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Migrating the Dispatcher Configuration from AMS to AEM as a Cloud Service

Infodales Tech Solutions | August 31, 2024

Introduction

Migrating an AEM AMS (Adobe Managed Services) Dispatcher to AEM as a Cloud Service involves using Adobe I/O CLI (aio CLI) tools to manage and deploy the dispatcher configurations. This process requires careful planning and adherence to Adobe’s best practices for AEM as a Cloud Service. In this blog, we’ll walk through the step-by-step process of converting AMS Dispatcher configurations and making the necessary updates to the converted Dispatcher files.

Step 1: Install Node.js

Ensure that Node.js is installed on your system. If it isn’t, download and install the latest version from the following link: https://node js.org/en/download

Step 2: Install the Adobe I/O CLI Tool

Open the command prompt and run the following command to install the Adobe I/O CLI:

npm install -g @adobe/aio-cli

Step 3: Install AEM Cloud Service Migration Plugins

Install the necessary AEM Cloud Service migration plugins by running the following command

aio plugins:install @adobe/aio-cli-plugin-AEM-cloud-service-migration

Step 4: Verify the Installation

To verify that the CLI tools are installed correctly, run the following command:

aio AEM-migration --help

This command will display the list of available tools.

Step 5: Configure the Migration Tool

Navigate to the configuration file located at:

C:\Users\admin\AppData\Local\@adobe\aio-cli\AEM-migration-config.yaml Update the file with the paths to your AEM-sdk-dispatcher source and ams-dispatcher source, then save the changes.

Step 6: Run the Dispatcher Converter

Once everything is set up, execute the dispatcher conversion command:

aio AEM-migration:dispatcher-converter -t=ams

After conversion its looks like this

After the conversion, navigate to the target folder. You will find a newly converted dispatcher folder. Replace its src folder with the AEM-sdk-dispatcher source files.

Note :

If you encounter any errors during the process, check the logs in the following file for details:

                        
                            ./
                            ├── conf.d
                            │   ├── available_vhosts
                            │   │   └── default.vhost
                            │   ├── dispatcher_vhost.conf
                            │   ├── enabled_vhosts
                            │   │   ├── README
                            │   │   └── default.vhost -> ../available_vhosts/default.vhost
                            │   └── rewrites
                            │   │   ├── default_rewrite.rules
                            │   │   └── rewrite.rules
                            │   └── variables
                            |       ├── custom.vars
                            │       └── global.vars
                            └── conf.dispatcher.d
                                ├── available_farms
                                │   └── default.farm
                                ├── cache
                                │   ├── default_invalidate.any
                                │   ├── default_rules.any
                                │   ├── marketing_query_parameters.any
                                │   └── rules.any
                                ├── clientheaders
                                │   ├── clientheaders.any
                                │   └── default_clientheaders.any
                                ├── dispatcher.any
                                ├── enabled_farms
                                │   ├── README
                                │   └── default.farm -> ../available_farms/default.farm
                                ├── filters
                                │   ├── default_filters.any
                                │   └── filters.any
                                ├── renders
                                │   └── default_renders.any
                                └── virtualhosts
                                    ├── default_virtualhosts.any
                                    └── virtualhosts.any

Your Dispatcher file structure should look like this

After the conversion make some changes in dispatcher

Delete Virtual Host Files

Navigate to conf.d/enabled_vhosts. Delete any virtual host files whose names contain author or flush.
Remove all virtual host files in conf.d/available_vhosts that are not linked.

Remove or Comment Unnecessary vHosts

Remove or comment out virtual host files that do not reference port 80.

Check Rewrites

Go to the conf.d/rewrites directory.
Delete files like base_rewrite.rules. Also, remove any Include statements in the virtual host files referencing these files.
If only one file remains in the folder, rename it to rewrite.rules and update the Include statements in the virtual host files accordingly.
If there are multiple virtual host-specific files, merge their contents into the corresponding Include statements in the relevant virtual host files.

