How to use Unicorn serialization data to generate items as resources (*.dat)
Unicorn to Items as Resources
Prerequisites
Install or update your Sitecore CLI to version 4 (upgrade guide) then install plugins.
List of required plugins:
Installation
C:\> mkdir sitecore.cli
C:\> cd .\sitecore.cli\
C:\sitecore.cli> dotnet new tool-manifest
C:\sitecore.cli> dotnet nuget add source -n Sitecore https://sitecore.myget.org/F/sc-packages/api/v3/index.json
C:\sitecore.cli> dotnet tool install Sitecore.CLI
C:\sitecore.cli> dotnet sitecore init
C:\sitecore.cli> dotnet sitecore plugin add -n Sitecore.DevEx.Extensibility.Serialization
Successfully installed version 4.0.0 of plugin Sitecore.DevEx.Extensibility.Serialization
C:\sitecore.cli> dotnet sitecore plugin add -n Sitecore.DevEx.Extensibility.ResourcePackage
Successfully installed version 4.0.0 of plugin Sitecore.DevEx.Extensibility.ResourcePackage
Convert Unicorn to Items as Resources
Overview
Currently (version 4.0.0) there are two sub-commands available.
-
unicorn- creates a new resource package from unicorn serialization folder,dotnet sitecore itemres unicorn -p "PowerShell" -o "PSPackage" --overwrite -
create- creates a new resource package from modulesdotnet sitecore itemres create -o ../_out/output.name --overwrite -i XA.Reference.*
where XA.Reference.* is a wildcard for your module names.
Complete documentation for all the commands and their options can be found here
Generate using modules
Personally, I prefer to use create command. Here are some pros and cons:
✅ you’ve got complete control on what goes into the resource file when using unicorn you cannot control it (filter certain items, split them into smaller modules)
❌ you have to synchronize modules definition (convert unicorn serialization configurations into modules)
Follow the examples below to convert your serialization configuration files into modules:
- define the location of your module in sitecore.json
1
2
3
4
5
"modules": [
"modules/*/*.module.json",
"modules/*.module.json",
"modules/*/*/*.module.json"
]
-
convert Unicorn serialization configuration to CLI modules
Unicorn serialization file
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
<configuration xmlns:patch="http://www.sitecore.net/xmlconfig/">
<sitecore>
<unicorn>
<configurations>
<configuration name="XA.Reference.Project.Blog" description="" dependencies="XA.Reference.Project.Common" patch:after="configuration[@name='Foundation.Serialization']">
<targetDataStore physicalRootPath="$(sourceFolder)\Project\Blog\serialization" type="Rainbow.Storage.SerializationFileSystemDataStore, Rainbow" useDataCache="false" singleInstance="true" />
<predicate type="Unicorn.Predicates.SerializationPresetPredicate, Unicorn" singleInstance="true">
<include name="Content" database="master" path="/sitecore/content/SXA Reference/Blog"/>
<include name="Media Library" database="master" path="/sitecore/media library/Project/SXA Reference/Blog"/>
<include name="Themes" database="master" path="/sitecore/media library/Themes/SXA Reference/Blog"/>
<include name="Templates" database="master" path="/sitecore/templates/Project/SXA Reference/Blog"/>
</predicate>
</configuration>
</configurations>
</unicorn>
</sitecore>
</configuration>
CLI Module
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
{
"namespace": "XA.Reference.Project.Blog",
"items": {
"path": "~/../src/Project/Blog/serialization",
"includes": [
{
"name": "Content",
"database": "master",
"path": "/sitecore/content/SXA Reference/Blog",
"scope": "ItemAndDescendants"
},
{
"name": "Media Library",
"database": "master",
"path": "/sitecore/media library/Project/SXA Reference/Blog",
"scope": "ItemAndDescendants"
},
{
"name": "Themes",
"database": "master",
"path": "/sitecore/media library/Themes/SXA Reference/Blog",
"scope": "ItemAndDescendants"
},
{
"name": "Templates",
"database": "master",
"path": "/sitecore/templates/Project/SXA Reference/Blog",
"scope": "ItemAndDescendants"
}
]
}
}
Automatic module generator
It’s not production-ready (not all the cases are handled) but it makes conversion a lot easier.
It takes as an input serialization file and creates a module for it.
You can find it here
Usage:
Get-ChildItem -Path '..\..\src\Foundation' -Recurse -Filter "*.Serialization.config" | % {
.\Generate-Modules.ps1 -filePath $_.FullName -outputFolder "..\modules\Foundation"
}
Summary
If you are using Unicorn for serialization and want to deliver items as resource packages you can make it happen with minimal effort.