Migrating a legacy WebSphere Commerce store
HCL Commerce Remote Store server architecture
Within the new paradigm of HCL Commerce Version 9, the Aurora starter store remains supported,
in addition to the new Reference React stores. A
store based on these designs can
be deployed on a separate Commerce Remote Store server, also known as the crs-app
Docker container. This Store server consists of a lightweight JVM that
separates the storefront presentation layer from the search and transactional backbone of HCL Commerce. The Store server persists user sessions with cookies, and
handles security through the web channel (that is, between the store and the user over HTTP and
HTTPS protocols). All store transactions, search queries, and user authentications are done through
REST services with the Transaction server and Search server. The
Store server has no direct database access.
For more information on the Commerce Remote Store architecture, see Store architecture.
The HCL Commerce development environment separates all customized storefront assets into a single web application archive. This separation of custom files from the provided defaults allows for a simplified lifecycle, where changes become easier to implement as incremental improvements to HCL Commerce are released by HCL.
For more information on how to customize the Aurora JSP or reference React-based stores, see Creating your custom store.
Migrated local store
Stores that were implemented for use with WebSphere Commerce Version 7 and Version 8 are not designed to be run separately on the Commerce Remote Store server. This is due to their legacy dependencies on the Transaction server.
As a result, any stores that are migrated from Version 7 or Version 8, are deployed within the Transaction server, where they serve live traffic. Since migrated stores are local to the Transaction server in the Version 9 deployment model, they are referred to as local stores.
When migrating a local store, the existing store project is exported from your WebSphere Commerce Version 7 or Version 8 Developer environment, and imported into your HCL Commerce development environment. Then, some modifications are required for compatibility with HCL Commerce Version 9.1. Once migration is complete, the store is packaged and deployed within your custom Transaction server docker container to serve site users in your live production environment.
You can also explore this migration flow in a more detailed tutorial format. See Tutorial: Migrating a WebSphere Commerce store.