xconnect

Enable xConnect on a local developer machine

/ Chris Perks / 2 Comments

 

In this post

Example configuration files and certificate set-up steps.

What I wanted to do

Install xConnect alongside Sitecore XP 9.0.1 on a developer machine, in xp0 configuration. I didn’t have Powershell 5.1 installed, so had to go ahead without SIF. Yes, it was a bit of a nightmare.

Prerequisites

  • Packages for XP Single from Sitecore Downloads
  • DACPAC databases from that package installed
  • xConnect IIS site from that package hosted locally (devxc.perks.com)
  • Sitecore XP9 hosted locally (dev.perks.com)

Generate a server certificate

New-SelfSignedCertificate -certstorelocation cert:\LocalMachine\My -dnsname *.perks.com

Generate a client certificate

New-SelfSignedCertificate -certstorelocation cert:\LocalMachine\My -dnsname devxc.perks.com

Note down the thumbprint for later:

Thumbprint                                Subject
----------                                -------
7E8DAE07DA298A9681D867F4B65BF4241C064A92  CN=devxc.perks.com

Export and Import

Export the client and server certificates (using Certificate Manager) and re-import them to the following locations:

  • LocalMachine > Trusted Root Certification Authorities

Assign the *.perks.com certificate

Assign the *.perks.com server certificate to the IIS sites dev.perks.com and devxc.perks.com

Ensure devxc.perks.com has Require SSL [ON] and Client certificates [Accept]

Add certificate details to Sitecore XP Connectionstrings.config

<add name="xconnect.collection.certificate" connectionString="StoreName=My;StoreLocation=LocalMachine;FindType=FindByThumbprint;FindValue=7E8DAE07DA298A9681D867F4B65BF4241C064A92;AllowInvalidClientCertificates=true" />
<add name="xdb.referencedata.client.certificate" connectionString="StoreName=My;StoreLocation=LocalMachine;FindType=FindByThumbprint;FindValue=7E8DAE07DA298A9681D867F4B65BF4241C064A92;AllowInvalidClientCertificates=true" />
<add name="xdb.marketingautomation.reporting.client.certificate" connectionString="StoreName=My;StoreLocation=LocalMachine;FindType=FindByThumbprint;FindValue=7E8DAE07DA298A9681D867F4B65BF4241C064A92;AllowInvalidClientCertificates=true" />
<add name="xdb.marketingautomation.operations.client.certificate" connectionString="StoreName=My;StoreLocation=LocalMachine;FindType=FindByThumbprint;FindValue=7E8DAE07DA298A9681D867F4B65BF4241C064A92;AllowInvalidClientCertificates=true" />

Add certificate details to xConnect Connectionstrings.config

<add name="xconnect.collection.certificate" connectionString="StoreName=My;StoreLocation=LocalMachine;FindType=FindByThumbprint;FindValue=7E8DAE07DA298A9681D867F4B65BF4241C064A92;AllowInvalidClientCertificates=true" />
<add name="xdb.referencedata.client.certificate" connectionString="StoreName=My;StoreLocation=LocalMachine;FindType=FindByThumbprint;FindValue=7E8DAE07DA298A9681D867F4B65BF4241C064A92;AllowInvalidClientCertificates=true" />

Modify xConnect AppSettings.config

<add key="AllowInvalidClientCertificates" value="true" />
<add key="validateCertificateThumbprint" value="7E8DAE07DA298A9681D867F4B65BF4241C064A92" />

Restart! Restart!

Restart IIS, your machine, switch your house lights on and off a few times. Open a window.

Troubleshooting

Export and Import the certificates into:

  • Current User > Personal
  • Current User > Trusted Root Certification Authorities

Use Certificate Manager to grant Read permissions to your certificates.

Remove any non-self-signed certificates from your Local Machine > Trusted Root Certification Authorities store. Beware doing this on your work PC, as some corporate certificates may be changed.

Associated error messages

FATAL [Experience Analytics]: Failed to synchronize segments. Message: Ensure definition type did not complete successfully. StatusCode: 401, ReasonPhrase: 'Invalid certificate', Version: 1.1, Content: System.Net.Http.StreamContent, Headers:

Exception: System.InvalidOperationException
Message: The certificate was not found.
Source: Sitecore.Xdb.Common.Web
   at Sitecore.Xdb.Common.Web.CertificateWebRequestHandlerModifier.Process(HttpClientHandler handler)

ERROR Exception when executing agent aggregation/aggregator
Exception: Sitecore.XConnect.XdbCollectionUnavailableException
Message: The HTTP response was not successful: Forbidden
Source: Sitecore.Xdb.Common.Web

Next steps

Please don’t use any of these steps in production! I’m only hacking around to get things running locally.

For further reading, check out:

Feedback

Comment here or find @perks on Twitter. Feedback and corrections happily received.