On-Premises Additional Instances | Communifire Documentation

This guide provides instructions for duplicating your site, effectively transferring the content from one environment to another. A typical use for this process is copying your production environment to a sandbox or development environment.

Installation Process

1. Copy Site Files
   • Zip your site files, typically located at E:\websites\yoursite.com\*.*.
   • Transfer the .zip file to the target web server's desktop.
2. Copy Database
   • Create a backup of your SQL database and zip the file.
     
   • Transfer this backup to the target SQL server.
3. Stop Application Pool
   • In the target environment, stop the application pool in IIS.
     
4. Prepare Sandbox Site Folder
   • Unzip the site files into a folder on your desktop.
   • Delete the CFConnectionStrings.config file from the unzipped folder.
   • Copy all content from the site backup into the Sandbox's site folder.
5. Restore Database
   • Ensure database compatibility is set to 130.
   • Do not have multiple SQL server services running in the same VM.
   • Restore the SQL backup file in the target environment:
     
     Locate the database backup, add the file, and click OK.
     
6. Set Read Permissions for the Site Root Folder
   • In Windows Explorer, right-click the site's root folder and select Properties.
   • Go to the Security tab.
   • Add the IIS application pool for your site.
   • Highlight the user in the list, click Edit, and grant the account Read permissions
7. Set Modify Permissions for the Assets Folder
   • Right-click the Assets folder and select Properties.
   • On the Security tab, set Modify permissions for the app pool user.
8. Set Read and Execute Permissions for the HiQPdf.dep file
   • Find the HiQPdf.dep file in the site's bin folder.
   • Right-click HiQPdf.dep and select Properties.
   • On the Security tab, set Read and Execute permissions for the app pool user.
9. Install Elasticsearch
   • Follow the On-Premises Elasticsearch Installation guide.
10. Update Database
    • Proceed to the site's database and run the following query to update UniqueID:
      

      DECLARE @Guid UNIQUEIDENTIFIER;
      SET @Guid = LOWER(NEWID());
      
      UPDATE Dyve_Dynamic_Property
      SET PropertyValue = @Guid
      WHERE PropertyName = 'UniqueID';
      
      UPDATE Dyve_Tenant
      SET UniqueID = @Guid;

    • Run the following query to update the site URL. Replace <NEW DOMAIN URL> with the URL of your sandbox site. Replace <OLD DOMAIN URL> with the URL of your production site:
      

      DECLARE @NewDomain NVARCHAR(200) = '<NEW DOMAIN URL>'
      UPDATE Dyve_Content
      SET ContentBody = REPLACE(ContentBody, '<OLD DOMAIN URL>', @NewDomain)
      WHERE ContentBody like '%<OLD DOMAIN URL>%'
      
      UPDATE Dyve_PB_Widget
      SET WidgetProperties = REPLACE(WidgetProperties, '<OLD DOMAIN URL>', @NewDomain)
      WHERE WidgetProperties like '%<OLD DOMAIN URL>%'
      
      UPDATE Dyve_UrlMapper
      SET OldUrl = REPLACE(OldUrl, '<OLD DOMAIN URL>', @NewDomain),
      NewUrl = REPLACE(NewUrl, '<OLD DOMAIN URL>', @NewDomain)

11. Update Redirect for HTTP Sites
    • If your new site does not have SSL enabled, open the site's web.config file and place the redirect rule between comment tags (<!-- and -->):

       <rewrite>
                <rules>
      <!--
                  <rule name="HTTP to HTTPS redirect" stopProcessing="true">
                    <match url="(.*)" />
                    <conditions>
                      <add input="{HTTPS}" pattern="off" ignoreCase="true" />
                    </conditions>
                    <action type="Redirect" redirectType="Permanent" url="https://{HTTP_HOST}/{R:1}" />
                  </rule>
      -->
                </rules>
                <outboundRules>
                  <rule name="Remove RESPONSE_Server" >
                    <match serverVariable="RESPONSE_Server" pattern=".+" />
                    <action type="Rewrite" value="" />
                  </rule>
                </outboundRules>
              </rewrite>

    • Note If you plan to use Windows Active Directory Single Sign-On, ensure that Forms Authentication is disabled in your IIS configuration.
12. Start Application Pool
    • Start the application pool in IIS and visit the site in a browser.
13. Update License
    • You will see an invalid license page. Log in to the site, open the Control Panel, and go to System > License Manager > Add Domain.
      
    • Add your new HTTP domain and license key. If you don't have a license key, please contact your Client Success Manager.
    • If your new site has SSL enabled, add the HTTPS domain and the license key.
14. Configure Email Settings
    • Open the Control Panel and go to System > General Settings > Email Settings.
    • Enable or disable Enable email sending.
    • Click Save System Settings.
15. Rebuild Index
    • Open the Control Panel and go to System > Advanced System Utilities
    • Click Rebuild Index.

Completion

Congratulations, you have successfully transferred your Axero site.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter an error when loading your site, switch on Custom Errors for detailed error messages:

1. Go to the web.config file in the website folder.
2. Set CustomErrors mode to Off:
   

   <customErrors mode="Off" defaultRedirect="Errors-CF/default.aspx" redirectMode="ResponseRewrite">