Manage Unified Storage Connector (USC) for AEM Forms

You can use Unified Storage Connector (USC) to connect AEM Forms to external data storages.

For example, you can fill values for fields in an adaptive form and submit it to an AEM Workflow. You can further configure AEM Workflows to store data in an external storage, such as the Microsoft Azure storage server. Use the Unified Storage Connector (USC) to create a connection between AEM Workflows and the external storage.

Connect AEM Workflows with a Microsoft Azure storage server

Create an Azure storage configuration and refer to that configuration using the Unified Storage Connector (USC). You can then configure AEM Workflow models to externalize the data storage to connect them to an Azure storage server.

Create Azure storage configuration

Before executing these steps, ensure that you have an Azure storage account and an access key to authorize the access to the Azure storage account.

Perform the following steps to create an Azure storage configuration:

1. Navigate to Tools > Cloud Services > Azure Storage.
2. Select a folder to create the configuration and tap Create.
3. Specify a title for the configuration in the Title field.
4. Specify the name of the Azure storage account in the Azure Storage Account field.
5. Specify the key to access Azure storage account in the Azure Access Key field and tap Save.

Configure Unified Storage Connector (USC) for AEM Workflows

Perform the following steps to configure Unified Storage Connector (USC) for AEM Workflows:

1. Navigate to Tools > Forms > Unified Storage Connector.

2. In the Workflow section, Select Azure from the Storage drop-down list.

3. Specify the configuration path for the Azure storage configuration in the Storage Configuration Path field.

4. Tap Publish and then tap Save to save the configuration.

Configure an AEM Workflow model for external data storage

Perform the following steps to configure an AEM Workflow model for an external data storage:

1. Navigate to Tools > Workflow > Models.
2. Select a model name and tap Edit.
3. Tap the Page Information icon and tap Open Properties.
4. Select Externalize workflow data storage.
5. Tap Save & Close to save the properties.

Guidelines for AEM Workflows for external data storage

The following are the guidelines when you are using AEM Workflows and storing data to external data storages, such as Microsoft Azure storage server:

• Use variables to store data while defining input and output data files and attachments in workflow model steps. Do not select Relative to Payload and Available at an absolute path options. The Relative to Payload and Available at an absolute path options do not display automatically once you configure an AEM Workflow model for external data storage.

• Use variables to store data file and attachments while submitting an adaptive form to an AEM Workflow. Do not select Relative to Payload option while submitting an adaptive form to an AEM Workflow. The Relative to Payload option do not display automatically once you configure an AEM Workflow model for external data storage.

• Do not use a custom AEM Workflow step in a workflow model to store data in the CRX DE repository.

• When you configure an AEM Workflow model for external data storage, do not create custom columns for AEM Inbox since the values of the custom columns are not fetched if the workitem in the AEM Inbox belongs to a workflow that is marked for external storage.