Introduction
The Intershop Commerce Management (ICM) 7.10.31.0 release contains a Tomcat 9 update that affects all projects migrating to this version. In particular, it affects projects still using Solr 4, which is supported by Intershop only until the end of the year (see Announcement - End of Maintenance of Solr 4).
Currently, Solr 4 in ICM is running on its own Tomcat 7. However, this "inner Tomcat" is removed with the Tomcat 9 update in ICM 7.10.31. In order to have a functioning Solr, project adaptions are necessary and a compatible ICM version must be used for the migration.
In case your project is still using Solr 4 and you are planning an ICM migration in the near future, this document shows your options. If your project already uses SolrCloud 8, you can stop reading here.
Note: SolrCloud 6
Intershop provides an adapter to use SolrCloud 6. Even though SolrCloud 6 is already a "cloud version", the corresponding adapter would require a new release to be compatible with the Tomcat 9 update.
Since this adapter has already reached the "end-of-life" status in 2020, there will be no new release for this adapter anymore.
Consequently this means, if your project is using SolrCloud 6, the following two options apply to you as well!
Option 1: ICM Update and SolrCloud Migration
If you are planning an ICM update to ICM 7.10.31+, we recommend updating the search service as well.
For Intershop Commerce Platform (previously known as CaaS) customers, Intershop provides the necessary SolrCloud 8 cluster.
If you choose this option, you can migrate to any ICM 7.10.31+ version.
Tasks for the Implementation Partner
The following steps have to be performed:
- Project migration including Tomcat 9 adaptions (Guide - 7.10.31.0 Migration to Tomcat 9)
- Solr migration (Guide - Migration Solr4 to SolrCloud Adapter), this includes:
- Project customizations in Solr Adapter, if availaible
- Careful testing, especially with search index configurations and many indexed attributes
- Only for on-premise projects: Setup of a SolrCloud 8 cluster
Advantages
These are the advantages of doing the update during the ICM migration:
- Future-proof option
- Compatible with all ICM 7.10.31+ versions
For further information, refer to: Announcement - End of Maintenance of Solr 4
Disadvantages
This might be considered as a disadvantage:
- Larger efforts today due to the Solr migration
Option 2: ICM 7.10.26-LTS and Solr 4
If you want to stay on a current version, get critical bug fixes, but continue to use Solr4, you can migrate to ICM 7.10.26-LTS. The Long Term Support (LTS) release gets hotfixes until the end of December 2021, so you have more time for the SolrCloud 8 migration.
Tasks for the Implementation Partner
The following steps need to be done:
- Project migration (which is planned anyways), including Tomcat 9 adaptions, see Guide - 7.10.31.0 Migration to Tomcat 9
- Careful testing, especially in the search area
Advantages
This is the advantages of staying on the LTS releases:
- Less effort today
Disadvantages
This should be considered :
- SolrCloud migration is just postponed. With an update to a future LTS version (e.g., 7.10.32-LTS), the SolrCloud migration is mandatory.