Functionality

Extensions

Extensions > Install

The Extensions > Install menu item allows you to install multiple install-packages on one or more deployments. It is ideal for installing a set of extensions on a newly created deployment.

Extensions > Update

The Extensions > Update menu item allows you to update an extension which is already installed on one or more deployments. The option brings you to a page which allows you to select multiple deployments. You can use the table header controls to filter the list of deployments and select only those which you want to update. You can use the Check All Shown button to select or unselect all of the displayed deployments. The Check All Shown button is flipping the selected status of the deployments you’ve already selected. This is how you can perform an “all except these” selection.

The Update Selected Extensions… button takes you to a page where you can select an install-package for the extension you want to update. If your install-package is not listed, you can use the last drop-down option I’ll type the item’s name and version.

The Send Request button sends a request to the site-servers. The Request is in fact a text-file which contains a list of steps to be performed by the site-server Windows Scheduled Task. The file also serves as a log of the performed steps.

Extensions > Uninstall

The Extensions > Uninstall menu item allows you to uninstall an extension. The uninstallation process takes the same steps as the installation process. You need to select an install-package, then click the button and send a request to the site-servers. This will remove all of the extension’s files from the server site folder.

The install-package usually contains a configuration file Install.config. It can contain a section called FilesToBeIgnoredByInstaller. It is meant to list shared assemblies that should not be updated or deleted by the installer. However, during the uninstallation process, the installer will always try and delete extension subfolders inside the WebPages/ROI360 folder. Files placed in such subfolders will be deleted during uninstallation, even if they are listed in the FilesToBeIgnoredByInstaller section of the configuration file.

Extensions > Install, Update and Uninstall - ExtensionInstaller.exe

The ExtensionInstaller.exe is a command line tool which is called by the Windows Task Scheduler every minute. The executable is placed and the associated scheduled task is configured on each of our Storefront machines.

During the installation, update or uninstallation process, the ExtensionInstaller.exe is trying to stop the Internet Information Services (IIS) application pool and site for the particular deployment.
Then it is copying the files from the install-package to the deployment’s site folder. After the files are copied, the ExtensionInstaller.exe is starting the IIS application pool and site again.

The stop and start of the IIS application pool is an operation which may fail on a large deployment. An email is sent when the operation fails but since it usually happens at night, the deployment site may be out of service for many hours before we notice the next morning. We should never completely rely on the automation and we should always check the result as soon as possible after the installation process is finished.

Deployments

Wizard

Deployments > Wizard > Clone An Existing Deployment

The Deployments > Wizard > Clone An Existing Deployment button opens a page which allows you to select your source - an existing deployment - your target - a name of the new deployment you want to create based on the source. The result of this operation is a new deployment which is a copy of the source deployment. However, the new deployment isn’t working immediately after the cloning process is finished because the deployment’s domain name is not configured yet. You need to configure the domain name of the new deployment yourself. In case you don’t have access to our DNS configuration, you need to contact your administrator.
As you confirm your choices, the page creates a list of steps which are going to be processed by the source and target servers. This set of steps is called an Action. Right after its creation, it is shown at the top of the Wizard page’s action list. You can follow its link on the Wizard page to see the details and the progress of the action. In order to see the current progress, you need to click the Refresh button to update the list of steps.

The Copy FTP Users option creates two XML files which are in fact excerpts from the C:\ProgramData\filezilla-server\users.xml files on the Storefront and the Rendering machines. The target deployment will have the same FTP users as the source deployment. If the name of the source deployment is included as part of the FTP user name, it’s going to be replaced with the name of the target deployment. If the source and target deployments are on the same machine, the cloning process is going to add an index number to the FTP users’ names for each existing user with the same name.

Deployments > Wizard > Back Up A Deployment

The Deployments > Wizard > Back Up A Deployment button opens a page which allows you to select an existing deployment and create a backup of it. You need to provide a name for the backup. The name will be used to create a copy of the deployment root folder and also the SQL database backup file.

Apart from making a copy of the basic deployment files, you can choose to create a backup lists of the FTP users which are configured to access the deployment folders. The FTP users backup consists of two XML files which are in fact excerpts from the C:\ProgramData\filezilla-server\users.xml files on the Storefront and the Rendering machines. The Storefront machine contains the deployment root folder with its Assets and Custom subfolders. The Rendering machine contains the deployment’s final output folder. The FTP users backup files are written to the root of deployment backup folder.

The Leave FTP accounts disabled is a potentially dangerous option because it effectivelly disables the FTP accounts of the backed up deployment. You only choose this option if you are sure that the backed up deployment is out of use and you don’t want to allow any access to it.

Deployments > Wizard > Restore A Deployment

The Deployments > Wizard > Restore A Deployment button takes you to a page which allows you to select a backup of an existing deployment. You choose a name for the restored deployment and confirm your choices.

Deployments > Wizard > Delete A Deployment

The Deployments > Wizard > Delete A Deployment button shows a page which allows you to select an existing deployment and delete it. This action is going to fail if the deployment is not complete, that is, a non-working deployment. In this case, you need to run the Cleanup action instead. You need to select the Deployments > Wizard > Clean A Deployment From A Server option.

The FTP users of the deleted deployment will be removed from the Storefront and Rendering machines.

Deployments > Wizard > Clean A Deployment From A Server

The Deployments > Wizard > Clean A Deployment From A Server button allows you to select a sever and type a name of a deployment which once existed on that server or supposed to exist on that server. At first, this action runs a check for the integrity of the deployment on the selected server. If all of the key parts of the deployment are present, the action will fail and you will be informed to use the Delete A Deployment option instead.

The FTP users of the deleted deployment will be removed from the Storefront and Rendering machines.