Publishing a store archive from the Administration Console

Publishing a store archive to a WebSphere Commerce Server allows you to create a running store.

Business Edition onlyIn WebSphere Commerce, Business Edition, sample store archive files are also used to package and deliver organization structures, predefined user roles, and access control policies necessary to create the environment for your store or site, as well as collections of store assets that create a catalog or a storefront. In order to create a running store, you must publish one of the composite store archives. You can also publish a sequence of component store archives to publish a running store, however that information is discussed in Publishing a store archive from the Administration Console - Advanced Options.

For a list of the sample store archives available with WebSphere Commerce, see Sample store archives.

Important: Follow the instructions in this file to publish composite store archives. For information on publishing any other type of store archive, see Publishing a store archive from the Administration Console - Advanced Options.

To publish a store archive from the Administration Console, do the following:

  1. Ensure that you have Site Administrator access.
  2. Ensure appropriate services and servers are running.
  3. AIXSun Solaris Operating EnvironmentLinuxWindowsConfigure publish.
  4. (Optional) Back up your WebSphere Commerce database, so you can restore your pre-published version if necessary. 
  5. Open the Administration Console, selecting the Site option.
  6. From the Store Archives menu, select Publish. The Store Archives page displays listing the store archives available for publish. By default, the page displaying composite store archives displays.
    Note: To publish a store archive other than a composite store archive, see Publishing a store archive from the Administration Console - Advanced Options.

    The View drop down list contains the following views:

    View Description
    DefaultContains the sample composite store archives.

    The sample composite store archives contain the organization structure, predefined user roles, and necessary access control policies to create an environment, plus a sample working store or site.

    Consumer directContains all sample store archives related to consumer direct, including the sample composite consumer direct store archive and all of the component archives. Each component archive contains a portion of the assets contained in the composite store archive.  
    B2B directContains all sample store archives related to B2B direct, including the sample composite B2B direct store archive and all of the component archives. Each component archive contains a portion of the assets contained in the composite store archive.  
    Demand chainContains all sample store archives related to demand chain, including the sample composite demand chain store archive and all of the component archives. Each component archive contains a portion of the assets contained in the composite store archive.  
    Supply chainContains all sample store archives related to supply chain, including the sample composite supply chain store archive and all of the component archives. Each component archive contains a portion of the assets contained in the composite store archive.  
    HostingContains all sample store archives related to  Hosting, including the sample composite Hosting store archive and all of the component archives. Each component archive contains a portion of the assets contained in the composite store archive.

    For more information on the store archives provided with WebSphere Commerce, see the following files:

  7. Select the store archive you want to publish. To see a preview of the store, click Preview. An HTML version of the published store displays in another window.
    Note: Previews are only available for store archives that contain customer facing stores.
  8. Click Next. The Parameters page displays. Depending on the store archive you selected, different parameters will display. For more information, see Publish utility parameters by store archive.
    1. If you are publishing a sample store archive for the first time, accept the default values in the parameter fields. If you are publishing a sample store archive other than a composite store archive, or if you want to publish a second store of the same type of a previously published store archive, see Publishing a store archive from the Administration Console - Advanced Options.
      Important: We do not recommend that you publish more than one type of composite store archive or organization structure store archive in the same instance (for example, do not publish a ConsumerDirect.sar and DemandChain.sar in the same instance), or that you publish the same composite store archive  or organization structure store archive more than once, as doing so may overwrite data previously published.
    2. Click Next. The Summary page displays, listing the store archive and parameters selected, as well as the location to which the store archive will be published.
      Note: If you want to review the file structure of the store once it is published, note the published location for future reference.
  9. After reviewing the summary information, click Finish. A confirmation dialog displays, telling you the number of the publishing job. Note the job number for future reference. Click Ok. The Publish Job Status page displays. The publishing state is reflected in the Publish status column. Click Refresh to update the status.
  10. To see more details about a particular publish job, select it from the list. Click Details. The Publish Details page displays. While the store archive is being published, the Publish Details page is automatically refreshed every 20 seconds with the latest publishing status. 
    Note: If an error occurs during publishing, a window displays with more details about the error. If you need more information, see Troubleshooting publishing.
  11. Review the publishing details.
  12. If the store archive published successfully, you have the option of launching your store. To view and test your store, Click Launch Store. A dialog box displays, asking you for the Web Application context. Accept the default. Click Ok.
    Notes:
    Compiling the JavaServer Pages (JSP) files in your site or store before launching it will significantly reduce the amount of time needed to load each store page. As a result, it is recommended that you batch compile your store or sites JSP files after publishing a store archive. To batch compile the store's JSP files, see Compiling your JavaServer Page files.

    Business Edition onlyIf you publish the B2B Direct store archive (ToolTech), you must stop and restart the commerce server before viewing the store, or the registration page will not display properly. For more information, see Starting and stopping WebSphere Commerce. In order to prevent unnecessary exceptions displaying, delete the SendTransactionMsg job from the scheduled jobs. For more information, see Deleting a scheduled job.

  13. In order to enable caching in the sample stores, you must merge the cachespec.xml file from the following directory:

    WC_installdir/samples/dynacache/ businessmodelname
    iSeriesWC_user_dir/Base/WAS_instance_name/installedApps/ cellname/WC_instance_name.ear/
    Stores.war/WEB-INF with the cachespec.xml file in the following directory:WC_installdir/installedApps/hostname/WC_ instancename.ear/Stores.war/WEB-INF
    iSeriesWC_user_dir/InstalledApps/ hostname/WC_instancename.ear/Stores.war/WEB-INF You must edit the existing cachespec.xml file in the WEB-INF directory with the changes in the first file, rather than replace it.Note: In WebSphere Studio, caching is turned on by default, so you do not need to complete this step if you are publishing in WebSphere Studio.

  14. When you have finished viewing the store, bookmark the site, and close the browser.

Important:

  1. If you are running your Web server on a separate node than the WebSphere Commerce node, complete the following steps after publishing a store archive:
    1. Stop the Web server.
    2. Copy store's web assets from the following directory from the WebSphere Commerce machine to the Web Server machine in the same location:
      • WAS_installdir/installedApps/hostname/WC_demo.ear/Stores.war
      • iSeriesWAS_user_dir/InstalledApps/ hostname/WC_demo.ear/Stores.war
    3. Start the Web server.
  2. If you change the Web application Context path, you must ensure that it matches the path defined in the WebSphere Commerce Server.
  3. Only one store archive at a time can be published.
  4. When you launch the FashionFlow store from Administration Console, you are logged into the store with the same user name and password that you used to log into Administration Console. If you change your password in the store, you are also changing it for Administration Console. Instead, to test the features in the store, including changing your password, save the site address, close all browser windows, then log on to the store again. For more information, see Limitations when using multiple browsers windows.
  5. If you plan to make changes to your JSP files after publishing your store, you should disable servlet caching in the WebSphere Application Server. For more information see the "Dynamic caching" chapter in the  WebSphere Commerce Administration Guide. If you are using WebSphere Commerce Studio, the servlet caching is disabled by default.