Notes from Commerce Support

Commerce Server and the MSCS_CatalogScratch Database and Maintenance.

2012-05-02T15:47:00Z

Thanks to Charles Teague for providing some of the technical detail for this article.
(Cross posted from http://blogs.msdn.com/b/finbar_ryan/archive/2012/05/02/commerce-server-and-the-mscs-catalogscratch-database-and-maintenance.aspx )

We’ll cover what the MSCS_CatalogScratch does in Commerce Server and how to maintain it either via VBScript or SQL Server Maintenance plans.

1) What’s the Catalog Scratch Database?

The Catalog Scratch Database is a database used to store the results of the queries to the Catalog System in Commerce Server.
The majority of the stored procedures will generate a table in this database.
The runtime APIs (Search, SpecificationSearch, Query, GetProducts) use this database.

The circumstances under which the Catalog Scratch database is created are detailed in the article below.

948772 The CS Catalog Scratch (MSCS_CatalogScratch) database is created when you unpack your first site resource in Commerce Server 2007
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;948772

This Catalog Scratch resource will be shared amongst your Catalog Resources if you have more than one.

2) Does the use of the Catalog Scratch database have any performance impact?

We discuss this in more detail in the following article.

835984 Contention may occur if only one database file is used for the Commerce MSCS_CatalogScratch database
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;835984

The general rule of thumb is to have as many data files as physical processors and to have the Trace Flag –1118 enabled in SQL Server.

This helps to ensure you have the best concurrency for operations on this database.

3) How do we go about maintaining this database?

As we discussed above this database is like a scratch pad for the Catalog System queries.
The tables should be empty after the stored procedures have completed but you will still be left with the tables.

So the general recommendation is to run the CatalogCleanup.vbs tool at least once a week as discussed at the following link.

How to Delete Temporary Tables from the MSCS_CatalogScratch Database
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb520958(v=CS.70).aspx

4) So, what does CatalogCleanup.vbs do?

If you opened CatalogCleanup.vbs in your favourite text editor you would see that it does 2 things.

a) Check for the SQL connection string to a site Product Catalog database.

b) Call the stored procedure ‘ctlg_DropPersistentTablesInScratchDB’ in the same database.

There is also some error checking in place to handle errors.

The next thing to note is that the stored procedure is passed in a parameter which defines it’s behaviour.

Let’s look at that in more detail.

The normal execution of the stored procedure would look like this.

EXEC [dbo].[ctlg_DropPersistentTablesInScratchDB] @DropAll = 0

The @DropAll parameter defines how the stored procedure removes the temporary tables.
It accepts either 0 or 1.

If you pass 0 to the stored procedure then it will delete all temporary tables in the MSCS_CatalogScratch database the currently do not have any active SPIDs.

When you use the value 1 for the parameter this tells the stored procedure to delete all temporary tables in the MSCS_CatalogScratch database. If you use the value of 1 for the parameter then you need to be aware that this may cause the stored procedure to run for a long period of time while it tries to delete the tables. And running with the parameter value set to 1 may cause problems for any catalog functions that are actually using data in the temp tables in the MSCS_CatalogScratch and the table gets deleted in the middle of the catalog operation.

So you can now run the CatalogCleanup.vbs script on the Commerce Server machine or add the stored procedure to your existing SQL Server maintenance plans.

I hope this is useful.

Errors when trying to use Site Packager on IIS 7.0

2010-05-25T16:41:06Z

When attempting to pack a site or unpack a site you may received errors or failures during the packing or unpacking process. This may be caused by various factors but I wanted to point out one cause that is new when using IIS 7.0.

In IIS 7.0 you have the ability to configure a web site to only have an HTTPS binding. In previous versions of IIS you would always have at least one HTTP binding. If you have configured a web site on the Commerce Server machine with only a HTTPS binding then the site packager may fail because because the site packager is designed to read all IIS sites configured on the server and gather some basic information on each site. One of the items that we require is the non-secure binding information.

If the site is configured to only have an HTTPS binding then the non-secure binding property will be NULL and will cause the site packager to fail.

You can use the below .vbs script on your IIS / Commerce Server machine to read the same information the site packager will read and if the script fails then you can identify which IIS site is causing the issue.

