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HCL Digital Experience Product Documentation
Welcome to the product documentation for HCL Digital Experience. Find information about how to install, configure, maintain, and use HCL Web Content Manager and HCL Portal Server, Enable, and Extend solutions.
HCL Digital Experience 9.0
Learn how to install, configure, troubleshoot, maintain, and use Version 9.0 of HCL Web Content Manager and HCL Portal Server, Enable, and Extend.
Installing
HCL Digital Experience provides flexible deployment options that range from proof-of-concept where you can examine and test functionality to a highly available and scalable production environment. Review the planning information to learn more about hardware and software requirements, high availability, scalability, supported topologies, and much more. Select your operating system and then select the installation pattern that most reflects your business needs.
Planning to install HCL Digital Experience
Before you install HCL Digital Experience in a production environment, you need to assess your hardware and software needs, possible database configurations, security options, and LDAP server options. Skipping this important step can lead to unexpected results and costly delays.
Evaluation license
HCL Digital Experience comes with a special license that you can use to install and deploy the product for a 60-day evaluation at no charge. If you then purchase HCL Digital Experience, with a simple utility you can convert the evaluation license to a full production license. Users who prefer to purchase and install HCL Digital Experience directly, without the evaluation license, can do so without having to install or convert the evaluation license.

HCL Digital Experience Product Documentation
Welcome to the product documentation for HCL Digital Experience. Find information about how to install, configure, maintain, and use HCL Web Content Manager and HCL Portal Server, Enable, and Extend solutions.
- HCL Digital Experience 9.5
- HCL Digital Experience 9.5 [Legacy Content]
- HCL Digital Experience 9.0
  Learn how to install, configure, troubleshoot, maintain, and use Version 9.0 of HCL Web Content Manager and HCL Portal Server, Enable, and Extend.
  - Overview
    HCL Digital Experience provides a single access point to web content and applications, while it delivers differentiated, personalized experiences per user.
  - Supported migration paths
    Migration is supported between equivalent offerings. Starting with CF17, additional migration options are supported for HCL Portal server and HCL Web Content Manager offerings.
  - Getting the software
    New and existing users need to sign up or register at HCL Software and download their HCL Digital Experience package.
  - Installing
    HCL Digital Experience provides flexible deployment options that range from proof-of-concept where you can examine and test functionality to a highly available and scalable production environment. Review the planning information to learn more about hardware and software requirements, high availability, scalability, supported topologies, and much more. Select your operating system and then select the installation pattern that most reflects your business needs.
    - Planning to install HCL Digital Experience
      Before you install HCL Digital Experience in a production environment, you need to assess your hardware and software needs, possible database configurations, security options, and LDAP server options. Skipping this important step can lead to unexpected results and costly delays.
      - System requirements
        Before you install HCL Digital Experience, review the hardware and software requirements to ensure that you have the supported versions of prerequisite and co-requisite software and the required hardware.
      - Support Statement
        This support statement proposes a revision to the definition of supported and unsupported about the various products of which HCL Digital Experience depends on for proper operation.
      - User IDs and passwords
        Understanding character limitations for user IDs and passwords is important because they are used throughout the system to provide access and secure content. The character limitations provided here apply to the HCL Digital Experience administrator, IBM WebSphere Application Server administrator, database administrator, LDAP server administrator, and user IDs. Database and LDAP servers can have more restrictive limitations than provided here. Therefore, check the database and LDAP server product documentation for restrictions. Failure to correctly define user IDs and passwords during the installation process can result in installation failure. In addition, your company might have more restrictive user ID and password requirements that you must also follow.
      - Web Content Manager environments
        To use a Web Content Manager system, you need to deploy a set of Web Content Manager environments within your overall HCL Portal system. Reviewing the Web Content Manager environments help you understand what happens in each environment and how you might want to set up your physical severs. Web Content Manager is installed by using the HCL Portal installation user interface.
      - Evaluation license
        HCL Digital Experience comes with a special license that you can use to install and deploy the product for a 60-day evaluation at no charge. If you then purchase HCL Digital Experience, with a simple utility you can convert the evaluation license to a full production license. Users who prefer to purchase and install HCL Digital Experience directly, without the evaluation license, can do so without having to install or convert the evaluation license.
