Staging Personalization rules to production

Use the steps in this file to move Personalization rules from a staging system to a production system. There are a number of methods for moving rules between servers, each suitable for different situations.

Choose one of the following methods to move rules:


Method: Export from source then import into destination

StepsAdvantages DisadvantagesUsers

  1. Use Export in the Personalization Navigator portlet on the source to export a nodes file.

  2. Use Import in the Personalization Navigator portlet on the target to import that file.

  • This method is the easiest way to move rules.
  • Uses a familiar export and import paradigm.

  • Cannot be scripted.
  • Requires Personalization Navigator portlet to be installed on the target server.

  • Development teams.
  • Quick, ad-hoc changes in small deployments and test environments.


Method: Publish using the Personalization Navigator portlet

StepsAdvantages DisadvantagesUsers
Use the Publish menu options in the Personalization Navigator portlet to publish the entire workspace or to selectively publish

  • Easy and quick to use. Once a publish server is configured, you can publish rules in two clicks.
  • This method does not require rules to be saved on the file system.

  • If publishing the entire workspace with smart delete, we can ensure two work spaces are the same.

  • No intermediate file is produced by the process, so there is no record of what was published other than log files.
  • This approach is driven from a graphical user interface, so it is not scriptable.

Business users with rule authoring responsibilities.


Method: Export from the source and then publish into the destination

StepsAdvantagesDisadvantagesUsers

  1. Use Export in the Personalization Navigator portlet on the source to export a nodes file.

  2. Use the pznload command line utility (pznload.sh and pznload.bat) to publish the nodes file that you exported to the target.

  • This method can an be scripted.

  • Allows your changes to be tracked, controlled, and the earlier versions to be reverted by maintaining copying of the nodes files and rerunning a script.

Requires use of a command line interface.

  • Administrators
  • Moving between staging and production environments


Rules

Notes:

  • If the rules are referenced by Personalization components, ensure the Personalization components are published and syndicated in Web Content Manager.

  • If the rules are referenced in pages or portlets, move the page and portlet definitions with XML Access or Release Builder. This is related to attribute based administration.

Related information