******

'The code below simulates Commerce Server Site Packager checking IIS health.
'This IIS checking happens when you click the "next" button at the first dialog of the site unpacking.
'This code helps you to find out where the check is failing.

set oNet=CreateObject("WScript.Network")

sLocalMachine = oNet.ComputerName

Set webServer = GetObject("IIS://" & sLocalMachine & "/w3svc")

msgbox "Web Server "+ sLocalMachine +" has the following Web Sites:"
For Each webSite In webServer
If IsNumeric(webSite.Name) Then

    sName = webSite.Name
    sComment = webSite.ServerComment
    sBind = webSite.ServerBindings
    sAppPool = webSite.AppPoolId
    msgbox "Web Instance Number: "+sName+" / "+"Web Site Name: "+sComment+" / "+" Binding: "+sBind(0)
    msgbox sComment+"'s Application Pool: "+sAppPool
    Set vroot = webSite.GetObject("IIsWebVirtualDir", "Root")
    msgbox sComment+"'s Root Directory: "+vroot.path
     End If
Next

set onet=nothing
set webserver=nothing
set webSite=nothing
set vroot=nothing

******

Commerce Server 2009 Documentation in .Chm format.

2010-05-06T08:26:00Z

As you know the Commerce Server 2007 and Commerce Server 2009 help use the new Visual Studio Document Explorer format which means that it’s not as portable as the HTML Help format.

I generally don’t have Commerce Server installed on my laptop (I know I should but I’ve got some VM’s I use instead!) , so if I need to check an API or deployment fact I generally go to MSDN or one of my virtual machines.

Max had previously talked about this in his post and I thought a CS2009 version would be good.

So someone asked for a HTML Help version on one of our internal discussion aliases.

To do this you can use the PackageThis tool from Codeplex http://www.codeplex.com/packagethis

It pulls down the documentation from MSDN and creates a HTML Help file for you.

I’ve created a CHM file with all of the CS2009 Docs and uploaded it to a SkyDrive site.

As the documentation can change I wanted to make sure everyone knows how to generate their own file if they need to.

I’ve placed my copy up on my SkyDrive site.

http://cid-35c1d5410c4723e7.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/CS2009Help/CS2009.zip

How do you create a Commerce Server 2007 BizTalk Orchestration using your customized product catalog

2010-04-16T20:32:00Z

Listed below are the steps you need to perform to successfully export your catalog to a directory.

1. You will need to export your catalog schema using the Commerce Server Export Catalog tool

a. Open a command prompt

b. Go to the Program Files\Microsoft Commerce Server 2007\Tools directory

c. Enter the command “exportcatalog.exe /s:<site name> /w:<url to catalog web service> /Xsd DefaultCatalog.xsd

d. You should see the specified (DefaultCatalog.xsd) file created successfully

2. Now you need to create a Message Schema containing your exported schema file (xsd)

a. Copy the Program Files\Microsoft Commerce Server 2007\SDK\Samples\Adapters\MessageSchemas directory to a directory of your choice

b. Open the Visual Studio solution

c. Replace the original DefaultCatalog.xsd under the catalog folder with your DefaultCatalog.xsd file

d. Ensure you provide an “Assembly Key File” to the project properties to build the Message Schema library

e. Build the MessageSchemas file

f. Deploy the MessageSchemas to BizTalk Server

3. Open the BizTalk Server Administrator to ensure that your MessageSchemas have successfully been deployed

4. Add the Microsoft.CommerceServer.Adapter.GlobalPropertySchemas.dll to your BizTalk Application

a. Right-Click your BizTalk Application à Add à BizTalk Assembly

b. Click the Add button

c. Go to the Program Files\Microsoft Commerce Server 2007\BizTalk Adapters directory

d. Select the Microsoft.CommerceServer.Adapter.GlobalPropertySchemas.dll file and click the Open button

e. Select the “Add to the global assembly cache on add resource (gacutil)” option along with the “Add to the global assembly cache on MSI file install” option

f. Click the OK button

g. You can verify that it has been loaded successfully by examining the Schemas within the BizTalk Administrator

5. Now you need to create your BizTalk Orchestration project with Visual Studio

a. Ensure that you add a reference to your MessageSchema file created in step 1

b. Once again, ensure that you provide an “Assembly Key File” to build the file

c. Successfully build and deploy your orchestration

6. Within the BizTalk Administrator, define the necessary Send and Receive Ports/Locations defining the Catalog Web service as the source for your Receive Port

7. Ensure that for the Send Port you provide a Filter (Property: BTS.ReceivePortName, Operator: ==, Value: Name of your Receive Port)

8. Enable/Start the Ports and Orchestration

9. Verify that your catalog export has been delivered to the location specified by the Send Port

Commerce Server Version Numbers

2009-11-25T20:18:01Z

I was asked recently by a customer what was the easiest way to determine what version of Commerce Server they have installed. There are many ways to check such as Control Panel…Add/Remove Programs with updates being shown, registry setting and in the Help / About in Commerce Server Manager. Probably the easiest way to check and to be sure of the version is to use Help / About Microsoft Commerce Server Manager in Commerce Server Manager or to check the value in the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Commerce Server 2007\Version.

