How to use Multisite
The core of multisite functionality lies in the use of site definitions. A site definition allows you to control each website separately, for example, configuring different languages or domains per website. Using the Multisite module, you can set up and run multiple websites with different domains and languages from one Magnolia installation.
We present a few typical use cases for a multisite setup and the corresponding configuration required. Full working examples of certain use cases are in the subpages. We assume that you already know some basics about a Magnolia site definition.
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Site limitation In DX Core, the number of sites that can be used is defined by the number of sites purchased. In the Community Edition, you can only create and use one site. |
Overview
Typical use cases
Using multisite makes sense in the following scenarios:
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You have multiple websites with completely different purposes.
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You have minisites and run campaigns.
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You have different websites for subsidiaries and country branches.
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You have localized versions of the same website.
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You use handles and URI prefixes to get shorter URLs.
How multisite works
You can have one site definition per website. In Magnolia 6.2, site definitions are registered directly in the multisite module. You can control each website independently. Some important aspects of the site definition are explained below.
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Site definitions
When developing your multisite project, you configure your own site definition.
For public instances, we strongly recommend that you map the domains served to their websites unless they are microsites, which mostly won’t have domain mappings. This allows the mapped content to be served to its respective domain. Optionally, you can add languages. For more on defining locales, see Define locales for the site.
For configuration details, see Multisite definition configuration.
The Multisite module is delivered with one default site definition called fallback, for details see the Fallback site page.
In the Multisite module, you can optionally configure site resolution rules.
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Site resolution rules
The site resolution rules ensure that Magnolia can properly assign a site for a given request. The Multisite module comes with a standard set of site resolution rules. The standard rules usually are sufficient. We strongly recommend you be careful if you choose to change these rules.
When a request is sent to Magnolia, info.magnolia.multisite.filters.MultiSiteFilter analyzes the request to determine which site definition it fits. Once the site has been determined, it is set to info.magnolia.cms.core.AggregationState from where it can be read during further request processing.
For configuration details, see Site resolution rules.
Setting up multisite - main steps
The following bullet points summarize what you need to do to set up a multisite environment with one Magnolia installation:
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Create a root page of a website and its subpages.
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Configure site definitions. For each one, define:
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A mapping pointing to the root page of the website.
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A domain mapping to map a domain to the site.
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Access the distinct content (sub)trees via distinct domains.
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When the Multisite module is enabled, you must configure at least one site definition including a proper domain mapping. If you do not do so, pages are not served correctly on the public instance. When the Multisite module is enabled, you must configure at least one site definition including a proper domain mapping. If you do not do so, pages are not served correctly on the public instance. |
Magnolia setup and domains in a production environment
Magnolia is distributed as two web-applications: author and public. Among other things, editors create pages on the author instance and publish content from the author instance to public instances. Public instances serve the content to visitors. In a typical production setup you have one author and several public Instances.
In a production setup, the author instance and public instance are typically accessed via distinct domains.
In a multisite setup with one Magnolia installation, you assign multiple domains to the public instance. However, it is sufficient and recommended to have only one domain pointing to your author instance. The domain of the author instance is different from the domains of the public instance.
Example of domains in a production environment
This sample below shows the difference between domains when pointing to author or public instances in a production environment.
| Site | Author Instance | Public Instance |
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site a/b |
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Main/German/French |
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www.xyzdomain.com (Main) www.xyzdomain.de (DE) |
Serving the webapps from root context
In a production environment, you access the public instance by requesting the root path of the domain. For example, when you request http://www.yourdomain.net, you expect it to serve the webapp typically called magnoliaPublic. The same is true for the author instance: you expect http://author.yourdomain.net to serve the webapp called magnoliaAuthor.
If you run a bundle on localhost, you request the public instance using
http://localhost:8080/magnoliaPublic. In this case, the webapp
magnoliaPublic is served from /magnoliaPublic.
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In a production environment, serve the webapps from the root context instead. |
Application servers such as Tomcat generally only serve one webapp from root context within the same connector. However, in a production environment, you typically run the author instance and the public instance in different networks. Alternatively, you may run two Tomcat instances on the same host, or run one Tomcat instance with two connectors.
Mapping multiple domains to the application server
In a production environment, you typically use a web server such as
Apache in front of Tomcat. Read
Apache
httpd in front of Tomcat to get some ideas about such a setup. When
using the Apache HTTP Server (Apache httpd) and Apache Tomcat together,
mod_jk or mod_proxy_ajp can be used to redirect from Apache httpd to
Tomcat.
In a multisite setup, where your public context serves content for multiple domains, you must map multiple domains to your application server (such as Tomcat). If you use a web server in front of the application, you must define multiple virtual hosts on the web server to redirect the request from Apache http to Apache Tomcat.
