In order to run/debug/test your deployer extension you will need a deployment package to be used by the deployer. The deployer package is a zip file containing a set of xml files with the instructions to be executed by the deployer as well as a set of files to be deployed within the deployment process such as binaries and pages. Also this package contains all the related metadata of the items contained in the package.

Tutorial Steps

• Step 1: Concepts & Requirements
• Step 2: Getting a deployer package
• Step 3: Creating a Java Project with Eclipse
• Step 4: Preparing the code structure
• Step 5: Implementing your Custom Module Class
• Step 6: Running the deployer from Eclipse
• Step 7: Debug your code from Eclipse
• Step 8: Other considerations and tips
  
  

Steps to get a deployer package

To get a deployer package you need to:

• Configure the deployer with 'cleanup' equal to false, so we can copy the package

• Restart the deployer

• Publish "something" (relevant to the extension we want to implement)

  • In this case anything will do, since we will be writing a "dummy" log in our extension (custom module)

• Copy the package (zip) to a location where we can access to reuse such package and drop it to our incoming folder 

Configure the deployer with "cleanup" equal to false

To configure the deployer with "cleanup" equal to false we need to access the cd_deployer_conf.xml file within our deployer installation and look for the Queue node. Under that node we will find the Location node where we can specify this property (cleanup) and set it to false

Restarting the deployer

Restarting the deployer is a process that may vary depending on the type of deployer installation you are using, here are some examples on how to restart the deployer based on the type of configuration:

1. Deployer as a .Net web application: To restart the deployer you'll need to restart the application on IIS where the deployer is running

2. Deployer as a Java web application container (e.g: Tomcat): To restart the deployer running as an application within Tomcat you'll need to restart the web application where the deployer is running in

3. Deployer as a Windows Service: To restart the deployer you will need to restart the windows service

There might be some other scenarios where the deployer is running in a different way. Refer to the documentation to see how to restart the deployer.

Publishing an item from SDL Tridion

After publishing something from tridion go check your incoming folder. Your incoming folder is defined in the cd_deployer_config.xml wihtin the "path" attribute under Queue/Location nodes.

Within your incoming folder you will find a "Success" folder where there is the package containing the instructions and items you published from SDL Tridion

Copy the package (zip - tcm_0-XXXX-66560.Content.zip) to a location where we can access to reuse such package and drop it to our development incoming folder.

Next Step: Creating a Java Project with Eclipse

Move on to the next step of this tutorial: Creating a Java Project with Eclipse

Update (2023-07-19): updated links.