bootstrapOnStartup

The Content Engine incorporates a publication bootstrapper called InitialBootstrapper that automatically accesses the sections in a publication immediately after server startup. First-time access of a section takes a long time; subsequent accesses are much faster because various components have been compiled and cached for re-use. While this bootstrap process is running, any user accesses to the sections being bootstrapped are refused: the server returns a HTTP 503 response (Service Unavailable).

This bootstrap process therefore gives a better user experience during server startup: the user gets an immediate response (even if it is negative) rather than a "hanging" browser window. It also ensures that the Content Engine does actually start up, instead of being crippled by a flood of time-consuming requests that it cannot respond to.

bootstrapOnStartup lets you specify which sections of your publication are to be bootstrapped in this way. If you do not specify bootstrapOnStartup, then no sections of this publication are bootstrapped. You can specify the sections to be bootstrapped in the following ways:

  • Enter a comma-separated list of section unique names. The specified sections will be bootstrapped, in the order specified. For example:

    bootstrapOnStartup=ece_frontpage,main,news,sports,football
  • Enter a comma-separated list of section unique names. The specified sections will be bootstrapped, in the order specified. For example:

    bootstrapOnStartup=1,47,30
  • Specify a mixture of section IDs and unique names, separated by commas. Exactly those sections listed will be bootstrapped, in the order specified. It is legal to mix section unique names and section Ids.

  • Enter the keyword true. The sections are bootstrapped in their natural order, starting from the root section. By default only the first two levels of the section hierarchy will be bootstrapped (that is, the root section plus the root section's immediate children). The number of levels bootstrapped can be modified (for all publications) by setting the InitialBootstrapper component's depth property. For more information about this, see Bootstrapping.

  • Enter a single number representing a level in the section hierarchy. The sections are bootstrapped in their natural order, starting from the root section, down to the level specified. So you specify 3 then the root section, its children and grandchildren are bootstrapped.

  • Enter the keyword ece_all. All sections in the document are bootstrapped in their natural order, starting from the root section. The InitialBootstrapper component's depth and timeout properties are ignored. This setting is not recommended in a production environment, unless it is critical that all sections are primed.