The version numbers match up like this:

Commerce Server 2007	6.0.3724.0
Commerce Server 2007 with Service Pack 1	6.0.4036.0
Commerce Server 2007 with Service Pack 2	6.0.4109.0
Commerce Server 2009	6.0.4171.0

Adjusting polling interval to the StagingLog.mdb

2009-11-25T19:45:00Z

By default, in Commerce Server 2007 and Commerce Server 2009 the Commerce Staging System (CSS) will poll the StagingLog.mdb every 5 seconds. Under normal circumstances this polling interval is not an issue but under an highly used CSS system the frequent polling may cause the service to crash. If you are running into the issue, you can increase the polling interval which may resolve the issue.

To increase the polling interval you will need to edit the registry. First stop the service, make the registry modification and then restart the service.

The registry key is: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\CSS\ProjectDeploymentLog\PollingInterval

Default = 5000 (stored in milliseconds)

A good recommendation on a value to use is somewhere between 30 seconds (30,000) and 60 seconds (60,000). Along with increasing the polling interval you can configure the CSS service to restart automatically by setting the recovery options to Restart the Service on failure.

The issue causing the service to crash is being investigated further and as updates become available I will update this post.

Configuring number of results in Catalog Manager search

2009-11-06T20:41:55Z

In Catalog Manager, when you perform a search for a product, category, etc. by default the maximum number of results that will be returned is 500. You can alter the maximum number or results returned by making changes in the Catalog Web Service web.config file. In the web.config file you will find the notations on values for the property to change like this.

maxSearchResults:    (Optional)
    Potential values include 0 (No limit) and all positive integers 1-2147483647
    Disable Authorization Manager authorization.
    WARNING: Removing this value could allow very large search results to consume server resources.

You will edit the value in the section below. See bolded item.

One note on altering the value. The notation on what value can be entered indicates that you can set the value to 0 so that all results will be returned. This is not correct for Commerce Server 2009. If you set it to 0 then the web service will fail with an exception that the property being set to a value of 0 is invalid. You will need to set a value to a positive integer as noted in the notation.

Installing Commerce Server on Windows Server 2008 R2

2009-10-02T17:21:22Z

Both Commerce Server 2007 and Commerce Server 2009 have been tested on Windows Server 2008 R2 and both are fully supported on this platform. However there are a few items that I wanted to review regarding either upgrading or installing either version of Commerce Server on this platform.

For Commerce Server 2007, there are no issues with performing a new installation on Window Server 2008 R2. However, once the installation is complete and the configuration wizard has finished setting up the initial server databases you will need to install Commerce Server 2007 Service Pack 2 to be in a supported state. You will want to complete the service pack installation before you setup any Commerce sites on the server. If you are performing an operating system upgrade to an existing Commerce Server 2007 deployment, you should install Commerce Server 2007 Service Pack 2 and run the upgrade wizard against each Commerce site already deployed and verify that all site functionality prior to the operating system upgrade.

For Commerce Server 2009, there is an additional step that will need to be performed prior to the installation. With the installation of Commerce Server 2009 CD2 it performs a check for .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 and does this check by looking for a registry key stating that it has been installed. With Windows Server 2008 R2 the framework is already built-in to the operating system and therefore the registry key showing that it has been installed is not present. There is an update that you will need to obtain to resolve the installation issue which can be found in Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 975567; http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;975567. You will want to obtain the update and run it against your server prior to the installation of either CD1 or CD2 of Commerce Server 2009. When you run the update it will perform a single check for the registry key and if present let you know that the update is not needed and do nothing, but if it is not present then it will add the registry entry and then exit. After the update is applied you can perform the installation of Commerce Server 2009 normally. If you are performing an operating system upgrade to a server that is already running Commerce Server 2009 there is no need to obtain the update as Commerce Server 2009 is already installed and the required components are already in place.

Upgrading Commerce Server 2009 deployment on WSS to MOSS

2009-09-30T22:41:56Z

If you have deployed any of the Commerce Server 2009 sample sites or your own custom site on a Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 based deployment, and then decide to upgrade that deployment to Office SharePoint Server 2007, your Commerce sites already deployed will cease to function correctly.

This is because when you use the SharePoint Commerce Services Configuration Wizard to deploy the site, it will check to see if WSS or MOSS is deployed and based on what is deployed it will choose the appropriate WSP files to deploy for the site collection. There are different versions for WSS and MOSS.

If you wish to upgrade an existing WSS deployment to MOSS you will need to back-up all of your site databases and site content, then remove the site in SharePoint Central Administration prior to performing the upgrade. Once the upgrade is complete you can deploy the appropriate site using the SharePoint Commerce Services Configuration Wizard and then merge any site customizations previously done into the new site.

