Set up the Adobe Experience Manager connector

Learn to set up an Adobe Experience Manager connection in Adobe FrameMaker.

Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) is a Web content management system that allows you to store digital assets in its DAM (Digital Asset Management) repository. The AEM connector allows you to manage your FrameMaker documents using the DAM.

Note: You can choose to store your documents in any AEM folder. If you use the AEM DAM, you will be able to take advantage of the DAM features such as searching for digital assets.

Before you begin

Install Java Runtime on the system and set JAVA_HOME environment variable.

Note: AEM connector supports the cipher suites provided by Java for TLS handshake in HTTPS connection.

Connection Manager dialog

Figure 1. Adobe Experience Manager connection settings

Name

A friendly name for your FrameMaker – Adobe Experience Manager connection.

Server

The AEM server location in the following syntax:

http://<server-name>:<port-number>/crx/server

Use Single Sign-On (SSO)

If your organization uses SSO for AEM server authentication, then select this option. When you select this option, the password field is removed from the interface as you are routed through your organization’s SSO login process.

Ensure that the User Name is correct, which includes the complete email address used for SSO login. For example, if your SSO login email address is “steve@xyz.com”, enter the complete email address “steve@xyz.com” as the User Name.

Note: If there is discrepancy between the User Name and email address you used for SSO login, the checked out file displays a red lock next to it. Also, when you try to check out any other file, the red lock icon is displayed next to it, preventing you from working on it. So, you can only view the files but cannot edit them.

User Name and Password

Specify the User Name and Password to connect to the AEM server. Select the Save Password option to save the password.

Workspace

Adobe Experience Manager workspace.

Default workspace: crx.default.

You are recommended to create a folder within the DAM workspace. However, you can create a folder at any location in the repository.

Local Folder

Local folder location to save files from AEM.

The default location is C:\Users\<usernname>\Documents. You can change the default location by clicking the Browse button.

FrameMaker always creates the local download folder in lower case, irrespective of the connection title provided in the Connection Manager dialog.

Client authentication on AEM server

FrameMaker has the feature to validate the client authentication configured in the AEM server for your organization. Support for client authentication during TLS handshake is added to the AEM connector. Due to this, when you try to connect to a server with client authentication enabled, FrameMaker prompts you to select a certificate. Once you choose a certificate, TLS handshake proceeds with this certificate. After the client certificate is validated on the server, the login process begins and establishes the connection to the AEM repository.

You can override the client certificate to be used by adding a setting in the CQPreference.xmlfile and providing the alias name of the certificate. For example, you can add the following setting where "Adobe" represents the alias name of your client certificate:

FrameMaker then picks the certificate mentioned in the setting for login and does not prompt for certificate selection.

Note: For the changes to take effect, you need to restart FrameMaker.

Setting up the Adobe Experience Manager connector

Note: The Adobe Experience Manager settings in the Preferences dialog provide some more options to specify proxy server to connect with an AEM server. See CMS > Adobe Experience Manager for more details.

Choose File > CMS > Connection Manager.

The Connection Manager dialog is displayed.
In the Choose Connection drop-down, select Adobe Experience Manager.
Enter a friendly name and server location.
If your organization uses SSO-based authentication, then select the Use Single Sign-On (SSO) option.
Else, enter the User Name and Password for regular authentication.
Specify the Adobe Experience Manager Workspace or use the default (crx.default) workspace.
Select a Local Folder path.
Click Connect to set up the FrameMaker – Adobe Experience Manager connector.

Note: If you are using SSO-based authentication, then a popup window might appear and take you through your organization’s SSO-based authentication process. You must close the window after completing the login process.

On successful login, the Repository Manager window is displayed.

Note: In the Connection Manager dialog, click Clear if you want to clear the entries. It clears out all entered values and resets the Workspace and Local Folder fields to their default values.

Note: In the Connection Manager dialog, click Remove to remove the connection from Connect to a Favorite list.

Enable UUID-based files support

Adobe Experience Manager Guides (referred to as AEM Guides later in this guide), Adobe's DITA CCMS, supports Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) based file referencing system. Using AEM, you can download files that use UUID-based file referencing system through the AEM Connector. UUID files are downloaded as flat files without any hierarchical folder structure. Each file has a unique UUID, which helps identify it in the file system. Once you have downloaded the files from AEM onto your system, you can edit and publish them in FrameMaker.

Note:

If you use AEM Guides as a Cloud Service (January 2022 release and later), you can author and publish your UUID-based files in FrameMaker.
If you use AEM Guides, you can publish your UUID-based files in FrameMaker.

The flat file hierarchy saves all referenced topics and media files in a single folder. As all the references in AEM Guides are UUID-based, the flat hierarchy helps maintain the references. These references do not change even when you move the files from one location to another.

The following screenshots display UUID-based files opened in FrameMaker for editing. The Book window displays the UUIDs of files that are a part of the DITA map. When you open a file, the UUID is displayed as the title of the document window.

Figure 2. UUID flat hierarchy

Figure 3. References in a UUID-based file

Authoring UUID files is an enhanced feature in FrameMaker, and supports various file operations such as Checkout, Check-in, Refresh, and so on. For more details on file operations, refer to Working with files.

To use the feature, do the following:

Choose Edit > Preferences > CMS > Adobe Experience Manager.
Select Use UUID Based Referencing. This option is not checked by default.
Figure 4. UUID-based referencing option in the Preferences dialog
Download files that use UUID-based file referencing from AEM.
Publish the files using the publish functionality.

Additional notes on SSO-based authentication

You must consider the following points while using SSO-based authentication with AEM Connector:

Internet Explorer 11 or higher must be installed on your system.
The Security settings in IE should be set to low.
FrameMaker must have the read access on browser cookies.