AEM as a Cloud Service: Published References and policy replication behavior

This article describes why content policies listed under Published References in the Manage Publication dialog do not always have their cq:lastReplicated property updated in Adobe Experience Manager as a Cloud Service and clarifies the relationship between the Published References list and policy replication.

Description description

Environment

Adobe Experience Manager as a Cloud Service (AEMaaCS) (all versions)

Symptoms

  • In the Manage Publication dialog, a content policy appears under Published References.

  • After publishing related pages or templates, the policy node’s cq:lastReplicated property remains at an older date, even though a publish action was performed after that date.

  • The policy node shows:

    • cq:lastReplicated with an older timestamp
    • cq:lastReplicationAction = Activate
  • No errors are reported, but it is expected that the policy’s replication date should update when it appears in Published References and a publish action is performed.

Cause

  • The cq:lastReplicated property is only updated when the policy node itself is modified and published.
  • The Published References list is informational and does not trigger replication unless the referenced item has been changed.

Resolution resolution

Follow the steps below to understand and confirm policy replication:

  1. Recognize that entries under Published References in the Manage Publication dialog represent items that are already present in the publish environment and are not considered modified since their last publication.
  2. Understand that these entries are informational and do not guarantee that the item will be republished during the current publish action.
  3. The cq:lastReplicated property on a policy node updates only when the policy node itself is modified and then published.
  4. Publishing a page or template that references a policy does not update the policy’s cq:lastReplicated property unless the policy node has changed.
  5. To trigger an update of cq:lastReplicated, make a change to the policy node and publish it.
  6. If no changes are made to the policy, its replication date remains unchanged, even if related pages or templates are published.
  7. Verify the policy’s replication date by checking the cq:lastReplicated property after making and publishing a change to the policy node.
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