Integrating AEM 6.5 with Adobe Campaign Standard

By integrating AEM 6.5 with Adobe Campaign Standard (ACS), you can manage email delivery, content, and forms directly in AEM. Configuration steps in both Adobe Campaign Standard and AEM are needed to enable bidirectional communication between solutions.

This integration allows AEM and Adobe Campaign Standard to be used independently. Marketers can create campaigns and use targeting in Adobe Campaign, while content creators in parallel can work on content design in AEM. Using the integration, the content and design of the campaign created in AEM can be targeted and delivered by Adobe Campaign.

Integration Steps

The configuration of the integration between AEM and Adobe Campaign Standard requires several steps in both solutions.

1. Configure the aemserver User in Campaign
2. Verify the AEMResourceTypeFilter in Campaign
3. Create an AEM-Specific Email Delivery Template in Campaign
4. Configure the Campaign Integration in AEM
5. Configure Replication to AEM Publish Instance
6. Configure the AEM Externalizer
7. Configure the campaign-remote User in AEM
8. Configure the AEM External Account in Campaign

This document leads you through each of these steps in detail.

Prerequisites

• Administrator access to Adobe Campaign Standard
  • If you need additional details on how to set up and configure Adobe Campaign Standard see the Adobe Campaign Standard documentation.
• Administrator access to AEM

Configure the aemserver User in Campaign

Adobe Campaign Standard by default comes with an aemserver user that AEM uses to connect to Adobe Campaign. Assign an appropriate security group for this user and set its password.

1. Log into Adobe Campaign as an administrator.

2. Click the Adobe Campaign Logo at the top-left of the menu bar to open the global navigation, then select Administration > Users & Security > Users from the navigation menu.

3. Click the aemserver user in the users console.

4. Ensure that the aemserver user is assigned at a minimum to a security group that has the role deliveryPrepare assigned to it. By default the group Standard Users has this role.

   

5. Click Save to save the changes.

Your aemserver user now has the necessary rights so that AEM can use it to communicate with Adobe Campaign.

However, before AEM can use the aemserver user, its password must be set. This cannot be done through Adobe Campaign. It must be carried out by an Adobe support engineer. Submit a ticket with Adobe Customer Care to request the reset of the aemserver password. Once you have the password from Adobe Customer Care, keep it in a secure location.

Verify the AEMResourceTypeFilter in Campaign

The AEMResourceTypeFilter is an option in Adobe Campaign that is used to filter AEM resources that can be used in Adobe Campaign. Because AEM contains much content, this option acts as a filter that allows Adobe Campaign to retrieve only the AEM content of types specifically designed to be used in Adobe Campaign.

This option comes pre-configured. However, you may need to update it if you have customized the Campaign components of AEM. To verify that the AEMResourceTypeFilter option is configured, follow these steps.

1. Log into Adobe Campaign as an administrator.

2. Click the Adobe Campaign Logo at the top-left of the menu bar to open the global navigation, then select Administration > Application Settings > Options from the navigation menu.

3. Click the AEMResourceTypeFilter in the options console.

4. Confirm the configuration of the AEMResourceTypeFilter. The paths are delimited with commas and by default contain:

   • mcm/campaign/components/newsletter
   • mcm/campaign/components/campaign_newsletterpage
   • mcm/neolane/components/newsletter

   

5. Click Save to save the changes.

Your AEMResourceTypeFilter is now configured to retrieve the correct content from AEM.

Create an AEM-Specific Email Delivery Template in Campaign

By default, AEM is not enabled in Adobe Campaign’s email templates. Configure a new email delivery template that can be used to create emails using AEM content. To create an AEM-specific email delivery template, follow these steps.

1. Log into Adobe Campaign as an administrator.

2. Click the Adobe Campaign Logo at the top-left of the menu bar to open the global navigation, then select Resources > Templates > Delivery templates from the navigation menu.

3. In the delivery templates console, locate the default email template Send via email (mail) and hover the mouse over the card (or line) representing it to reveal the options. Click Duplicate element.

   

4. In the Confirmation dialog, click Confirm to duplicate the template.

   

5. The template editor opens with your copy of the Send via email (mail) template. Click the Edit properties icon at the top-right of the window.

   

6. In the properties window, change the Label field to be descriptive of your new AEM template.

7. Click the Content heading to expand it and select Adobe Experience Manager in the Content source drop-down.

8. This reveals the Adobe Experience Manager account field. Use the drop-down to select Adobe Experience Manager instance (aemInstance) user. This is the default external user for the AEM integration.

