Pre-rendering options

We can enable pre-rendering so that content can be viewed either through a IBM Web Content Manager application or as a standalone site that is accessed through a web server.

Manage pre-rendering options in the WCM WCMConfigService service.

Start pre-rendering automatically

Although we can manually pre-render a website through the URL interface, we can also configure pre-rendering to run automatically when the server starts.

1. Click...
   Resources > Resource Environment > Resource Environment Providers > WCM WCMConfigService > Additional Properties > Custom Properties

2. Edit the...
   connect.businesslogic.module

   ... and append cacher to the value. For example:

   web,mail,default,ajpe,federatedproxy,ajpecatselect,memberfixer,workflowenablement, itemdispatcher,plutouploadfile,plutodownloadfile,synd,subs,syndication, refreshallitems,unlocklibrary,custom,data,clearversions,clearhistory, reseteventlog,cacher

3. Save the changes and restart the server.

Enable pre-rendering for sites viewed using Web Content Manager

This option is used when we are accessing the pre-rendered site through Web Content Manager. This will increase performance as static content is accessed from the pre-rendered site, but dynamic content will still be rendered through Web Content Manager.

To enable users to access the pre-rendered site through a Web Content Manager application, specify the connect.businesslogic.module.default.class property in the WCM WCMConfigService service.

• Property name: connect.businesslogic.module.default.class

• Value: com.aptrix.cacher.CacherModule

We cannot use the local rendering portlet (Web Content Viewer) when pre-rendering is set as the default module.

Enable pre-rendering for standalone sites

This option is used when we are using Web Content Manager to generate a pre-rendered site, but are not using Web Content Manager to view the pre-rendered site. You will need to use a web server to view the pre-rendered site.

Specify the connect.businesslogic.module.cacher.class property in the WCM WCMConfigService service.

• Property name: connect.businesslogic.module.cacher.class

• Value: com.aptrix.cacher.CacherModule

Specify the following properties to configure caching. Default values are listed, although we can tailor these values as needed. Unless you explicitly set a value for a property, the default value is used.

connect.moduleconfig.cacher.destdir

Value: ${USER_INSTALL_ROOT}/PortalServer/ilwcacher

Base directory under which each site cache will be created. There will be one subdirectory created for each site.

Important: If the prerenderer is run with the connect.moduleconfig.cacher.overwritecache property set to true, any files in the connect.moduleconfig.cacher.destdir path that were not written in the last run of the prerenderer will be deleted. For this reason, ensure that the connect.moduleconfig.cacher.destdir path is only used for storing rendered content and that it does not contain any other data that cannot be recreated.

connect.moduleconfig.cacher.tempdir

Value: ${USER_INSTALL_ROOT}/PortalServer/ilwcacher/temp

The temporary directory that is required to build the site cache prior to moving the data over to the base directory specified by the connect.moduleconfig.cacher.destdir property.

connect.moduleconfig.cacher.delay

Value: 1

This is used to set the time, in seconds, between requesting a page while caching.

connect.moduleconfig.cacher.busydelay

Value: 5

This is used to set the time, in seconds, of the busy delay setting. Use if executing within the busy start to busy end period. Otherwise the delay setting is used.

connect.moduleconfig.cacher.busystart/connect.moduleconfig.cacher.busyend

Value: 9:00 am/5:00 pm

These settings determine the times between which the busy delay setting will be used. Enter an absolute time as shown.

connect.moduleconfig.cacher.overwritecache

true

The prerenderer will overwrite files in the destdir cache directory (then delete unneeded files). This results in a progressive change in site content as seen by the user. This is the default value.

false

The first time a site is pre-rendered, the cached site files will be added to the destination directory. As changes are made to the site through the authoring portlet, the new version of the site will gradually be cached in the temporary directory and the old site will remain in the destination directory. After the cacher has finished caching the site completely, the contents of the temporary directory are moved to the destination directory which will then contain both old and new versions of the cached site.

A value of false should not be used if a web server is used to display the pre-rendered data because some web servers lock the data directories.

connect.moduleconfig.cacher.rendereruser

Value: Anonymous.

