KB

May 26, 2021
Sitecore SXA Sites Generate URLs with Incorrect Hostnames
Came across a weird issue with a client"s Sitecore instance recently where on CD instances, internal link URLs generated in Navigation or redirects are absolute URLs including hostnames but they are CM hostname instead of CDs".

Sitecore version is 10.1. SXA and Commerce Storefront. On docker and AKS.

After lots of digging and debugging Sitecore DLLs within docker containers, found the issue and another finding.
1. CD generates URLs with CM hostname is because SXA site settings don"t have a language set
Debugging through the code of LinkManager.GetItemUrl, it reaches Sitecore.Links.UrlBuilders.Helpers.OptionsDecoratedSiteResolver.ResolveSite at some point like below:

// Sitecore.Links.UrlBuilders.Helpers.OptionsDecoratedSiteResolver
using Sitecore.Data.Items;
using Sitecore.Diagnostics;
using Sitecore.Web;
/// <inheritdoc />
/// <summary>
/// Resolves the site that best matches the given item.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="item">Requested item that we need to resolve matching site.</param>
/// <returns></returns>
public SiteInfo ResolveSite(Item item)
{
Assert.ArgumentNotNull(item, "item");
SiteInfo defaultSiteInfo = GetDefaultSiteInfo();
if (SkipResolving(item))
{
return defaultSiteInfo;
}
return _realSiteResolver.ResolveSite(item) ?? defaultSiteInfo;
}

if SkipResolving is true, it takes site context from default which is correct.

However it is false in the case and it goes to SiteResolver to resolve the site via item only. So there is a chance that item is resolved to the wrong site since both CM and CD are pointing to the same Sitecore item path and who gets resolved is all dependent on the order of the sites.

But why SkipResolving is false?

// Sitecore.Links.UrlBuilders.Helpers.OptionsDecoratedSiteResolver
using Sitecore.Data.Items;
private bool SkipResolving(Item item)
{
if (!NoNeedToResolveSite(item) && !OptionsSiteIsDifferentThanContextSite())
{
return ItemMatchesCurrentSite(item);
}
return true;
}
.....
protected virtual bool ItemMatchesCurrentSite(Item item)
{
if (!Settings.Rendering.SiteResolvingMatchCurrentSite)
{
return false;
}
if (PathMatchesContextSite(item))
{
return LanguageMatchesContextSite(item);
}
return false;
}
.....
private bool LanguageMatchesContextSite(Item item)
{
string name = item.Language.Name;
string language = ContextSite.Language;
if (Settings.Rendering.SiteResolvingMatchCurrentLanguage)
{
return name.Equals(language, StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase);
}
return true;
}

Out of all the code here, LanguageMatchesContextSite is false because ContextSite.Language is empty but item.Language.Name is "en".

It"s all because "Language" field of site settings item(such as "/sitecore/content/tenant/Sites/siteA/Settings/Site Grouping/siteA-CM") is blank... After setting this field to "en", the issue is no longer presented.
1. Must set "TargetHostname" if "Hostname" contains pipes or wildcards in SXA site settings
This one was not causing a direct issue however could potentially be one. The GetTargetHostName method on SiteInfo is like below:

// Sitecore.Web.SiteInfo
/// <summary>
/// Gets the name of the target host.
/// </summary>
internal virtual string GetTargetHostName()
{
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(TargetHostName))
{
return TargetHostName;
}
if (HostName.IndexOfAny(new char[2]
{
"*",
"|"
}) < 0)
{
return HostName;
}
return string.Empty;
}

It"s easy to see that if Hostname contains any wildcards or pipes and TargetHostName is blank, it would just return an empty string. Which would definitely cause issues somewhere on the site.
Apr 7, 2021
Hands on with Sitecore Experience Edge for Content Hub
One of the exciting news in Sitecore world recently was the release of Sitecore Experience Edge for Content Hub (Experience Edge for XM is coming later this year, so will focus on Content Hub for now). If you haven"t heard the news yet, I strongly recommend watching this Youtube video to see it in real actions. And here is the official Experience Edge™ for Content Hub documentation for a more thorough understanding.

