and core databases and then click Rebuild
   • 
3. rebuild the search indexes if not yet:
   • on the Sitecore Launchpad, click Control Panel, and in the Indexing section, click Indexing manager
   • in the Indexing Manager dialog box, click Select all, and then click Rebuild
   • 
4. DO NOT stop the xConnect site xconnect.local
   • from the installation guide with love (Page 9)
   • 
   • ensure that Experience Analytics is working properly
     • 
     • Note: if there is any error
       • option 1: you will have to solve it before installing XC by opening the Sitecore log and then having a look at the error messages (normally, they’re certificate issues)
       • option 2: you may want to disable xDB and then fix the error later after installing XC successfully

5. create a new folder E:\sc9_com_install
6. create a certificate for the Sitecore Commerce Engine Connect to authenticate with the Sitecore XC Engine:
   • launch PowerShell as an administrator
   • create the certificate by running the following cmdlet:
     • New-SelfSignedCertificate -certstorelocation cert:\localmachine\my -dnsname “storefront.local”
   • export the certificate to a file by running the following cmdlet:
     • Export-Certificate -Cert cert:\localMachine\my\<Thumbprint-of-cert> -FilePath E:\sc9_com_install\storefront.local.cer
   • 
7. download MSBuild Microsoft Visual Studio Web targets (available from Nuget) then extract the Web targets package, copy the \tools\VSToolsPath\Web\Microsoft.Web.XmlTransform.dll file into E:\sc9_com_install
8. download Sitecore Experience Accelerator 1.7.1(Note: must log into https://dev.sitecore.net/ before downloading) and put it into E:\sc9_com_install
9. download Sitecore Powershell Extensions 4.7.2then put it into E:\sc9_com_install
10. download and unzip Packages for On Premises 2018.07-2.2.126(Note: must log into https://dev.sitecore.net/before downloading) then put it into E:\sc9_com_install
11. unzip E:\sc9_com_install\Sitecore.Commerce.1.2.14.zipand then rename E:\sc9_com_install\SIF.Sitecore.Commerce.1.2.14to E:\sc9_com_install\SIF for a better practice
12. unzip the E:\sc9_com_install\BizFX.1.2.19.zip
13. unzip the E:\sc9_com_install\Commerce.Engine.SDK.2.2.72.zip file then copy the E:\sc9_com_install\Sitecore.Commerce.Engine.SDK.2.2.72\Sitecore.Commerce.Engine.DB.dacpacfile into E:\sc9_com_install
    • Note: you will see the following error message if you copy / paste the one of XC 9 Update 1
    • 
    • ERROR Message=SQL.InsertEntity.Fail: Id=’Entity-PolicySet-ControllerMethodRolesPolicySet’|Environment=’GlobalEnvironment’|Message=’Procedure or function sp_CommerceEntitiesInsert has too many arguments specified.
14. unzip E:\sc9_com_install\Commerce.Engine.2.2.126.zip
    • open E:\sc9_com_install\Sitecore.Commerce.Engine.2.2.126\wwwroot\bootstrap\Global.json
    • replace the Database‘s value to “SitecoreCommerce9_Global” at line 109 (the default value  is NOT correct)
    • ensure the Server‘s value is “.” at line 113 (it’s empty by default)
    • 
    • zip the folder E:\sc9_com_install\Commerce.Engine.2.2.126as E:\sc9_com_install\Sitecore.Commerce.Engine.2.2.126\Sitecore.Commerce.Engine.2.2.126.zip file then overwrite E:\sc9_com_install\Sitecore.Commerce.Engine.2.2.126.zip with it
15. download sc9_com_install.ps1 and put it into E:\sc9_com_install\SIF then open it to correct 09 parameters below:
    1. $SitePrefix
    2. $ScInstallDirectory
    3. $SiteHostHeaderName
    4. $SqlServer
    5. $SqlDbPrefix
    6. $CommerceEngineCertificatePath
    7. $SolrUrl
    8. $SolrRoot
    9. $SolrService
16. (optional): you can specify any local account (note: it will be created automatically if non-existent) to be set up for the various application pools that are created as part of the deployment at line 76-77 of sc9_com_install.ps1
    • 
17. (optional): if you play with SQL Server 2017, you will have to download DeployCommerceDatabase.psm1 then overwrite E:\sc9_com_install\SIF\Modules\DeployCommerceDatabase\DeployCommerceDatabase.psm1
18. (optional): if you have multiple instances of SQL Server on your machine, you will have to:
    • unzip E:\sc9_com_install\Commerce.Engine.2.2.126.zip
    • open E:\sc9_com_install\Sitecore.Commerce.Engine.2.2.126\wwwroot\bootstrap\Global.json
    • replace the Server’s value to your SQL Server instance at line 113 (Note: double-backslash escape if any)
    • 
    • open E:\sc9_com_install\Sitecore.Commerce.Engine.2.2.126\wwwroot\data\Environments\PlugIn.Habitat.CommerceAuthoring-1.0.0.jsonthen replace the Server‘s value to your SQL Server instance at line 130 (Note: double-backslash escape if any)
    • open E:\sc9_com_install\Sitecore.Commerce.Engine.2.2.126\wwwroot\data\Environments\PlugIn.AdventureWorks.CommerceAuthoring-1.0.0.jsonthen replace the Server‘s value to your SQL Server instance at line 130 (Note: double-backslash escape if any)
    • zip the folder E:\sc9_com_install\Commerce.Engine.2.2.126 as E:\sc9_com_install\Sitecore.Commerce.Engine.2.2.126\Sitecore.Commerce.Engine.2.2.126.zip file then overwrite E:\sc9_com_install\Sitecore.Commerce.Engine.2.2.126.zipwith it
19. (optional): you may get timeout exceptions (some tasks’ execution timeout is only 12 minutes by default and the remote query timeout of SQL Server is only 10 minutes by default) so I suggest:
    • download SitecoreUtilityTasks.psm1  then overwrite E:\sc9_com_install\SIF\Modules\SitecoreUtilityTasks\SitecoreUtilityTasks.psm1 in order to increase the execution timeout
    • download PerformanceTweak.config then put it into  \sc9com.local\App_Config\Environment in order to turn all Sitecore jobs off and disable xDB for a better installation (you know, it’s a super long operation :D)
    • configure the remote query timeout option of SQL Server:
      1. using SQL Server Management Studio
      2. in Object Explorer, right-click a server and select Properties
      3. under Remote server connections, in the Remote query timeout box, type or select a value from 0 through 2,147,483,647 to set the maximum number seconds for SQL Server to wait before timing out
    • consider to put $global:ProgressPreference = ‘silentlyContinue’into the sc9_com_install.ps1 in order to speed up the operation
20. launch PowerShell as an administrator
    • 
    • hopefully there is nothing can stop the installation process now
    • 
21. open a browser then navigate to storefront.local/, you would see the default page of Sitecore website. That’s because we don’t use the default host name sxa.storefront.com so we need to correct it inside Sitecore
    • log into sc9com.local/sitecore/
    • access /sitecore/content/Sitecore/Storefront/Settings/Site Grouping/Storefront
    • update Host Name to storefront.local  and then publish it
    • 
    • refresh storefront.local/, you would see something like this
    • 
    • I’m sure that you want to make it more fancy so access /sitecore/content/Sitecore/Storefront/Presentation/Page Designs
    • update Theme to Storefont Branded and then publish it
    • 
    • refresh storefront.local/, you would see something like this
    • 
22. DO NOT forget to perform Post-Installation Steps
    • remove \sc9com.local\App_Config\Environment\PerformanceTweak.config if existent
    • follow Chapter 4 Post-Installation Steps (Page 15 – 17) in Sitecore Commerce 9 Update 2 Installation Guide

