When configuring the user segment sharing feature, you must specify an Oracle Commerce Platform server to act as the user segment server. This server responds to Workbench requests for the list of user segments defined in the Business Control Center. In general, Oracle recommends using the Content Administration server as the user segment server.
If your environment does not have a Content Administration server, you can use the Production server instead but additional configuration is required. Note that using the Production server as the user segment server is less than ideal because typically the most up-to-date user segment data resides on the Content Administration server, and you want a merchandiser to have access to that up-to-date data in Experience Manager. Also, calls made to a live, customer-accessible Production server will typically have to go through a firewall. For these reasons, you should only use the Production server as your user segment server in development environments that do not use a Content Administration server.
Note: The Content Administration server is also referred to as the Publishing server in CIM.
To query for Business Control Center user segments, the Workbench sends a call to the user segment server using the REST Service provided by the REST module. This REST call must be secure to prevent unwanted access to the user segment data. By default, user segment security is enabled via the RequestCredentialAccessController component that is included with the REST module. However, you must add security credentials to both the user segment server and the Workbench to complete the security configuration. Also, you must configure each EAC application with the correct URL for the REST request. To request user segments, the Workbench sends its security credential in a header with the EAC application’s REST request to the user segment server. On the user segment server side, the RequestCredentialAccessController component compares the security credential in the request to the security credentials configured on the user segment server. If a match is found, the request is allowed. If not, it is denied.