Check Variables

Navigate to the conf.d/variables directory.
Delete the ams_default.vars file and remove any Include statements in virtual host files referencing it.
If only one file remains, rename it to custom.vars and update all Include statements in the virtual host files to reflect this new name.
If multiple files remain, copy their contents into the corresponding Include statements in the relevant virtual host files.

Remove Allowlists

Delete the conf.d/whitelists folder.
Remove any Include statements in virtual host files referencing files in this folder.
Replace PUBLISH_DOCROOT with DOCROOT.
Remove references to the following variables: DISP_ID, PUBLISH_FORCE_SSL, PUBLISH_WHITELIST_ENABLED.

Check Cache

Navigate to conf.dispatcher.d/cache.
Delete files prefixed with ams_.
If the folder is empty, copy the rules.any file from the standard Dispatcher configuration (found in the SDK src folder) into this folder and update the $include statements referencing the ams_*_cache.any files.
If only one file remains with a _cache.any suffix, rename it to rules.any and update the $include statements in the farm files.
If multiple farm-specific cache files remain, merge their contents into the corresponding $include statements in the farm files.
Delete files with the suffix _invalidate_allowed.any.
Copy default_invalidate.any from the standard Dispatcher configuration into this folder and update the cache/allowedClients section in the farm files.

Check Client Headers

Navigate to conf.dispatcher.d/clientheaders.
Delete files prefixed with ams_.
If only one file remains with a _clientheaders.any suffix, rename it to clientheaders.any and update the $include statements in the farm files.
If only one file remains with a _cache.any suffix, rename it to rules.any and update the $include statements in the farm files.
If multiple files remain, merge their contents into the corresponding $include statements in the farm files.
Copy default_clientheaders.any from the standard Dispatcher configuration into this folder and replace outdated $include statements in the farm files with:


    replace
    $include "/etc/httpd/conf.dispatcher.d/clientheaders/ams_publish_clientheaders.any"
    $include "/etc/httpd/conf.dispatcher.d/clientheaders/ams_common_clientheaders.any"
                                    
    With
    $include "../clientheaders/default_clientheaders.any"

Check Filters

Navigate to conf.dispatcher.d/filters.
Delete files prefixed with ams_.
If only one file remains, rename it to filters.any and update the $include statements in the farm files.
If multiple files remain, merge their contents into the corresponding $include statements in the farm files.
Copy default_filters.any from the standard Dispatcher configuration and update outdated $include statements in the farm files with:

  $include "../filters/default_filters.any"

Check Renders

Navigate to conf.dispatcher.d/renders.
Delete all files in this folder.
Copy default_renders.any from the standard Dispatcher configuration into this folder.
Update the renders section in each farm file with:

$include "../renders/default_renders.any"

Check Virtual Hosts

Rename the directory conf.dispatcher.d/vhosts to conf.dispatcher.d/virtualhosts and navigate to it.
Delete files prefixed with ams_.
If only one file remains, rename it to virtualhosts.any and update the $include statements in the farm files.
If multiple files remain, merge their contents into the corresponding $include statements in the farm files.
Copy default_virtualhosts.any from the standard Dispatcher configuration and update outdated $include statements in the farm files with:

$include "../virtualhosts/default_virtualhosts.any"

Include Custom Variables

In the conf.d/variables/custom.vars file, ensure it is included in each virtual host file. This file contains custom domain names.

Validate the Dispatcher

Navigate to the Dispatcher folder.
Run the command:

bin\validate src

Ensure Docker is installed on your system. The output should confirm successful validation.

Start the Dispatcher:

Now start the dispatcher in a docker image with a deployment information make sure you have up the AEM publish instance
With your AEM publish server running on windows running on port 4503 you can start the dispatcher by running the command

bin\docker_run src host.docker.internal:4503 8080

After running it looks like :

Yash Sakharkar | AEM Developer