Installing AbleCommerce to a Load Balancing System

The following instructions are provided to show the necessary stages to install AbleCommerce in a Cluster or Load Balanced System.  

We will use an example to illustrate how AbleCommerce could be setup using mirrored servers.

SERVER #1 will be the primary.

SERVER #2 will be a secondary.

SERVER #3 will be a fail-over.

INSTALLATION TO PRIMARY SERVER

1. Unzip AbleCommerce package into the target installation directory of SERVER #1.

2. Before installation, manually set the machine key in the root web.config file

   1. Go to http://www.aspnetresources.com/tools/keycreator.aspx

   2. Generate a machinekey element and place it in the web.config file.

3. Continue installation on primary SERVER #1 as normal.

4. After installation, go to the Merchant Administration.

5. Access the Configure -> Security -> Database menu.

6. Uncheck the option to encrypt connection string and update (this will decrypt the database.config file for mirroring purposes)

7. Next, go to the Configure -> Security -> Encryption Key page.

8. Enter some random text to set the encryption key.

9. Re-access the same page and obtain a backup of the store encryption key.

   • Save keypart1.bin and keypart2.bin to a safe location.  

   • You will need to restore these to the mirrored servers in the next step.

COPY TO ADDITIONAL SERVERS

1. Copy from SERVER #1 to additional SERVER'S #2 and #3, etc.  Mirror all the files EXCEPT -

   • App_Data/encryption.config

   • App_Data/Commercebuilder.lic

2. Contact AbleCommerce to request license keys for each additional installation.

   • Provide the physical path of each installation.

   • Place the Commercebuilder.lic in the App_Data folder of the installation it was provided for.  

3. Copy the App_Data/encryption.config file from the original AbleCommerce package and place it in the App_Data folder for each mirrored server.

4. Login to the Merchant Administration for each subsequent server.

5. Go to the Configure -> Security -> Encryption Key page.

6. Using the Restore Encryption Key feature, locate keypart1.bin and keypart2.bin files saved in step 9) above and restore.

7. Repeat for each mirrored installation.

NOTE:  Maintain the file mirroring for any file changes made through the merchant administration.  It is necessary to have the merchant admin always operate on the primary server so that changes can be mirrored out to secondary servers.

ENCRYPT THE DATABASE STRING

This step is optional.  

1. Login to the Merchant Administration for each installation.

2. Access the Configure -> Security -> Database menu.

3. Check the option to Encrypt the connection string and continue.

IMPORTANT:  After encrypting the database string, you must EXCLUDE the App_Data/database.config file from any future mirroring.