Install Sitecore Experience Platform

Follow the Sitecore XP Installation Guide for installing dependent software, and for installing Sitecore XP from the Sitecore 8.2 rev. xxxxxx.exe file.

The Sitecore XP installer performs the following actions:

  • Creates a site in IIS
  • Copies the required files into the folder for the site
  • Creates the Sitecore web site and associated application pool
  • Attaches the databases to a SQL server instance that you specify
  • Updates the connection strings in the ConnectionStrings.config file

After you have installed Sitecore XP, change the Sitecore web site's application pool identity to .\CSFndRuntimeUser.

Note:

The local account must be prefixed with .\ or MachineName\, otherwise the Initialize-CSSite command (executed later in this workflow) cannot grant proper permissions for Commerce Server databases.

Additional Sitecore XP configuration

After you have installed the Sitecore Experience Platform, there are some additional configuration steps required to set up the Sitecore site with bindings and HTTPS.

  1. If you want to use a different domain for the Reference Storefront other than the default (http://cf.reference.storefront.com), you must update the hostName attribute of the storefront site node in the Website\App_Config\Include\Reference.Storefront\Reference.Storefront.config file. This file will be deployed in a later step.
  2. Add an entry for 127.0.0.1 cf.reference.storefront.com to the the hosts file (located at C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\). This allows you to access the Sitecore site at http://cf.reference.storefront.com/.
  3. Set up a Self-Signed certificate that you can associate with the site to support HTTPS. (The Reference Storefront uses HTTPS by default on pages with potentially sensitive information, such as the Account section and Checkout pages). Open IIS Manager, click on the top node, and then follow the steps outlined in the following topic: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff710475(v=ws.10).aspx . Use the domain name for the name of the certificate.
  4. Add bindings for cf.reference.storefront.com to the Sitecore site in IIS Manager. Add one HTTP binding using port 80, and one HTTPS binding on port 443 with the Self-Signed certificate. Set the host name for both bindings to cf.reference.storefront.com.