Cookie Sharing with Internet Explorer 8 and the Starter Site

2009-06-09T19:19:52Z

With Commerce Server 2007 and 2009, if you are using a site based on the Core API such as the Starter Site, you can set the site to share cookie domain level at 2. If you have the web application non-secure hostname (for example: NonSecName.testsite.com) set to a different name than secure host name (for example: SecName.testsite.com, same testsite.com), the cookie sharing works correctly in Internet Explorer 6 and 7 but not in Internet Explorer 8.

The symptom:
Anonymous user add items to cart, then switch the URL from the non-secure hostname to secure hostname by an action such as going to checkout, the items in the basket will disappear in Internet Explorer 8 for the same anonymous user.

Resolution:
For code based on the Starter Site, modify the Starter Site code before you set the site_identity cookie, set Cookie.Domain= “testsite.com”.

(App_Code/SiteSecurity.cs)
________________________________________________________________
public static HttpCookie CreateUserCookie()
{
…
cookie.Value = CommerceContext.Current.UserID;
if (!isAnonymousUser)
{
cookie.Value += "/" + HashValue(userProfile.EmailAddress);
}
cookie.Domain = "testsite.com";/*Jason: this is what I added*/
HttpContext.Current.Response.Cookies.Set(cookie);
…

Calculating the decimal degrees for Store Locator

2009-04-23T18:03:02Z

When entering the store objects in Customer and Orders Manager for the Store Locator, you have the option to enter in the latitude and longitude of the store location. Traditionally latitude and longitude are shown in the following format of Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (35° 8' 18"). When entering the values for the store object they must be entered in what is called decimal degree format which will look something like 80.12345.

To convert the latitude and longitude from the traditional format to decimal degrees you will need to use the below formula.

Decimal Degrees = Degrees + (Minutes / 60) + (Seconds / 3600)

For example, 35° 8' 18" would work out as 35 + (8/60) + (18/3600) = 35.13833.

Commerce Server 2009 updates for _PresentationInfo.xml files in Profile Web Service

2009-04-22T23:40:00Z

In Commerce Server 2009 we have a new feature as part of the new default sites. This is the Store Locator. The Store Locator provides the ability to have a user enter an address or zip code and find all of your store locations along with getting driving directions. Prior to using the Customer and Orders Manager to create your store objects and Virtual Earth configuration object you will need to update the <language>_PresentationInfo.xml files to include the needed profile object display information.

In the Commerce Server 2009 Installation Guide we include the profile information that needs to be added but it is only for the English language. As Commerce Server 2009 includes support and <language>_PresentationInfo.xml files for English, German, French and Japanese you can take one of the following approaches to updating each file.

Use the English language profile information from the installation guide and place it in each <language>_PresentationInfo.xml file. This will permit the profile objects to be created successfully for each language supported but the text will be in English for all languages.
Use the English language profile information from the installation guide and place it in the en_PresentationInfo.xml file. This will update the English language version of the file. For the other languages use the same profile content but manually translate and edit the displayName=”…” and description=”…” entry in each line to reflect the language of the selected _PresentationInfo.xml file.

For those that choose to use option number 2 above, I’ve attached an XML file that has the profile information already translated for each language. The translation were done using online translation tools and some input from native speakers of German and French so the translations on some items may need to be reviewed prior to use. Just wanted to offer the information to help get you up and running as quickly as possible.

Configure IIS web logs for Data Warehouse Authentication Module

2009-04-16T19:54:30Z

When you setup a new site in Commerce Server 2009 using the SharePoint Commerce Services Configuration Wizard (SCSCW), it can be used to create the new web applications in both SharePoint and IIS. When you do this there is one additional step that you may need to take if you plan to use the Commerce Server Data Warehouse Authentication Module <CommerceDataWarehouseAuthenticationModule>.

The IIS web applications that are created by the SCSCW may not have the necessary fields set to be logged in the IIS web log files. To correct this issue please verify that the following fields at a minimum are set to be recorded in the IIS web log files for both the NTLM and FBA sites.

Date (date)	Time (time)	Client IP Address (c-ip)	User Name (cs-username)
Method (cs-method)	URI Stem (cs-uri-stem)	URI Query (cs-uri-query)	Cookie (cs(Cookie))
Host (cs-host)	Referer (cs(Referer))	User Agent (cs(User-Agent))	Win32 Status (sc-win32-status)

FBA site fails to open correctly

2009-04-16T18:19:32Z

When you configure the user account for the application pool that the Default Site or the Contemporary Site will use per the product installation guide, typically referred to as the RunTimeUser account, you may see an issue where the FBA site will not open correctly but the NTLM site opens fine. This is seen by the site map provider not rendering correctly and no product category data being seen. Other content that appears in the NTLM site may not be seen as well.

There is a permission missing for ctlg_CatalogReaderRole on a stored procedure that can be corrected by running the script below on the product catalog database.