1. Click Confirm to save the changes to the properties.

2. In the template editor, click Save to save your modified copy of the email template for use with AEM.

You now have an email template that can use AEM content.

Configure the Campaign Integration in AEM

AEM communicates with Adobe Campaign using a built-in integration and the aemserver user you configured in Adobe Campaign. Follow these steps to configure this integration.

1. Sign into to your AEM authoring instance as an administrator.

2. From the global navigation side rail, select Tools > Cloud Services > Legacy Cloud Services > Adobe Campaign, then click Configure Now.

   

3. In the dialog, create a Campaign service configuration by entering a Title and click Create.

   

4. A new window and dialog opens to edit the configuration. Provide the necessary information.

   • Username - This is the aemserver user in Adobe Campaign that you configured in a previous step. By default it is aemserver.
   • Password - This is the password for the aemserver user in Adobe Campaign that you requested from Adobe Customer Care in a previous step.
   • API End Point - This is the Adobe Campaign instance URL.

   

5. Select Connect to Adobe Campaign to verify the connection and then click OK.

AEM can now communicate with Adobe Campaign.

Configure Replication to AEM Publish Instance

Campaign content is created by content authors on the AEM authoring instance. This instance is typically only available internally at your organization. For content such as images and assets to be accessible to the recipients of your campaign, you need to publish that content.

The replication agent is responsible for publishing your content from the AEM author instance to the publish instance and must be set up for the integration to work properly. This step is also necessary to replicate certain authoring instance configurations into the publishing instance.

To configure replication from your AEM author instance to the publish instance:

1. Sign into to your AEM authoring instance as an administrator.

2. From the global navigation side rail, select Tools > Deployment > Replication > Agents on author, then click Default agent (publish).

   

3. Click Edit then select the Transport tab.

4. Configure the URI field by replacing the default localhost value with the IP address of the AEM publishing instance.

   

5. Click OK to save the changes to the agent settings.

You have configured replication to the AEM publish instance so your campaign recipients can access your content.

Configure the AEM Externalizer

The Externalizer is an OSGi service in AEM that transforms a resource path into an external and absolute URL, which is necessary for AEM to serve content that Campaign can use. Configure it so that the Campaign integration works.

1. Sign into the AEM authoring instance as an administrator.

2. From the global navigation side rail, select Tools > Operations > Web Console > OSGi Configuration and search for Day CQ link Externalizer.

3. By default the last entry in the Domains field is intended for the publish instance. Change the URL from the default http://localhost:4503 to your publicly available publish instance.

   

4. Click Save.

You have configured the Externalizer and Adobe Campaign can now access your content.

Configure the campaign-remote User in AEM

Just as you need a user in Adobe Campaign that AEM can use to communicate with Adobe Campaign, Adobe Campaign also needs a user in AEM for communication with AEM. By default the Campaign integration creates the campaign-remote user in AEM. Follow these steps to configure this user.

1. Log into AEM as an administrator.
2. On the main navigation console, click Tools in the left rail.
3. Then click Security > Users to open the user administration console.
4. Locate the campaign-remote user.
5. Select the campaign-remote user and click Properties to edit the user.
6. In the Edit User Settings window, click Change Password.
7. Provide a new password for the user and note the password in a secure location for future use.
8. Click Save to save the password change.
9. Click Save & Close to save the changes to the campaign-remote user.

Configure the AEM External Account in Campaign

When you created an AEM-specific email delivery template, you specified that the template should use the aemInstance external account to communicate with AEM. To enable two-way communication between both solutions, you need to configure this account in Adobe Campaign.

1. Log into Adobe Campaign as an administrator.

2. Click the Adobe Campaign Logo at the top-left of the menu bar to open the global navigation, then select Administration > Application settings > External accounts from the navigation menu.

3. Click the Adobe Experience Manager instance (aemInstance) user in the users console.

4. Ensure that the user has Adobe Experience Manager as the Type.

5. In the Connection section, define the following fields:

   1. Server: This is the URL of your AEM authoring server. This should not end in a slash.
   2. Account: This is the campaign-remote user you previously configured in AEM.
   3. Password: This is the password for the campaign-remoteuser you previously configured in AEM.

   

6. Ensure that the Enabled checkbox is selected and then click Save to save your changes.

Congratulations! You have completed the integration between AEM and Adobe Campaign Standard!

Next Steps

With both Adobe Campaign Classic and AEM configured, the integration is now complete.

You can now learn how to create a newsletter in Adobe Experience Manager by continuing with this document.