Connecting Enterprise Servers and Elvis Server to Enterprise Cloud Services

Info: This feature requires Enterprise Server 10.8 or higher, Elvis Server 6.40 or higher, and Content Station 11.52 or higher.

The Digital articles that are created in Content Station Aurora make use of various resources such as Component Sets, styles, custom swatches, and so on. These resources are stored in a central location in the cloud in a system named Enterprise Cloud Services.

Applications that need to work with these resources therefore need access to them:

• Content Station for working with Digital articles in the following ways:
• Using the Digital editor
• Creating a Digital article
• Creating Component sets
• Mapping components
• Saving swatches

• Elvis Pro for previewing archived Digital articles

These applications are given access to these resources by connecting Enterprise Server (for Content Station) and Elvis Server (for the Elvis Pro client) to Enterprise Cloud Services.

How this is done is explained in this article.

Allowing networks to access Enterprise Cloud Services

Accessing the Enterprise Cloud Services requires unrestricted access from your network.

Make sure that your networks are given access to the following URL, used worldwide for SNS:

https://api-eu-west-1.enterprise-services.woodwing.com

Tenants

Connecting Enterprise Server or Elvis Server to Enterprise Cloud Services is done by making use of tenants: groups of one or more Enterprise Server and/or Elvis Server installations to which a specific set of resources in Enterprise Cloud Services are shared.

For a typical Content Station installation, the tenant will consist of only one Enterprise Server instance; when Digital articles are archived in Elvis, the tenant will consist of at least one instance of Enterprise Server and typically one instance of Elvis Server.

Connecting these servers to Enterprise Cloud Services is done via a unique tenant registration for that tenant. This tenant registration keeps track of the resources that are shared within that tenant. Other tenants cannot make use of these resources because they are connected through a different tenant registration.

Example:  Connecting a single Enterprise Server installation to Enterprise Cloud Services creates a tenant with a unique tenant registration (see 'Tenant A' in the figure below). Any resources that are set up for working with Digital articles are stored in Enterprise Cloud Services. Content Station (which is part of the Enterprise Server installation) has access to these resources through that tenant registration. Connecting one or more Enterprise Server installations and a single Elvis Server installation to Enterprise Cloud Services is done by creating a tenant with a unique tenant registration (see 'Tenant B' and 'Tenant C' in the figure below). Any resources that are set up for working with Digital articles are stored in Enterprise Cloud Services. Content Station (which is part of the Enterprise Server installation) and the Elvis Pro client (which is part of the Elvis Server installation) have access to these resources through that tenant registration.

Setting up a tenant

Setting up a tenant is done by registering a single instance of Enterprise Server or Elvis Server to the Enterprise Cloud Services.

This is done by making use of the Tenant Registration pages in Enterprise Server or in the Elvis Management Console.

As soon as a server is registered, other servers (Enterprise or Elvis) can be made part of the same tenant through any of the already registered servers.

1. Registering the first server instance (creating a new tenant)

In a typical scenario, the first (and sometimes only) server that is connected is Enterprise Server. Technically it could also be Elvis Server, but in the following steps Enterprise Server will be used.

Note: To connect Elvis Server, access the Management Console and do the following: Step 1. (Optional, and only needed once) Enable the Tenant registration page: go to Server Configuration > Files and search for the cluster-config.properties.txt file. Add the following option and click Save when done: ecs.enabled=true Step 2. Access the Tenant registration page and follow the same steps as outlined below. The instructions and steps are identical to those shown for Enterprise Server.

Step 1. In Enterprise Server, access the Integrations > Content Station > Tenant Registration page.

A page appears stating that Enterprise Server is not yet added to a tenant registration in Enterprise Cloud.

Step 2. Because no tenant registration exists yet to connect to, click Create new tenant registration.

You are asked to confirm the action.

Step 3. Select I am sure and click Create.

A tenant and tenant registration is created and Enterprise Server is connected to it. If you are only adding a single instance of Enterprise Server, the process is now complete.

2. Connecting other servers to the tenant registration

When a tenant has been created, other Enterprise or Elvis servers can be added to it. To make this process secure, tokens are generated and shared between the servers.

Note: In the following steps, Enterprise Server is used as the server that is already registered, while another Enterprise Server is used as the server that needs to be added. When Elvis Server is connected, access the Management Console > Tenant registration page and follow the same steps as outlined below. The instructions and steps are identical to those shown for Enterprise Server.

Step 1. Open the Tenant registration page of each server (in different Web browser tabs or windows):

1. For the server that is already registered
2. For the server that needs to be added to the tenant (and is therefore not yet registered)

Step 2. Go to the Tenant registration page of the server that needs to be added. The page will show the message 'This Enterprise system is not yet added to a tenant registration in Enterprise Cloud'.

Step 3. Click Add this system.

A dialog appears showing a system token.

Step 4. Click Copy.

A message with instructions appears.

Step 5. Go to the Tenant registration page of the Enterprise Server installation which is already registered.

The page will show the message 'This Enterprise system is added to a tenant registration in Enterprise Cloud'.

Step 6. Click Add other system.

A dialog appears.

Step 7. Paste the copied system token by placing the cursor inside the window and pressing Ctrl+V or Cmd+V. When done, click OK.

A dialog appears in which a generated tenant token is shown.

Step 8. Click Copy.

The dialog closes and the Tenant registration page now indicates that the server is registered.

To finalize the process, the copied tenant token needs to be added to the other server.

Step 9. Go to the Tenant registration page of the other Enterprise Server installation.

This page might still show the instructions after performing the earlier steps.

Step 10. When the instructions are still shown, click OK to close the message.

A dialog appears.

Step 11. Paste the copied tenant token by placing the cursor inside the window and pressing Ctrl+V or Cmd+V. When done, click OK.

The dialog closes and the page now shows that the system is registered.

The process is now complete.

Document history

• 4 June 2020: Added section 'Allowing networks to access Enterprise Cloud Services'.