The recommendations

• we can remove the tasks completed from E:\sc9_com_install\SIF\Configuration\Commerce\Master_SingleServer.json and re-do Step 20 if there is something wrong (especially for Note: some known issues below) so that we are able to save a lot of time
• if there is something wrong during installation process, we always have a chance to correct it via json files (note: need to do IIS reset after updating):
  1. C:\inetpub\wwwroot\SitecoreIdentityServer\wwwroot\appsettings.json
  2. C:\inetpub\wwwroot\CommerceShops_Sc9\wwwroot\bootstrap\Global.json
  3. C:\inetpub\wwwroot\CommerceOps_Sc9\wwwroot\bootstrap\Global.json
  4. C:\inetpub\wwwroot\CommerceMinions_Sc9\wwwroot\bootstrap\Global.json
  5. C:\inetpub\wwwroot\CommerceAuthoring_Sc9\wwwroot\bootstrap\Global.json
  6. C:\inetpub\wwwroot\CommerceShops_Sc9\wwwroot\data\Environments\Plugin.SQL.PolicySet-1.0.0.json
  7. C:\inetpub\wwwroot\CommerceShops_Sc9\wwwroot\data\Environments\PlugIn.Habitat.CommerceAuthoring-1.0.0.json
  8. C:\inetpub\wwwroot\CommerceShops_Sc9\wwwroot\data\Environments\PlugIn.AdventureWorks.CommerceAuthoring-1.0.0.json

How to uninstall it?