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName www.best-comics.net
ProxyPass / ajp://localhost:8010/
ProxyPassReverse / ajp://localhost:8010/
</VirtualHost>
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName www.best-vinyl.net
ProxyPass / ajp://localhost:8010/
ProxyPassReverse / ajp://localhost:8010/
</VirtualHost>In this example, the Apache modules proxy_ajp_module and
proxy_module are used to redirect the request to Apache Tomcat using
the Apache JServ
Protocol (AJP). The example shows two virtual hosts both redirecting to
the same Magnolia public instance.
Fallback site
The multisite module provides a fallback site. The fallback site is a
special site definition that is used when no site matches the request.
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Do not delete or rename the fallback site. |
When using multisite, it is common to have one main site and some additional sites. It generally makes sense to adapt the fallback site so that it extends your main site.
For example, the Magnolia
Travel Demo has two sites: travel-demo and sportstation. When the
demo modules are installed, the fallback site is changed to extend
travel-demo site.
Without the demo modules, the configuration of the fallback site looks like this:
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Configuration
This section is about site definition configuration in the context of
multisite. It explains how to configure multiple, distinct site
definitions which require the definition of domains and mappings
nodes.
We assume that you already know some basics about Magnolia
site definition configuration (such as
prototypes, themes, imaging variations and sitefn templating
functions).
The sites folder
You can configure sites in the sites folder of any module using YAML. See, for example, the following site definitions:
Site definition name
The node name of the site definition is called site-definition-name.
If a site is properly configured, it can be accessed using the following URL:
<protocol>://<domain>:<port>/<context>/<site-definition-name>
Note that this only works if the domain part of the URL is different
from the domain that is mapped to the site of the given
site-definition-name.
Mappings and domains
The mappings and domains nodes are required in a multisite context.
You must create a least one entry on both mappings and domains to ensure
a proper site definition for a distinct site.
Example:
sites:
comics-site:
mappings:
website:
URIPrefix:
handlePrefix: /comics
repository: website
jolly-jumper:
URIPrefix: /jollyjumper
handlePrefix: /comics/belgian-comics/morris/lucky-luke/jolly-jumper
repository: website
domains:
best-comics:
name: www.best-comics.net
The site defined above allows you to access:
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The content node
/comicsvia the URL http://www.best-comics.net. -
The content node
/comics/belgian-comics/morris/lucky-luke/jolly-jumpervia the URL http://www.best-comics.net/jollyjumper.
Use different values for the site-definition-name and the name of the
mapped node (handlePrefix).
mappings configuration
The mapping nodes define the JCR content nodes (usually page nodes) assigned to the site definition.
A mapping has the following properties:
| Property | Description | ||
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required Each site can contain multiple mappings. The name of a mapping node is
arbitrary (in the example above, the node name is The corresponding class for a mapping is info.magnolia.cms.beans.config.URI2RepositoryMapping. |
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required Name of the JCR workspace the mapping applies to. |
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required The path in the workspace the content is served from. |
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required Creates a node handle based on a URI. By default, a content request that
does not contain a prefix is served from the node defined on
The
Note that URIPrefix configuration can also be applied in modules independent from site definitions. Configuration in the site definition overrides the configuration in
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domains configuration
A domain node assigns a domain to the given site definition. It defines how the above mapped content node(s) can be accessed by URL. You can map multiples domain to the same site.
A domain mapping has the following properties:
| Property | Description |
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required The name of a domain mapping node is arbitrary. You can apply multiple domain nodes per site. |
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required Domain name such as http://www.best-comics.net. |
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optional Port represents the port the web application was deployed on. Default is 80. |
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optional HTTP or HTTPS. Default is HTTP. |
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optional The context path of the Magnolia instance webapp such as
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The optional properties port, protocol and context are only used
to build links between the pages of different sites. In a typical
production setup, where you serve the webapps from the root context on
different domains, you do not have to set port and context.
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Extending site definitions
Another configuration strategy is to have one site definition for your
main site with a
template prototype
that you can then reuse on other site definitions. This is a common
alternative to having multiple independent site definitions.
In the example below, site-2 and site-3 inherit from site-1.
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Inheriting mappings and domain can lead to unexpected
results and may destroy your site setup.
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When extending site definitions, turn off inheritance for mapping and
domains by using @extends=override.
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Removing unwanted virtualURIMapping on public context
Make sure you have no unwanted virtualURIMapping redirections on the public context.
Use the Configuration app on
the public context and search for virtualURIMapping. On a standard
Magnolia bundle you most probably find the node
/modules/ui-admincentral/virtualURIMapping/default which redirects to
/.magnolia/admincentral. You must delete the node to ensure a request
to http://<your-domain>/ really serves the root page of your site. (For
further details look at the
example).
Site resolution rules
The site resolution rules ensure that Magnolia can properly assign a site for a given request. The Multisite module comes with a standard set of site resolution rules. The standard rules usually are sufficient.
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If you change the site resolution rules, verify your changes on a test system before making any changes to your production environment. Errors in the site resolution rules can break your site. |