/* Grant permission to ctlg_CatalogReaderRole */
Begin
GRANT EXECUTE ON [dbo].[ctlg_GetPropertyDefinitionLanguages] TO [ctlg_CatalogReaderRole]
End
GO

Another option or workaround is to change which role permissions are granted to the RunTimeUser account on the product catalog database.

By default the role permissions on the product catalog database are setup as:

Database	User Account	Role Permission
<site_name>_ProductCatalog	RunTimeUser	ctlg_catalogReaderRole Inventory_RuntimeRole

If you use the following role permissions the issue will be resolved.

Database	User Account	Role Permission
<site_name>_ProductCatalog	RunTimeUser	ctlg_catalogWriterRole Inventory_RuntimeRole

This option will resolve the issue but is not ideal as it will grant the RunTimeUser greater permissions than it needs.

If you would like a product update on this issue so that you do not need to perform these steps every time you deploy either the Default Site or the Contemporary Site in Commerce Server 2009 please contact Microsoft Commerce Server Support.

Commerce Server 2009 Training Resources.

2009-04-14T18:59:34Z

As Commerce Server 2009 is now out and available I thought it would be a nice idea to do a post on “Where Can I learn more about Commerce Server 2009?”.

The first place to keep in your list would be the documentation that is available here.
Commerce Server 2009 Documentation

Then you can take a look at the PDC Session from last year to give you an idea of the new features available in this product.

Commerce Server “Mojave” (Mojave was the code name for this version of Commerce Server.)

There is also a really good session from Scott Cairney from the Product Group over at Tech Ed Online with a Q and A.

There’s no direct link unfortunately but you can go to Tech Talks at Tech Ed Online and search for “Commerce Server” and you’ll find this video and a choice of download formats.

One of the really nice new features in Commerce Server 2009 is the ability to integrate with Virtual Earth to build a Store Locator page.

Tom Schultz has a Web Cast that’s up on Channel 9. Channel 9 Store Locator Webcast.

If you’d like to feed back to Tom about this Webcast then he has a permalink over on his blog.

There is also a lot of sample code at Multi-Channel Foundation Samples that will show you how to use the new API’s.

Finally if you’re a Commerce Server Partner we have the following sessions over at Partner Academy Live.

PAL sessions:

Microsoft Commerce Server 2009: Trends, Sales Strategies, and Solutions

The New Microsoft Commerce Server 2009 Product Release

How to setup Site Variations for the Commerce Server 2009 sites

2009-03-18T00:24:00Z

The steps to setup and configure site variations in the Commerce Server 2009 Default Site and the Contemporary Site have been worked over several times here and instead of having a 10 page long post on the topic, we have published new documentation to cover the steps on setting up such a configuration. You can download the document by selecting the Download link below.

Download

Enjoy

Commerce Server Terms and Definitions

2009-03-12T22:38:36Z

As there have been question in the past on the terms and definitions used by Commerce Server, a while back we published a list in the Commerce Server 2002 time frame outlining the meanings to the terms and definitions. I thought it might be a good idea to re-visit this topic and update them to reflect the current product usage.

Commerce Server Site: A Commerce Server site is a collection of site resources and ASP or ASP.NET-based applications that use these resources through the Commerce Server object model. With a Commerce Server site, you can administer the applications in the site as a group.

Note: A Commerce Server site is not the same thing as the concept of a Web site in Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS).

Commerce Server Resource: A Commerce Server resource adds functionality to the applications in a Commerce Server site. You can use the Commerce Server Manager to configure properties in a Commerce Server resource. Resources are either site resources or global resources. Global resources can be shared across Commerce Server sites. Site resources cannot be shared across Commerce Server sites. For example, the Product Catalog resource is a site resource and the Data Warehouse resource is a global resource.
Commerce Server Application: A Commerce Server application is a logical representation of an application in IIS. The Commerce Server application appears in both the Commerce Server Manager and in IIS Manager Console trees. In the IIS console tree, a Commerce Server application is either at the root directory level of the Web site or at a sub-directory or virtual directory level of the web site.

A Commerce Server application may be one of the following:

A web service application such as the Catalog Web Service
A web site application

Commerce Server deployment: A Commerce Server deployment is made up of one or more physical installations of Commerce Server that are directed to or share a single Commerce Server administrative database (MSCS_Admin Database). All Commerce Server sites that share a common MSCS_Admin database make up a single Commerce Server deployment.
Web server: In Commerce Server, a Web server is a computer that has IIS installed. The Web server contains the virtual directories, the files, and the subfolders for a Commerce site. A Commerce deployment can have multiple Web servers that together form a Web farm.
IIS-based Web site: An Internet Information Services-based Web site runs on a specific TCP port number. For example, by default, the "Default Web Site" or "Administration" web site.

