Identifying & Troubleshooting Sync Errors

Agility synchronizes published content directly to your list of Syncing Web Servers. When syncing, the Agility Content Server will make a request to http://{your-website}/AgilityWebsiteService.svc over HTTP or HTTPS (depending on your scheme).

Due to the decoupled nature of the CMS and your website, there can be instances where Agility cannot synchronize content to your website.

Identifying a Sync Error

Sync errors can be identified in 3 different places within the CMS.

1. On the Page/Module/Content Item - Viewing a page, module, or content item that has failed to sync will show an "Orange" publishing error along with an error message that indicates the nature of the error. This is the most common way to identify a sync error.

   

2. Navigating directly to the Sync Status Report - You can navigate to the "Sync Status" report by going to Reports > Sync Status. Or, you can also click the "Sync Notification" icon in the header which indicates the number of items remaining to sync.

   

3. Navigate directly to the Detailed Sync Status Report - You can navigate to the "Details Sync Status" report by going to Reports > Detailed Sync Status. The Detailed Sync Status report will show you exactly which pages/modules/content items have successfully Published vs Pending, Failed, and In Progress.

   

No Sync Errors Reported?

If there are no sync errors reported in Agility, content has synced to your web server, and content is still not being updated on your website then there is likely a problem behind the scenes in your application or hosting environment. This can happen if you have custom caching or custom "Robocopy" process to copy content files around to other web servers unknown to Agility.

Please see Debug Synced Content on your Web Server for steps on how you can verify if the content was synced to your web server. Agility

Possible Causes for Sync Errors

1. Module Definition Not Published - One of the most common sync errors experienced is actually a safeguard put in place when editors attempt to publish a module definition that a developer has not "Published". In this case, an error is thrown by design. To resolve this, the developer must take action and "Publish" the module definition.  Please see Sync Error: The module definition 'xyz' is not published for more details.
   
   
2. One or More Web servers is Available

3. Agility cannot contact one or more or more of your Web Servers / AgilityWebsiteService.svc is not available - This error would occur if the endpoint on your web server for /AgilityWebsiteService.svc is not available. You can test this by making a GET request directly to that endpoint within a browser. A successful response would like this:

   

   It is also possible that your web server is sitting behind a firewall that is blocking requests from the Agility Content Server.

4. Intermittent Errors due to Slow Web Server Performance - In order for Agility to sync content, your web server must respond to the request to the /AgilityWebsiteService.svc. If the site is slow or unresponsive, the Agility content server will see this as an error. Agility has built-in retry logic and will continue to attempt to sync until it has been successful. If you are seeing these types of errors consistently, then this is an indication that there are performance issues with your website that need to be resolved by a developer or by increasing your hosting plan with your provider.

5. Invalid Website Name or Security Key in Web.config - You may have deployed your application to your syncing web server with an invalid websiteName and securityKey (which is defined in the agility.web section of the web.config).

6. Invalid Content Cache File Path in Web.config - The directory that you outline in your web.config to be your contentCacheFilePath (in the agility.web section of the web.config) must be readable and writable by your application.

Check the Web Logs

If your web server is accessible, you should check the Web Logs for that specific web server that is not syncing. You can find the Web Logs by navigating to Settings > Web Logs and then select the web server you'd like to view. 

See Troubleshooting Application Errors in Production for more details. 

Still Stuck?

If you have any questions, concerns, or would like any help troubleshooting these issues, please contact support@agilitycms.com and we are happy to help!