Mass deployment
The current state of mass deployment includes silent servicing of current installations and silent Store Commerce deployment. Mass deployment can update to a newer version on any currently installed components from the Commerce architecture. Silent servicing means that it runs the installer silently and no graphical user interface (GUI) is used. Silent servicing is scriptable, which means that commands can be used for all standard self-service installers for Commerce and Store Commerce.
The mass deployment roadmap starts with the silent servicing installation to the CSU and Store Commerce. Then, the next component to deploy is the hardware station. The end goal is the Master Data Management (MDM) integration, which is used for collection association and automatic creation of deployable packages.
All components can be deployed with the following commands:
Command that updates the current installation of CSU by using a specific configuration file. - This configuration file might not be in the same location as the executable file for the installer. This command skips the prerequisite check and moves on to the installation steps. You can use this command for development or testing.
StoreSystemSetup_V72.exe -S -C "C:\Temp\StoreSystemSetup_V72_Houston.xml" -SkipPrerequisiteCheckCommand that silently installs or updates the Store Commerce app - It has the standard command structure that is used for silent servicing of components that are currently installed. The structure uses the basic values of InstallerName.exe and the command for silent installation: -S. This command uses the configuration file that is in the same location as the executable file for the installer, if a configuration file exists there. It should not be used if multiple configuration files are available.
ModernPOSSetup_V73.exe -SCommand that silently installs the current installation of the Store Commerce app by using a specific configuration file. - This configuration file might not be in the same location as the executable file for the installer, or multiple configuration files might be available.
ModernPOSSetup_V72.exe -S -C "C:\Temp\ModernPOSSetup_V73_Houston-3.xml"Command that silently installs or updates hardware station - The following command silently installs (or updates) hardware station. It has the standard command structure that is used for silent servicing of components that are currently installed. The structure uses the basic values of <InstallerName>.exe and the command for silent installation, -S. It also uses the -SkipMerchantInfo delimiter to skip the download of merchant account information through the utility. This command uses the configuration file that is in the same location as the executable file for the installer.
HardwareStationSetup_V10.exe -S -SkipMerchantInfoCommand that silently installs the current installation of the hardware station by using a specific configuration file. - This configuration file might not be in the same location as the executable file for the installer, or multiple configuration files might be available.
HardwareStationSetup_V10.exe -S -SkipMerchantInfo -C "C:\Temp\HardwareStationSetup_V10__20-19-35.xml"
To be able to collectively download your Store Commerce terminal installers, from Commerce, go to Retail and Commerce module > Channels > Channel deployment. Select Mass download to download your terminal installers.
The channel deployment allows you to select your nodes from an organization hierarchy perspective to pull over and download every unique installer and every configuration file.
After the download, you will be presented with three types of files for mass deployment, as shown in the following example.
Multiple types of installers are available: a default installer, one that goes to every store, and several that are distributed to a subset of stores. This subset of stores installs the next generation version of the terminal to verify in production (on a smaller scale) that everything is working as it should.
Then, you will have your configuration files, which are referred to as the retail association map. The retail association map is used to understand which configuration files go to which installers.
In general, you can map the files based on naming or by checking the files names after you have opened the map file. With scripts, you can auto map and deploy them, which is the purpose of the Microsoft System Center.
The System Center conducts the silent servicing. Basically, it updates the currently configured components and manages the Store Commerce app and SQL deployment.
The multiple benefits of using the System Center include:
- Empower user productivity – Enables employees to access the corporate applications that they need to be productive from anywhere, on whatever device they choose, while helping to protect corporate information.
- Simplify administration – Administers client systems and offers improved visibility and enforcement options for maintaining system compliance.
- Unify your IT management infrastructure – Streamlines operations with unified infrastructure that integrates device management and protection across mobile, physical, and virtual environments.
With System Center, you can create deployable packages and specify the required parameters by using that configuration file as a guide. Frequently, with the Store Commerce app, you also have an offline SQL database that must already be on the same machine and set up properly. If you have special payment connectors, customizations, or another software service that is tangential to a minor Store Commerce and is a separate installation, having those as separate packages is also a possibility.
The self-service framework is a new model that is a part of Mass deployment version 2.0. This new model is more focused around the ability to deploy in a more remote way. The focus of the self-service framework has been on ability to be scriptable and being able to run remotely in a non-interactive session. The main benefit is that you could push the deploy in a massive model as opposed to trying to do it on a box-per-box basis. You can also monitor the deployment flow whether the installation completed successfully or not.
The other benefit of a self-service framework is that the installers are available from the Lifecycle Services repository. From Lifecycle Services there is a tab named Self-service installers and they are published every time. You can see new iterations of your installers in that list. Then, in Commerce, from commerce-shared parameters, you can pull in the iterations of installers automatically. As a result, the process becomes automated and helpful for developers without the need for generating special packages that should be uploaded to Lifecycle Services and pushed to the environments manually. You can push out the installer and upload it immediately in the environment.
When you need to deploy package upon package every month, and frequently maintain the environments because of customizations, it is an indication that several packages need to be uploaded and managed. The Package Management Functionality page provides a list of packages, where you can apply the specific packages that are needed.
Merchant account information is how you can securely pull the merchant account information that is necessary to run payments through hardware. The Store Commerce app does it automatically by pulling it down during the sign-in process, where you are already in a secure environment. When Store Commerce pairs to a hardware station, it will automatically pull down that merchant account information for the hardware station.