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Set up Sling Dynamic Include

Last update: March 23, 2025

Applies to:
Experience Manager 6.4
Experience Manager 6.5

Topics:
APIs

CREATED FOR:

Experienced
Developer

A video walk-through of installing and using Apache Sling Dynamic Include with AEM Dispatcher running on Apache HTTP Web Server.

NOTE

Ensure the latest version of AEM Dispatcher is installed locally.

Download and install the Sling Dynamic Include bundle.

Configure Sling Dynamic Include via the OSGi Configuration Factory at http://<host>:<port>/system/console/configMgr/org.apache.sling.dynamicinclude.Configuration.

Or, to add to an AEM code-base, create the appropriate sling:OsgiConfig node at:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<jcr:root xmlns:sling="http://sling.apache.org/jcr/sling/1.0" xmlns:cq="http://www.day.com/jcr/cq/1.0"
    xmlns:jcr="http://www.jcp.org/jcr/1.0" xmlns:nt="http://www.jcp.org/jcr/nt/1.0"
    jcr:primaryType="sling:OsgiConfig"
    include-filter.config.enabled="{Boolean}true"
    include-filter.config.path="/content"
    include-filter.config.resource-types="[my-app/components/content/highly-dynamic]"
    include-filter.config.include-type="SSI"
    include-filter.config.add_comment="{Boolean}false"
    include-filter.config.selector="nocache"
    include-filter.config.ttl=""
    include-filter.config.required_header="Server-Agent=Communique-Dispatcher"
    include-filter.config.ignoreUrlParams="[]"
    include-filter.config.rewrite="{Boolean}true"
    />
<!--
* include-filter.config.include-type="SSI | ESI | JSI"
* include-filter.config.ttl is # of seconds (requires AEM Dispatcher 4.1.11+)
-->

(Optional) Repeat the last step to allow for components on locked (initial) content of editable templates to be served via SDI as well. The reason for the additional configuration is that locked content of editable templates is served from /conf instead of /content.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<jcr:root xmlns:sling="http://sling.apache.org/jcr/sling/1.0" xmlns:cq="http://www.day.com/jcr/cq/1.0"
    xmlns:jcr="http://www.jcp.org/jcr/1.0" xmlns:nt="http://www.jcp.org/jcr/nt/1.0"
    jcr:primaryType="sling:OsgiConfig"
    include-filter.config.enabled="{Boolean}true"
    include-filter.config.path="/conf"
    include-filter.config.resource-types="[my-app/components/content/highly-dynamic]"
    include-filter.config.include-type="SSI"
    include-filter.config.add_comment="{Boolean}false"
    include-filter.config.selector="nocache"
    include-filter.config.ttl=""
    include-filter.config.required_header="Server-Agent=Communique-Dispatcher"
    include-filter.config.ignoreUrlParams="[]"
    include-filter.config.rewrite="{Boolean}true"
    />
<!--
* include-filter.config.include-type="SSI | ESI | JSI"
* include-filter.config.ttl is # of seconds (requires AEM Dispatcher 4.1.11+)
-->

Update Apache HTTPD Web server’s httpd.conf file to enable the Include module.

$ sudo vi .../httpd.conf

LoadModule include_module libexec/apache2/mod_include.so

Update the vhost file to respect include directives.

$ sudo vi .../vhosts/aem-publish.local.conf

<VirtualHost *:80>
...
   <Directory /Library/WebServer/docroot/publish>
      ...
      # Add Includes to enable SSI Includes used by Sling Dynamic Include
      Options FollowSymLinks Includes

      # Required to have dispatcher-handler process includes
      ModMimeUsePathInfo On

      # Set includes to process .html files
      AddOutputFilter INCLUDES .html
      ...
   </Directory>
...
</VirtualHost>

Update the dispatcher.any configuration file to support (1) nocache selectors and (2) enable TTL support.
$ sudo vi .../conf/dispatcher.any
/rules { ... /0009 { /glob "*.nocache.html*" /type "deny" } }
TIP
Leaving the trailing * off in the glob *.nocache.html* rule above, can result in issues in requests for sub-resources.
/cache { ... /enableTTL "1" }
Always restart Apache HTTP Web Server after making changes to its configuration files or the dispatcher.any.
$ sudo apachectl restart

NOTE

If you are using Sling Dynamic Includes for serving edge-side includes (ESI), then make sure to cache relevant response headers in the dispatcher cache. Possible headers include the following:

“Cache-Control”
“Content-Disposition”
“Content-Type”
“Expires”
“Last-Modified”
“ETag”
“X-Content-Type-Options”
“Last-Modified”

Supporting materials

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