AEM headless CI/CD

[rohanjuneja]

Hi,

I have a question related to AEM Headless,

I have a dev environment, where I have created all Content Fragment Models, Content Fragments and Persisted Queries, works pretty great with frontend through a middleware that calls publisher and fetches content using persisted queries.

I want some suggestions on how I could implement a strategy to deploy this to further environments, and if something changes on dev server, it should change in staging and production server as well, so we dont have to do it manually.

What's the best way of doing it?

Do I need to setup a separate repository with configurations and all content fragments (created using package manager and filtering what I need in the zip)?

How can I do it? Doing Headless integration for the first time

[aanchal-sikka]

Hello @rohanjuneja 

Sharing few options:

Package sync via automated scripts:

Pros:

• You have control over what to sync
• We can very well predict the results of Package installation.

Cons:

• The history of the asset is lost every time it is replaced by package. You might want to customize the script to use update/merge mode in packages.
• Overtime the size of the package will grow.

ACS commons' content sync tool https://adobe-consulting-services.github.io/acs-aem-commons/features/contentsync/index.html

Pros: 

• Incremental updates are possible
• Version history will be retained

Cons:

• You would need to test it thoroughly. When we tried last, the node types in the hierarchy of persisted queries were not proper.

[rohanjuneja]

I think I would need to keep the Version History for all the changes that were pushed. Is there any other documentation available for ACS common content sync tool for cloud? 

[Raja_Reddy]

Hi @rohanjuneja ,

When it comes to deploying AEM Headless configurations and content fragments across multiple environments, it's important to have a structured approach to ensure consistency and efficiency. Here are some suggestions on how you can implement a strategy for deploying AEM Headless to further environments:

1. Version Control: Set up a version control system (e.g., Git) to manage your AEM project's code and configurations. This allows you to track changes, collaborate with a team, and easily deploy changes across environments.

2. Configuration Repository: Create a separate repository to store your AEM Headless configurations, including Content Fragment Models, Content Fragments, and Persisted Queries. This repository can be version-controlled alongside your codebase.

3. Package Manager: Use the AEM Package Manager to create packages that contain the necessary configurations and content fragments. Filter the package to include only the required items for deployment. This allows you to easily export and import the configurations across environments.

4. Automated Deployment: Implement an automated deployment process using tools like Jenkins, Bamboo, or any other CI/CD tool. Set up a pipeline that triggers the deployment process whenever changes are pushed to the repository. This ensures that changes made in the dev environment are automatically deployed to staging and production environments.

5. Environment-Specific Overrides: Consider having environment-specific configuration overrides to handle environment-specific settings (e.g., API endpoints, credentials). This allows you to maintain consistency while accommodating environment-specific requirements.

6. Testing and Validation: Perform thorough testing and validation in each environment after the deployment to ensure that the AEM Headless configurations and content fragments are working as expected.

[rohanjuneja]

Hi @Raja_Reddy 

I like the Version Control through GIT. Let's say I set up a repository for all the configurations, content and everything. A change is pushed with an updated to a content fragment model, and a change is a small string update. So, through 4th option, automated deployment, will that be set up on GIT or through AEM Cloud?

[Raja_Reddy · Accepted solution]

Hi @rohanjuneja 

The automated deployment process can be set up using a CI/CD tool like Jenkins or Bamboo, which can integrate with your Git repository. When a change is pushed to the repository, the CI/CD tool can trigger the deployment process.

In the case of AEM Cloud, the deployment process can be set up using the AEM Cloud Manager, which is a cloud-native CI/CD tool specifically designed for AEM deployments. It integrates with your Git repository and provides a pipeline to automate the deployment process.

So, whether you choose to set up the automated deployment process through a CI/CD tool like Jenkins or Bamboo or through AEM Cloud Manager, it can be integrated with your Git repository to trigger the deployment whenever changes are pushed.

[kautuk_sahni]

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