Commerce Server 2009 Quick Installation Steps for Developers

2009-03-12T22:38:00Z

The following quick installation instructions are for developers who already have a Commerce Server 2007 installation up and running and want to upgrade to Commerce Server 2009.

This post will walk you thru the required installation steps to get the sample Sharepoint DefaultSite working. It assumes you are running Commerce Server 2007 Standard or Enterprise editions on Windows Server 2008 and that you have a service account named servername\runtimeuser which is part of the local Administrators group, IIS_IUSRS group, and is a sysadmin on your SQL 2008/SQL 2005 machine.

The first thing that needs to be decided is whether you want to install WSS or MOSS.

If you are using WSS:

a. WSS 3.0 with SP1; for the 32-bit version see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139486; for the 64-bit version see <http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139487>

Note

You must perform a custom installation of WSS, not a basic installation. Also choose the web frontend option when asked to.

b. WSS 3.0 December Cumulative Update

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/961755/

If using MOSS:

a. MOSS 2007 SP1 (<http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=130488>)

c. Install the December Cumulative Updates for both WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/961755/

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/961756/

The Sharepoint products and technologies configuration wizard should run after each cumulative update install.

We should now be ready to run the Commerce Server 2009 setup. The setup.exe is located on CD2 of the Commerce 2009 media.

During the setup near the end of the process it will launch the Microsoft Commerce Server Configuration Wizard, same as Commerce Server 2007.

After running the Configuration wizard the Commerce Server 2009 Upgrade wizard should launch.

Be sure to migrate your site resources otherwise your old sites won't work!

Once installation is completed you may need to reboot.

Setting up your DefaultSite is as simple as running a wizard.

Go ahead and launch the Microsoft SharePoint Commerce Services Configuration Wizard

A dependency check will run and you will want to make sure everything checks out ok then click next.

Next you want to select Commerce SharePoint Default Web Site and Web Parts as your deployment option.

Now you want to select your Web Application. Go ahead and click the ... to create a new web application.

So you will now give a description and port for 2 IIS Sharepoint web sites to be created.

IIS Web Site will be a NTLM site used to edit/administer your site.

Extended IIS Web Site will be the actual web site that your customers will go to.

Go ahead and create a new application pool using servername\runtimeuser as the identity.

Once you click next the wizard will go ahead and create your 2 IIS Sharepoint sites and your application pool. It will configure all the authentication for you.

You will now be brought back to the following screen.

· Go ahead and select the web application you just created from the drop down.

· Verify that Create Commerce Site is checked.

· Modify your site name and description if you want to change it.

· Select Unpack Commerce Server Site (with sample data).

· Enter the name of your database server

Go ahead and click next, then confirm your selections on the next screen.

The wizard will go ahead and unpup the microsoftcommercedefaultsitewithsampledata.pup and create a new commerce site and setup the Commerce site.

You will now want to unpackage the web services from microsoftcommercedefaultsitewithsampledata.pup manually. This is located at \Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Commerce Server 2007\Microsoft Commerce Server 2009\Site.

Next you will want to go ahead and perform the normal post-deployment procedures.

Verify that your servername\runtimeuser has write permissions on the catalogauthorizationstore.xml

Setup your azman.msc permissions for you business user applications.

Use the following steps to create a Commerce Server user who owns the Default Site, and tie Commerce Server users to the SharePoint registered users group.

To configure permissions for authenticated users

1. Open Customer and Orders Manager.

2. Create a new Commerce Server user profile that you will use as an Administrator for the forms-based authentication (FBA) zone of the Default site.

3. In Internet Explorer, access the main zone of the Default Site.

4. Click Site Action, click Site Settings, and then click People and Groups.

5. Under groups, click <site_name> Owners

6. Click New.

7. In the Add Users screen, in Users/Groups, type name of commerce server user created in step 1.

8. In left menu, under Groups, click More.

9. Click Registered Users.

10. Click New.

11. In the Add Users screen, in Users/Groups, type SignedInClient as the value.

To specify the Default Web site channel and catalog names

1. Log on to the operating system under a user account that has administrative privileges in SharePoint for the site collection where the Default Web site was deployed.

2. In your browser, navigate to the Default Web site. The URL is as follows:

http://<host>:<port>/Pages/default.aspx

3. Click Site Actions, and then click View All Site Content.

4. Under Lists, click Channel Configuration.

5. In the list, click Channel, and then click Edit item.

6. In the Value box, type Default, and then click OK. You must type the value exactly as it appears here.

7. In the list, click Default Catalog, and then click Edit item.

8. In the Value box, type Adventure Works Catalog, and then click OK.

Your Commerce 2009 Sample Site should now be up and running. Go ahead to IIS and browse the site!