      - Database
        HCL Digital Experience includes an Apache Derby database that is configured and ready for immediate use. As a result, you have a running portal that is ready for exploration or portlet and theme development. But for a production environment or any environment for Web Content Manager, you must use one of the other supported database management systems.
      - User registry considerations
        A user registry or repository authenticates a user and retrieves information about users and groups to do security-related functions, including authentication and authorization.
      - HCL Portal high availability
        HCL Digital Experience is licensed for use in a single-server configuration and might not be used in either a cloned configuration or a clustered configuration except when implementing idle standby for the purpose of failover.
      - Cluster considerations
        To increase capacity and availability, multiple portal servers can be clustered with IBM WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment. In a cluster, the portals share a common configuration and the load is distributed evenly across all cluster instances.
      - Virtual environment overview
        You can use virtualized environments, for example VMWare ESX, to meet your business needs such as production server consolidation, centralized management, or dynamic test environments. The virtual environment provides transparency to the operating systems, applications, and middleware that it uses.
      - Multiple profile support
        HCL Digital Experience creates an application server configuration profile to represent its application server configuration, such as data source definitions, web applications, portlet deployments, and Java virtual machine configuration. A configuration profile represents the full configuration of a single portal instance. Multiple profiles give you the ability to have multiple, independently configured portal instances that run from the same installation. Before HCL Portal Version 7, there was only one configuration profile per installation, which was typically named wp_profile.
    - Roadmaps to deploy your system
      Review the roadmaps to understand the common deployment, configuration, migration, and integration patterns.
    - Roadmaps to create your website
      Review the roadmaps to understand how to create your website.
    - Installing and preparing the prerequisite software
      Before you install the digital experience software, make sure that the prerequisite software is installed and configured. Depending on your environment, you might already have the prerequisites, such as a database server and user registry. Verify that the prerequisite software is the correct version, has the required fix packs applied, and is configured to work with the digital experience software.
    - Installing HCL Digital Experience software
      HCL Digital Experience is designed to help create, manage, simplify, and integrate your processes into an engaging online experience. HCL Portal and HCL Web Content Manager are a part of the HCL Digital Experience.
  - Migrating to WebSphere Application Server V9.0
    If you are installing HCL Digital Experience Version 9.0, migrate your IBM WebSphere Application Server to Version 9.0.
  - Configuring
    Run the following tasks after you install and deploy HCL Digital Experience. They address tasks that are typically run one time and have a global effect. Some configuration changes are made more frequently or do not have a global effect. These tasks are addressed in the Administering section.
  - Reference
    View information that can help you use, including directory conventions, terms of use, trademarks, a glossary, and more.
- HCL Digital Experience 8.5
  Learn how to install, configure, troubleshoot, maintain, and use Version 8.5 of HCL Web Content Manager and HCL Portal Server, Enable, and Extend.

Evaluation license | HCL Digital Experience

HCL Digital Experience comes with a special license that you can use to install and deploy the product for a 60-day evaluation at no charge. If you then purchase HCL Digital Experience, with a simple utility you can convert the evaluation license to a full production license. Users who prefer to purchase and install HCL Digital Experience directly, without the evaluation license, can do so without having to install or convert the evaluation license.

Note: This version is intended for new users who did not previously install HCL Portal. You cannot use the HCL Portal media or downloaded installation image to upgrade an existing installation.

Using the evaluation license

When you install HCL Digital Experience under the terms of the 60-day evaluation license, individuals and teams can explore and use the site immediately.

Each time that you launch the site, the SystemOut log file records the number of days that remain in the evaluation license. The log file is in wp_profile_root/logs/HCL Portal and HCL Web Content Manager.

To continue use after the evaluation license expires, you need to purchase HCL Digital Experience. The purchased production software includes the files that are needed to convert the previously installed evaluation license to a full production license. Custom templates and data files that users created during the evaluation period are fully compatible with the production license, so no additional migration is required.

For purchasing information, contact your local HCL Software representative.