Sitecore 10.0.1 uses .NET Hosting Bundler 2.1.23, What does that mean for Sitecore Commerce 10 installation?

This blog article is based on SCIA Version 3.9

Checking fixes/features in a new release (even if its a minor one) is similar to opening a box of assorted chocolates. Its so exciting in the first place and then, you are curious if what you expect is in the box!

With Sitecore 10.0 (initial release), both SIA and SIF use .NET Hosting Bundler 2.1.15 as a prerequisite. You can check the Sitecore 10.0 prerequisites.json to understand what I mean:

The result of this was a nagging Identity server token error during Commerce installation. You can check my blog addressing this issue here. I also raised this in the Sitecore Community Forum suggesting the installer must use 2.1.16 instead.

I was very curious to check if this has been covered as part of this minor release. So, grabbed the prerequisites.json and could find 2.1.23 used this time:

I wanted to install Sitecore Commerce using this latest Sitecore release to be sure that the issue is definitely addressed. So, as a first step, through SCIA downloaded the packages and launched SIA to install SXA-enabled Sitecore website instance first. 

Note: I was initially doubtful if I was using the correct release exe since SIA reads just 10.0 instead of 10.0.1 in the title bar but not a big deal since when I checked the prerequisites installed, I could see the items in the prerequisites.json getting installed one after another. So, all good.

One more aspect is after the installation of the prerequisites, the installer safely asks to restart the machine. I have always felt that a machine restart is an essential step when you install so many prerequisites, mainly with the history of Windows OS!

If you are following along and using SIA ensure the site is SXA-Enabled (optional module checked) since we want to perform Commerce installation next. If you want to install Sitecore 10.0.1 after generating SIF PS Scripts, check this blog but select 10.0.1 as Sitecore version in the Set Version form.

Once Sitecore installation is over, in SCIA, switch to version 10.0 through the version selector and launch Commerce Installer -

Add the site prefix that matches the earlier Sitecore installation:

If all required prerequisites are available (use the auto-download and install prerequisites options in the prerequisites form to setup all the prerequisites), validate all should be successful and all set to start the installation process by clicking the install button.

Our favourite PowerShell window gets launched and all that is needed is a cuppa and a lot of patience:

We have reached the crux of this blog article: with bated breath we need to wait until identity server token is generated since we have Sitecore Commerce 10 getting installed on top of Sitecore 10.0.1 for the first time ever.

And, token gets generated successfully:

Finally, the Commerce installation is complete without any errors -

The next time you plan Sitecore Commerce 10 installation, go for Sitecore 10.0.1 as a prerequisite instead of the Sitecore 10 initial release.