• download sc9_com_uninstall.ps1 and put it into E:\sc9_com_install then open it to correct 07 parameters below:
  1. $EngineSuffix
  2. $Prefix
  3. $SolrService
  4. $PathToSolr
  5. $SqlServer
  6. $SqlAccount
  7. $SqlPassword
• launch PowerShell as an administrator
  • 
• hopefully, it runs well and cleans everything up

Note: some known issues

1. The service cannot accept control messages at this time
   • 
   • access IIS, start sc9com.local site and sc9com.local application pool manually (note: you may need to do it several times) if they’re in STOP status, somehow IIS cannot restart those ones after stopping them
2. The wait operation timed out: [SqlException (0x80131904): Connection Timeout Expired. The timeout period elapsed during the post-login phase. The connection could have timed out while waiting for server to complete the login process and
   respond; Or it could have timed out while attempting to create multiple active connections.
   • 
   • open E:\sc9_com_install\SIF\Configuration\Commerce\Master_SingleServer.json to remove the tasks completed
   • for instance, I would remove all the completed tasks before InstallSXAFrameworkModule then re-do Step 20 again
   • 
3. Request timed out:  Exception Details: System.Web.HttpException: Request timed out.
   • 
   • my suggestions:
     1. open E:\sc9_com_install\SIF\Configuration\Commerce\Master_SingleServer.json to remove the tasks completed
        • for instance, I would remove all the completed tasks before PublishExtensions then re-do Step 20 again
     2. consider to perform Step 19 as well if solution #1 does not work as expected then re-do Step 20 again

4. Something went wrong restarting SQL server again: Cannot validate argument on parameter ‘InputObject’. The argument is null or empty. Provide an argument that is not null or empty, and then try the command again.
   • 
   • somehow SQL Server window service cannot restart after stopping, ensure SQL Server window service is running
5. Install-SitecoreConfiguration : Cannot find path ‘C:\inetpub\wwwroot\CommerceOps_Sc9\wwwroot\config.json’ because it does not exist.
   • 
   • in Step 15, ensure to create Sitecore.Commerce.Engine.2.2.126.zip correctly (especially directory structure)
6. Get Token From Sitecore.IdentityServer: HTTP Error 503. The service is unavailable
   • 
   • my suggestions:
     1. ensure to install .Net Core stuffs
     2. correct connection string in “C:\inetpub\wwwroot\SitecoreIdentityServer\wwwroot\appsettings.json” and then do IIS reset
     3. correct the application pool of SitecoreIdentityServer site in IIS

7. Ensure/Sync default content paths for environment AdventureWorksAuthoring failed
   • 
   • ensure to perform Step 14 and Step 18 correctly
8. ERROR Exception when executing agent aggregation/pathAnalyzerHistoryAgent
   Exception: Sitecore.XConnect.XdbCollectionUnavailableException
   Message: The HTTP response was not successful: Forbidden
   Source: Sitecore.Xdb.Common.Web
   • have a look at https://sitecorecorner.com/2017/10/25/sitecore-9-xconnect-ssl-and-that-403-forbidden/
   • ensure to remove all non-self-signed certificates out of Trusted Root Certification Authorities certificate store (you can move them to Intermediate Certification Authorities certificate store)
     • Note: should use this Windows Powershell command Get-Childitem cert:\LocalMachine\root -Recurse | Where-Object {$_.Issuer -ne $_.Subject} to find them out

9. The specified module ‘sqlps’ was not loaded because no valid module file was found in any module directory

Got issues?

Please send your issues (with screenshots if possible) to [email protected] so that I have a chance to understand your problem and be able to suggest the solution.

Happy Sitecore Installation!

This article originally appeared on Walking on clouds (https://buoctrenmay.com/).