Clarifications, Comments & Corrections to the Commerce Server 2009 Installation Guide

2009-03-04T23:33:00Z

The Commerce Server 2009 Installation guide is a large document covering the setup and deployment of Commerce Server 2009. Although great effort went into making sure we covered all the aspects of setting up Commerce Server 2009 some things in the document may have been missed, stated incorrectly or just need a bit more clarification. In this post I will try to make clear any sections of the installation guide so that you can complete your tasks efficiently.

For the latest revision of the Commerce Server 2009 Installation Guide please download it from here:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/B/E/5BE19F83-EC42-41EE-8A21-B70222247DB8/CS2009Installation.doc

On page 26 you will find the following:

8. (Optional) If you plan to use the Data Warehouse in Commerce Server 2009 with SQL Server 2008, you must install the following, in the order listed:

a. Microsoft SQL Server Native Client. See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139308.

b. Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Management Objects Collection. See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139309.

c. Microsoft ADOMD.NET. See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139310.

d. Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Backward Compatibility Components. See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139311.

e. Microsoft SQL Server 2005 December 2008 Feature Pack. See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139312

This step is better explained by the following:

8. (Optional) If you plan to use the Data Warehouse features in Commerce Server 2009 with SQL Server 2008, you must install the following items from the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 December 2008 Feature Pack, in the order listed below.

The Microsoft SQL Server 2005 December 2008 Feature Pack can be found at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139312. Be sure to select the appropriate version for each item if you are running on an x86 platform or an x64 platform.

a. Microsoft SQL Server Native Client

b. Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Management Objects Collection

c. Microsoft ADOMD.NET

d. Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Backward Compatibility Components

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On page 27 you will find the following:

13. To install WSS or MOSS, click the links below for instructions and information about the relevant updates.

If using WSS:

a. WSS 3.0 with SP1; for the 32-bit version see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139486; for the 64-bit version see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139487

Note

You must perform a custom installation of WSS, not a basic installation.

b. WSS 3.0 December Cumulative Update (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139489)

If using MOSS:

a. MOSS 2007 (For information about licensing and pricing for MOSS 2007, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=142244)

b. MOSS 2007 SP1 (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=130488)

c. December Cumulative Update for both WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007 (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139489)

This step is better explained by the following:

13. Determine if you will be using Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (WSS) or Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS). If you will be using Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 follow the steps in the section "If using WSS:". If you will be using Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 then follow the steps in the section "If using MOSS:".

To install WSS or MOSS, click the links below for instructions and information about the relevant updates.

If using WSS:

a. Install WSS 3.0 with SP1

For the 32-bit version see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139486

For the 64-bit version see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139487

Note: You must perform a custom installation of WSS, not a basic installation. After selecting to perform a custom installation you will need to select the option Web Frontend.

b. December Cumulative Update for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139489. When selecting the download be sure to select the appropriate x86 or x64 platform for your installation.

If using MOSS:

a. Install MOSS 2007 (For information about licensing and pricing for MOSS 2007, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=142244)

b. Install MOSS 2007 SP1. See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=130488.

Note: If you installed the slipstreamed version of MOSS 2007 with SP1 already included then this step can be skipped.

c. December Cumulative Update for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139489. When selecting the download be sure to select the appropriate x86 or x64 platform for your installation.

d. December Cumulative Update for Microsoft Office Servers. See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139489. When selecting the download be sure to select the appropriate x86 or x64 platform for your installation.

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On page 119 you will find the following:

Specifying the Default Site Channel and Catalog Names

Use the following instructions to specify the Default Web site channel and catalog names.

To specify the Default Web site channel and catalog names

1. Log on to the operating system under a user account that has administrative privileges in SharePoint for the site collection where the Default Web site was deployed.

2. In your browser, navigate to the Default Web site. The URL is as follows:

http://<host>:<port>/Pages/default.aspx

3. Click Site Actions, and then click View All Site Content.

4. Under Lists, click Channel Configuration.

5. In the list, click Channel, and then click Edit item.

6. In the Value box, type Default, and then click OK. You must type the value exactly as it appears here.

7. In the list, click Default Catalog, and then click Edit item.

8. In the Value box, type one of the following:

· If you unpacked the Commerce Site with sample data, type Adventure Works Catalog, and then click OK. You must type the value exactly as it appears here.

· If you unpacked only the schema of the Commerce Site (no sample data), type the name of your catalog, and then click OK.

9. Go back to the URL of the Default Web site.

The site now displays the Web Parts.

10. Navigate to the Category page of the Default Site. The URL is as follows:

http://<host>:<port>/Pages/Category.aspx

1. On the page, click Site Actions, and then click Edit Page.

The page is now in edit mode.

1. In the toolbar of the Product Query Web Part, click Edit, and then click Modify Shared Web Part.

The Web Part properties pane opens.

