Best Practices for Enforcing Asset Governance and Moving DAM Assets with References in AEM

Question

I'm working on enforcing asset governance in AEM 6.5.23 AMS, specifically:

- Blocking uploads based on MIME-type folder rules
- Enforcing naming standards aligned with CloudFront CDN requirements
- Suggesting correct names to authors via frontend validation

I'm using a custom ClientLib to validate uploads in the Touch UI and show alerts when assets are uploaded to the wrong folder or have invalid names.

Now, I want to extend this governance to **asset moves**:
- How can I ensure authors move assets only to valid folders?
- What’s the best way to **preserve and update references** (pages, components, metadata) when assets are moved?
- Are there recommended workflows or tools to automate reference updates and avoid broken links?

Any insights, patterns, or tools you’ve used successfully would be greatly appreciated!

giuseppebaglio · Accepted Answer

hi @ramaem12,
AEM DAM lacks a native feature to restrict asset movement to specific folders. Control relies on user permissions on the folder structure. Possible strategies may include:

Granular Folder Permissions: Use AEM's folder-level permissions (ACLs) to manage access to DAM folders. Remove "write" permissions on invalid destination folders and grant them only to valid storage folders.
Workflow Automation: Implement custom workflows triggered on asset modification events to validate the new destination path and take corrective actions if invalid.
(While more complex and not recommended for long-term maintenance) Customizing the User Interface: Overlay the AEM DAM UI to modify the "Move" dialog using a custom JavaScript solution

When moving assets via the Move Asset dialog, AEM automatically detects and updates references in pages, components, and metadata if you choose the option to adjust references during the move wizard.

This applies both to pages and DAM assets referencing the moved asset.
Note that dragging assets (instead of using Move wizard) doesn’t trigger this and can cause broken references.

For more advanced or specific scenarios, you can use the Groovy Console to write custom scripts. This allows you to crawl the repository and programmatically find and fix broken links based on your specific requirements.

HrishikeshKagne · Answer

Hi @ramaem12 ,In AEM 6.5, enforce asset governance by combining frontend validation (ClientLibs) with backend enforcement using Sling filters or DAM event listeners. For moves, restrict valid target folders via custom workflow steps or event listeners. To preserve references, always use AEM’s Manage Publication → Move or the Asset Move operation in Touch UI, which automatically updates references in pages, components, and metadata. For automation and governance, tools like ACS AEM Commons’ Asset Reference Adjuster and custom workflows can help enforce rules and prevent broken links. This ensures assets are consistently governed, safely moved, and references remain intact.

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