This determines the user to be used to render the WCM content. Either type Anonymous or Administrator or a specific user or group name.

The site is pre-rendered based on this user's security rights. If the user specified here does not have access to a particular component it will not be pre-rendered.

connect.moduleconfig.cacher.task.cacherurl

Value: http://${WCM_HOST}:${WCM_PORT}/${WCM_CONTEXT_ROOT}/connect/

The full URL to be used as the replacement for the connect servlet in pre-rendered pages. The URL should end with the string specified in connect.moduleconfig.cacher.task.servletpath property if it is not blank. The context of cacherurl is used when generating a URL with pre-rendering. This property is not used when a page belongs to a site that has not already been pre-rendered at a site level by the scheduled task or through a SRV=cacheSite request.

connect.moduleconfig.cacher.task.servletpath

Value: /connect

The path of the substituted connect servlet defined in the connect.moduleconfig.cacher.task.cacherurl property. This property can remain blank if the cacherurl context should be used unchanged.

connect.moduleconfig.cacher.defaultcontentname

Value: index.html

This sets the name of the default or home file used when accessing the pre-rendered site. This normally would be index.html.

connect.moduleconfig.cacher.task.siteareas

Value: LibraryA/SiteAreaA,LibraryB/SiteAreaB,SiteAreaC

The site areas within a Web Content Manager environment to cache are entered here, separated by commas. This property provides the option of specifying the library in addition to the site area. If the library is specified, the pre-renderer looks for the site area in that library. If no library is specified, the default library is used, as specified in the defaultLibrary property.

If any of the site area names contain commas, create separate parameters for each site area using this format: connect.moduleconfig.cacher.task.siteareas.N

N represents a different integer for each parameter. For example, if to pre-render a site area named "SiteArea,Red" and a site named "Site,Yellow", you would need to create the following parameters:

connect.moduleconfig.cacher.task.siteareas.1=MyLib/SiteArea,Red
connect.moduleconfig.cacher.task.siteareas.2=Site,Yellow

connect.moduleconfig.cacher.task.interval.recurrence

connect.moduleconfig.cacher.task.interval.startdelay

The CacherModule can be set to run after a recurring number of minutes.

recurrence:

Value: 10.

The recurring period in minutes for a recurring task.

startdelay:

Value: 1

The delay in minutes prior to starting the first recurring task.

If you do not configure pre-rendering to start automatically when the server starts, pre-rendering at intervals does not work until you manually trigger the cacher module.

connect.moduleconfig.cacher.task.scheduled.times

Value: 3:00 am

Alternately, the CacherModule can be set to run at certain times. Enter a series of absolute times, separated by commas.

Important: When specifying time values, be sure you conform to the format H:MM am|pm, including the use of the colon (:) character and the space. Incorrectly specified values prevent pre-rendering from functioning properly.

If you do not configure pre-rendering to start automatically when the server starts, pre-rendering at scheduled times does not work until you manually trigger the cacher module.

Pre-rendering resources

connect.moduleconfig.cacher.useTieredResourceFolders

Value: false

All resources, such as images and file resources, are stored under the following folder:

CACHER_DIR\LIBRARY\SITEAREA\resources

By default, each individual resource is saved under its own folder. For example, a resource with the ID of "7961d78049717f29bc57fee5670e9d7b" will be stored under this folder:

CACHER_DIR\LIBRARY\SITEAREA\resources\7961d78049717f29bc57fee5670e9d7b

We can change this behavior so that resources are stored under a tiered set of sub-folders based on the first two characters of the resource ID by changing the value of connect.moduleconfig.cacher.useTieredResourceFolders to true. For example, a resource with the ID of "7961d78049717f29bc57fee5670e9d7b" will be stored under this folder:

CACHER_DIR\LIBRARY\SITEAREA\resources\7\9\

All other resources that whose IDs begin with "79" will also be stored under this folder. This is done to reduce the number of sub-folders under the "resources" folders.

Parent: Configure a web content delivery environment

Related:

Set service configuration properties