To get a hands on demo experience with Sitecore Experience Edge for Content Hub, please talk to your Sitecore contacts for accessing the Content Hub Sandbox portal. The information below also applies to Production setup, just ignore the parts related to sandboxes.
1. You should receive the instructions and accesses to create a sandbox Content Hub environment, just enure the following when creating the sandbox
2. When CH sandbox is up and running, head to Settings->PublishingSettings and ensure "Publishing enabled" is ticked and Save.
3. Ensure that there are Content Collections and Content that are in Final state (This is for viewing them in Delivery API)
4. Ensure that the Content Collections and Content have the green tick cloud icon that says "Published to delivery platform"
5. You can generate API tokens from Settings->API Keys or from the Content Collections
6. The URL to GraphQL IDE is https://[[Your demo instance hostname]]/api/graphql/preview/ide/
7. Delivery API endpoint for demo containers is https://edge-beta.sitecorecloud.io/api/graphql/v1
8. Preview API endpoint for demo container is https://[[Your demo instance hostname]]/api/graphql/preview/v1
Note: For Production, the Delivery API endpoint is https://edge.sitecorecloud.io/api/graphql/v1

You can use Postman to test Delivery and Preview APIs too. Below is an export of a Postman collection:

{
"info": {
"_postman_id": "66f4925b-b6f0-4ed1-bea3-bdb09ba57045",
"name": "Experience Edge For CH",
"schema": "https://schema.getpostman.com/json/collection/v2.1.0/collection.json"
},
"item": [
{
"name": "Preview API",
"request": {
"method": "POST",
"header": [
{
"key": "X-GQL-Token",
"value": "",
"type": "text"
}
],
"body": {
"mode": "graphql",
"graphql": {
"query": "{\r\n allM_ContentCollection {\r\n results {\r\n contentCollectionName\r\n id\r\n publishStatus\r\n contentCollectionToContent{\r\n results{\r\n content_Name\r\n content_PublicationDate\r\n publishStatus\r\n }\r\n }\r\n }\r\n }\r\n}",
"variables": ""
},
"options": {
"raw": {
"language": "json"
}
}
},
"url": {
"raw": "https:///api/graphql/preview/v1",
"protocol": "https",
"host": [
""
],
"path": [
"api",
"graphql",
"preview",
"v1"
]
}
},
"response": []
},
{
"name": "Delivery API - Beta",
"request": {
"method": "POST",
"header": [
{
"key": "X-GQL-Token",
"value": "",
"type": "text"
}
],
"body": {
"mode": "graphql",
"graphql": {
"query": "{\r\n allM_ContentCollection {\r\n results {\r\n contentCollectionName\r\n id\r\n publishStatus\r\n contentCollectionToContent{\r\n results{\r\n content_Name\r\n content_PublicationDate\r\n publishStatus\r\n }\r\n }\r\n }\r\n }\r\n}",
"variables": ""
},
"options": {
"raw": {
"language": "json"
}
}
},
"url": {
"raw": "https://edge-beta.sitecorecloud.io/api/graphql/v1",
"protocol": "https",
"host": [
"edge-beta",
"sitecorecloud",
"io"
],
"path": [
"api",
"graphql",
"v1"
]
}
},
"response": []
}
]
}

3 variables are:
1. hostname
2. PreviewToken
3. DeliveryToken
Have fun!
Feb 17, 2021
2021
The past year has been a weird year. It went by without much me feeling the time passing. Things happened around the world, but something also happened in our personal life.

2020 was not too bad to be honest. We are positive people and of course 2021 will be even better.
Nov 4, 2020
Sitecore Application Insights Setup Checklist in Azure App Services
Collected from different places. For my own references:

Azure Application Insights
1. Daily Volume Cap
Sitecore
1. App_Config/ConnectionStrings.config
2. App_Config/Sitecore/Azure/Sitecore.Cloud.ApplicationInsights.config
3. App_Config/Sitecore/Azure/Sitecore.Cloud.ApplicationInsights.Counters.config
4. Web.config
5. ApplicationInsights.config
Sitecore Showconfig
1. <setting name="ApplicationInsights.Role" value="Single" patch:source="Sitecore.Cloud.ApplicationInsights.config"/>
2. <setting name="ApplicationInsights.Tag" value="" patch:source="Sitecore.Cloud.ApplicationInsights.config"/>
3. <setting name="ApplicationInsights.DeveloperMode" value="false" patch:source="Sitecore.Cloud.ApplicationInsights.config"/>
4. <pipelines>
     <initialize>
     <processor type="Sitecore.Cloud.ApplicationInsights.Logging.RemoveSitecoreTraceListeners, Sitecore.Cloud.ApplicationInsights" patch:source="Sitecore.Cloud.ApplicationInsights.config"/>
     <processor type="Sitecore.Cloud.ApplicationInsights.TelemertyInitializers.InjectTelemertyInitializers, Sitecore.Cloud.ApplicationInsights" patch:source="Sitecore.Cloud.ApplicationInsights.config"/>
     <processor type="Sitecore.Cloud.ApplicationInsights.TelemertyInitializers.AppInsightsInitializer, Sitecore.Cloud.ApplicationInsights" patch:source="Sitecore.Cloud.ApplicationInsights.config"/>
Log files
- App_Data/logs/xxxx/azure.log.2020xxxx.0xxxx5.txt
Sep 10, 2020
Sitecore Installation Framework and Sitecore Versions Compatibility Table

Probably not a problem that people typically have, but if you try to install multiple Sitecore versions (before Sitecore 10, which can be done using Docker now) on the same machine, you get weird errors due to incorrect Sitecore Installation Framework(SIF) version. So here is a table to help you to use the right version of SIF.
Sitecore
Sitecore Installation Framework
9.0.x
1.2.1
9.1
2.0.0
9.1.1
2.1.0 or later
9.2.0
2.1.0 or later
9.3.0
2.2.0
10.0.0
2.3.0
And a cheatsheet for SIF.

Add PowerShell repository for installing SIF

Register-PSRepository -Name SitecoreGallery -SourceLocation https://sitecore.myget.org/F/sc-powershell/api/v2

Install the latest version of SIF

Install-Module SitecoreInstallFramework

See all the versions of SIF installed

Get-Module SitecoreInstallFramework –ListAvailable

Install a specific version of SIF

Install-Module -Name SitecoreInstallFramework -RequiredVersion x.x.x

Use a particular version of SIF for installation - this is important when installing

Import-Module -Name SitecoreInstallFramework -Force -RequiredVersion x.x.x

There is an official Sitecore KB compatibility page containing the same information:

https://kb.sitecore.net/articles/541788

And finally, if you haven’t tried, I strongly recommend giving Docker a try for Sitecore 10 at least. It’s super easy!
Jul 22, 2020
Synonyms Support with Azure Search in Sitecore SXA Search Component
May 20, 2020
Sitecore Website Federated Authentication with Azure AD B2C with OpenID Connect
Apr 24, 2020
Evernote, Jekyll Static Site, Azure Storage, Azure CDN, Cloudflare and Azure DevOps
Apr 23, 2020
Cannot disable QoS in ASUS Wireless Router Web GUI
Apr 4, 2020
Azure DevOps - Cloud Warmup for Sitecore
Mar 1, 2020
Sitecore Patch Finder
Feb 17, 2020
Sitecore Helix Documentation version 2 in ePub format
Oct 31, 2019
Use one license.xml for all local Sitecore instances with SymbolicLink
Sep 20, 2019
Where is Site Order stored in Sitecore SXA Site Manager Powershell tool
Sep 11, 2019
Model Rendering Variant doesnt work with custom Sitecore SXA rendering
Apr 28, 2019
Common Causes and Troubleshooting Sitecore App Restarts on Azure Web App Services
Apr 9, 2019
Sitecore 9.1 Initial Release with Identify Server User Boost Feature Patch
Apr 8, 2019
Sitecore Solr Linq Error RANGE_GOOP while using String CompareTo
Feb 20, 2019
Missing sxacontent_txm in Sitecore SXA Solr Index with Commerce Installed
Feb 12, 2019
Generating static 500 error html pages using SXA in Sitecore
Dec 18, 2018
Whitelist Hosted Agent IP address in AzureDevOps pipeline (For Sitecore Unicorn Sync)
Oct 5, 2018
Setup Postman with Local Sitecore xConnect services
Jun 29, 2018
Evil Inline Aspx Pages for Sitecore Development
Mar 22, 2018
Fast Query return null in Sitecore instances
Mar 20, 2018
Sitecore Campaign Creator API 500 error caused by Sitecore Instance Manager
Mar 14, 2018
Delivery instance doesn't clear cache with Sitecore Publishing Service
Mar 3, 2018
Use the same session database for both Priavte and Shared Session States in Sitecore
Feb 26, 2018
How to handle different Sitecore Module instllation scenarios with WebDeploy approach
Feb 26, 2018
All about Sitecore.Cloud.Integration.Bootload
Feb 19, 2018
Blogging from Evernote
Dec 16, 2017
TTS with Google Home on Home Assistant stopped working
Aug 21, 2017
Deploy Sitecore Azure AppService Packages on Local IIS
Jul 2, 2017
Google Home working with Yeelight with Xiaomi Smart Wireless Switch
Jun 28, 2017
Thoughts on Sitecore Experience Accelerator
Apr 9, 2017
Sitecore Consulting in the most down-to-earth way
Aug 27, 2016
Issues while setting up Continuous Integration and Delivery with Visual Studio Team Services for Xamarin.iOS Apps
Jul 7, 2016
Warning in Sitecore Media Library Folder Grid View
May 3, 2016
Sitecore Content/MVT Testing doesn't update in Delivery Instances
May 1, 2016
HockeyApp, Azure Mobile Engagement and Visual Studio Application Insights
Apr 18, 2016
1 MB file upload size limit for WFFM on CD instance
Mar 15, 2016
Sitecore web.config include patching sub-folder orders
Mar 6, 2016
Sitecore Shell Content Testing Web API returns 404/403 error while creating page tests/content tests
Mar 5, 2016
Hello From The Engine
Mar 4, 2016
A New Back Engine for Blog
Jan 28, 2016
AnyoneHue? - Monitor multiple people with WIFI for Philips Hue controlling
Jan 6, 2016
Converting Chinese to Pinyin/Quanpin in Xamarin IOS development
Oct 10, 2015
Get Sitecore Item SiteInfo
Jun 3, 2015
Root Australia Vodafone Samsung Galaxy Note 4(N910G) Android Lollipop 5.0.1
Apr 27, 2015
Input Method On Galaxy Note 4 Keep Reverting Back To Default
Apr 13, 2015
Onda v820w flash os - Booting to droidboot.img failed
Apr 6, 2015
Amazon Unlimited Cloud, Windows Home Server, Netflix and VPN
Mar 23, 2015
Sitecore session expires(timeout) quickly(1 min) when not logged in
Mar 18, 2015
Browser requests page twice
Mar 14, 2015
From mobile
Mar 13, 2015
Focusing on content
Jan 12, 2015
Section references in Sitecore config files with ref attribute
Jan 10, 2015
Powerline Ethernet Adapters
Jan 5, 2015
TDS project build fail in Teamcity with VS 2012 runner
Dec 17, 2014
Sonos with Airsonos on Windows and Mac
Dec 16, 2014
Google Tag Manager causing placeholder issues in IE 8
Dec 12, 2014
Must have softwares after reinstalling windows
Dec 10, 2014
Multi-Site solution deployments in Azure
Dec 7, 2014
Schedule tasks not running on CDS in Sitecore
Dec 7, 2014
IncludeTemplates and ExcludeTemplates warning for custom index of Sitecore
Dec 6, 2014
Sitecore Redirect Manager
Dec 3, 2014
Sitecore Indexes media url with /sitecore/shell
Oct 11, 2014
IIS Http error 500.19 with web.config

Sitecore	Sitecore Installation Framework
9.0.x	1.2.1
9.1	2.0.0
9.1.1	2.1.0 or later
9.2.0	2.1.0 or later
9.3.0	2.2.0
10.0.0	2.3.0

CD generates URLs with CM hostname is because SXA site settings don"t have a language set

Must set "TargetHostname" if "Hostname" contains pipes or wildcards in SXA site settings