Running the Data Exchange service from a Console Application

The following steps will allow you to run the Data Exchange service from a Console Application instead of a Sitecore job. You still need to install the Sitecore.Commerce.DataExchange.Providers.DynamicsRetail package in Sitecore, as this will remain the main source of configuration.

  1. When you install the DataExchange.Core package, it will set up a Sync Task to run the Data Exchange synchronization service. Because this will be running as a Console Application, it can be disabled or deleted.

    • Delete Task:

      • Browse to Open /sitecore/system/Tasks/Schedules/Commerce Synchronization Schedule.

      • Delete the Item.

    • Disable Task:

      • Browse to Open /sitecore/system/Tasks/Schedules/Commerce Synchronization Schedule.

      • You cannot disable the task entirely. Instead, set the “Schedule” date to be sometime in the far future. For example, set the year to 2100.

  2. Download the DataExchange Commerce SDK package.

  3. Unzip and follow the steps in the ReadMe.txt to build the solution.

  4. Expand the Sitecore.Commerce.DataExchange.Providers.DynamicsRetail update package and the package.zip contained within.

    • Inside the addedfiles folder, take the Templates folder and copy it into the same folder as the Windows Service .exe.

    • Inside the addedfiles folder, take the contents of the bin folder and copy it into the same folder as the Windows Service .exe.

    • From the Commerce Server install folder, take CommerceServer.Core.Catalog.dll and CommerceServer.Core.CrossTier.dll and add them into the same folder as the Windows Service .exe.

  5. The DataExchange.Console project contains the code for the console application

  6. Inside the App.config, which becomes Sitecore.Commerce.DynamicsRetail.Synchronization.Console.exe.config after the build, change below according to your Sitecore instance information:

    <appSettings>
<add key="Host" value="storefront" />
<add key="UserName" value="sitecore\admin" />
<add key="Password" value="b" />
<add key="SitecoreDatabase" value="master" />
</appSettings>

    Change below according to your Sitecore Commerce Catalog Web Service information:

    <client><endpoint
      address="http://localhost:2000/SolutionStorefrontSite_CatalogWebService/CatalogWebService.asmx"
      binding="basicHttpBinding" bindingConfiguration="CatalogWebServiceSoap"
      contract="Sitecore.Commerce.Catalog.CatalogWebServiceSoap"
      name="CatalogWebServiceSoap"/></client>

    Note: Windows Authentication is required to access Sitecore Commerce catalog web service.

Once the routing settings have been set in Sitecore:

  1. Run Sitecore.Commerce.DynamicsRetail.Synchronization.Console.exe.

  2. It should output information in the console window, and eventually complete.

  3. If it did not work, look at /sitecore/Commerce/Commerce Channels/Contoso/Channel History/ or /sitecore/Commerce/Dynamics Routing Extensions/Dynamics Routes/Route_SyncSitecoreCommerceChannel_Contoso_AzureAxVm/Route History for the latest history file. The Tracking Log property will display log output.

  4. If there are no errors from console output, but there was no catalog XML generated, clear the "Last Run" and "Requested At" values, and set "Repeat Delay" to a smaller value, such as 2 instead of the default 120, under /sitecore/Commerce/Commerce Synchronization/Commerce Routes/Route Requests/Contoso Commerce Route Request.

  5. Once the execution is completed, the catalog XML should be generated under “c:\Sitecore Synchronization Data\Working\Contoso_Dev\”. This location is defined by /sitecore/Commerce/Dynamics Routing Extensions/Commerce Endpoints/Endpoint_FileSystem_Contoso_Dev_Working (or _Archive).

  6. If the Step_PublishExtract is enabled, which is the default, the catalog data should be imported. You can validate this in catalog manager by looking at the import status/history.