1. Expand the Advanced (Commerce) properties. In the Catalog box, type the same catalog name as you did for step 8 above, and then click Apply.

This section should state the following:

Specifying the Default Site Channel and Catalog Names

Use the following instructions to specify the Default Web site channel and catalog names.

To specify the Default Web site channel and catalog names

1. Log on to the operating system under a user account that has administrative privileges in SharePoint for the site collection where the Default Web site was deployed.

2. In your browser, navigate to the Default Web site. The URL is as follows:

http://<host>:<port>/Pages/default.aspx

3. Click Site Actions, and then click View All Site Content.

4. Under Lists, click Channel Configuration.

5. In the list, click Channel, and then click Edit item.

6. In the Value box, type Default, and then click OK. You must type the value exactly as it appears here.

7. In the list, click Default Catalog, and then click Edit item.

8. In the Value box, type one of the following:

· If you unpacked the Commerce Site with sample data, type Adventure Works Catalog, and then click OK. You must type the value exactly as it appears here.

· If you unpacked only the schema of the Commerce Site (no sample data), type the name of your catalog, and then click OK.

9. Go back to the URL of the Default Web site.

The site now displays the Web Parts.

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On page 126 you will find the following:

Setting up Site Variations for the Default Site

This topic is missing steps and data that is needed in order to complete the process correctly. As the topic is long please see the following blog post on setting this up. The information supplied in the blog post will be incorporated in to a future version of the installation guide.

http://blogs.msdn.com/commercesupport/archive/2009/03/17/how-to-setup-site-variations-for-the-default-site.aspx

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Commerce Server 2007 supports SQL Server 2005 SP3

2009-03-03T20:22:00Z

We have completed all testing of both the Commerce Server 2007 Core API and the Data Warehouse functionality with SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3. All test cases have passed with no issues and we do fully support this update to SQL Server 2005.

Commerce Server 2009 MSDN Forum is now available

2009-02-03T01:33:24Z

The MSDN support and news forum for partners and customers is now live and you can start posting your Commerce Server 2009 related questions, suggestions and feedback on the forum.

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/commserver2009/threads/

To visit the forums for Commerce Server 2007 and earlier versions you can use the link below.

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/category/commserver/

Are you getting ready for Commerce Server 2009?

2009-01-23T00:02:16Z

Commerce Server 2009 is coming and if you are not already reviewing it then I would like to encourage you to do so.

Commerce Server 2009 delivers the ability to increase your business reach by making it possible to sell via multiple channels using an out-of-the-box shopping site with SharePoint Office Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.1 integration and the new Multi-Channel Commerce Foundation. The new out-of-the-box shopping site leverages SharePoint Commerce Services, which provides a gallery of ASP.NET 3.5 based web parts, a comprehensive e-commerce shopping feature-set and technology integration between Commerce Server and SharePoint technologies. The Multi-Channel Commerce Foundation provides a new unified, extensible run-time programming model for Commerce Server, including new run-time e-commerce capabilities.

You can download the release candidate at https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b7eeda01-5cba-4945-a44e-a6f5e3eed0b0&displaylang=en.

Unable to register CommerceSCWTemplate.xml on Windows Server 2003 SP2

2008-12-31T19:13:29Z

When you attempt to register the Commerce Server 2007 Security Configuration Wizard template on a machine running Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 installed you may receive an error that it cannot be installed. The instructions for the installation of the template are in the documentation at http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa545922.aspx.

To resolve the issue, open the CommerceSCWTemplate.xml file in an text editor such as NotePad and find the line starting with

<Version OSVersionMajorInfo="5"...

Make the following change in the line:

ServicePackMajor="1" to ServicePackMajor="2"

After the change is made you should be able to register the security template.

You may also need to use the following command line to complete the registration successfully is you get an error that the file cannot be found.

scwcmd register /kbname:Commerce2007 /kbfile:"c:\windows\security\msscw\kbs\CommerceSCWTemplate.xml"

Commerce Server 2009 December CTP Release is Available

2008-12-31T19:07:52Z

The December CTP release of the upcoming Commerce Server 2009 is available for everyone to download and start taking a look at. You can find it here...

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=dc30f74f-e510-40b4-8da2-895e33fc9490&displaylang=en&tm

Purpose of the admin_commerceAdministrator_role in the MSCS_Admin database

2008-12-31T19:03:11Z

In the Commerce Server 2007 MSCS_Admin database there is a SQL Server security role named "admin_commerceAdministrator_role". The purpose and usage of this role is to allow a user or group who do not have DBO or SYSAdmin privileges in SQL Server to the MSCS_Admin database the ability to make changes to a Commerce Server site such as adding an application or site resource or the removal of a site application or site resource.