Commerce Server Manager

  • Article

System administrators use Commerce Server Manager to manage and configure Commerce Server 2009 resources, sites, applications, and Web servers. Microsoft Management Console (MMC), a Windows-based interface that is included in Microsoft Windows Server, hosts Commerce Server Manager.

Commerce Server Manager provides a common framework for managing Web sites in a single, integrated interface. The functionality in Commerce Server Manager is unavailable through either Web-based or command line administration. Instead, you access and manipulate most of this functionality through COM objects. Therefore, you can write a Windows Script Host (WSH) script or an ASP.NET page to extend the administration environment.

Management Objects

Commerce Server Manager manages the connections and configuration of objects that interface with Commerce Server 2009 Core Systems and databases. It manages the objects that are either installed when you install Commerce Server 2009, or when unpack a Commerce Server 2009 site. Additionally, you can define objects and add them to a site that Commerce Server Manager then manages.

Commerce Server Manager manages the following objects:

  • Applications. A group of ASP.NET scripts and components that perform tasks for a Web site. An application space represents the Web address that a Web client accesses.

  • Global and site resources. Entities that provide functionality to Commerce Server 2009 applications. Commerce Server 2009 provides these global and site resources:

    • CS Authentication. Configures the authentication and identification method for the Commerce Server 2009 site.

    • Data Warehouse. Imports and manages Web site data from Web log files, Commerce Server 2009 databases, and other data sources. This is an optional global resource.

    • Direct Mailer. Sends personalized or non-personalized mailings to large groups of recipients. This is an optional global resource.

    • Profiles. Creates data sources for storing profile data, and creates and stores profile definitions and properties.

  • Site-specific resources. Commerce Server 2009 sites can contain these site resources:

    • Inventory. Manages the connection to the Commerce Server 2009 Core Inventory System database that Commerce Server 2009 uses to store inventory schema and inventory SKU data.

    • Marketing. Manages the connection to the Commerce Server 2009 Core Marketing System and Mailing List Management databases that Commerce Server 2009 uses to store data about campaigns, ads, discounts, direct mail, and user lists.

    • Product Catalog. Manages the connection to the Commerce Server 2009 Core Catalog System database that Commerce Server 2009 uses to store catalog schema and product data.

    • Transactions. Manages the connection to the Commerce Server 2009 Core Orders System Transactions database that Commerce Server 2009 uses to store data such as order numbers, order groups, and baskets.

    • Transaction Config. Manages the connection to the Commerce Server 2009 Core Orders System Transactions Configuration database that Commerce Server 2009 uses to store data such as region codes, tax rates, order status codes, and shipping methods.

  • Sites. Web locations that provide e-commerce functionality by using Commerce Server 2009.

  • Web servers. Instances of hardware servers that you use to support site functionality. You may configure several Web servers to support a single site.

Features Overview

The following table summarizes the tasks that you can accomplish by using Commerce Server Manager.

Feature

Description

Manage connections

  • Manage and configure connections to the Administration database, global resources, site resources, applications, and Web servers.

Manage resources

  • Configure global and site resources.

  • Add resources and global resource pointers to a site.

  • Share resources across sites.

  • Remove resources from a site.

Manage sites, applications and Web servers

  • Add and remove sites.

  • Add applications to a site.

  • Configure applications and Web servers.

  • Add Web servers to an application.

Manage profiles

  • Manage the profile schema.

  • Create, change, and delete data sources, data objects, and data members.

  • Add custom attributes to data sources, profile definitions, and profile properties.

  • Create, change, and delete profile definitions.

  • Change and organize profile properties.

  • Export and import profile schema.

Data Warehouse

  • Configure the connections to the Data Warehouse resource and SQL Server Data Warehouse database.

  • Configure the time zone and start day of week that the Data Warehouse assigns to imported time data.

  • View the history of events and status of Data Transformation Services (DTS) tasks.

View

  • Expand, collapse, and view objects such as resources, sites, applications, and profiles.

  • View the properties assigned to sites, resources, applications, and Web servers.

Export

  • Export a list of objects that are that are contained in a node to a text file.

  • Export property assignments made to an object.

See Also

Other Resources

Administration and Operations Tools