Sitecore Experience Platform 8.1 Initial Release

Sitecore 8.1 is a comprehensive improvement across all of Sitecore Version 8.0 incorporating the feedback we’ve received since 8.0 was delivered from customers, analysts and implementation partners. Heavy investment in product quality, stability and usability can be found throughout 8.1 to help our customers take advantage of Context Marketing and engage in full brand experience management. For further details into the specific enhancements of 8.1, please see the Release Notes.

This page contains all the resources for Sitecore Experience Platform 8.1 rev. 151003 (Initial Release).
Looking for a different version? See all available 8.0 and 8.1 versions.

  • Sitecore 8.1 now requires a license with the “Sitecore.xDB.base” key to enable all features of the Experience Platform. If your license file does not contain this key, Sitecore will default to Experience Management (CMS-only) mode. Any customers or partners with a license to Experience Platform should contact their account manager or login to SPN if they are missing this key.

Download options

Resource Description
Sitecore web application installer Choose this link to download the setup.exe (packaged as zip) installation program. This is everything you need to get started.
ZIP archive of the Sitecore site root folder Choose this link to install Sitecore manually (without the help of the setup.exe installation program).
Ja-JP version of Sitecore web application installer Choose this link to download the Japanese version of setup.exe (packaged as zip) installation program.
Ja-JP version of the Sitecore site root ZIP archive Choose this link to install Japanese version of Sitecore manually (without the help of the setup.exe installation program).

Release Information

Resource Description
Release Notes A list of features, improvements, and fixes that have been implemented in this release.
Known issues Choose this link to access the Sitecore Knowledge Base.
Installation Guide The installation procedure for the Sitecore Experience Platform.
Upgrade guide To upgrade from a previous Sitecore version please follow the instructions in this guide
Configuration file changes Config file changes in Sitecore Experience Platform 8.1 compared to Sitecore 8.0
SPEAK changes This document describes the differences between SPEAK 1.1 and SPEAK 2.0.

Modules

Resource Description
Email Experience Manager 3.2 Download files and release information for Sitecore Email Experience Manager 3.2 rev. 151020 (Initial Release)
Web Forms For Marketers 8.1 Download files and release information for Web Forms for Marketers 8.1 rev.151008 (Initial Release).

Upgrade options

Resource Description
The Sitecore Update Package Download the files that you need for the upgrade process.
Configuration files for upgrade Download this package if you need only web.config and App_config files and SQL upgrade scripts.
Sitecore Update Installation Wizard The Update Installation Wizard allows developers to update existing Sitecore Experience Platform using Sitecore update packages.
User to Contact Conversion Tool Download the latest version of the User to Contact Conversion tool (Revision 150615) to transfer Sitecore User data from Membership profiles into analytics data.

Additional Tools

Resource Description
Hash Stored IPs The standalone console application 'HashStoredIPs.exe' is used to hash existing IP addresses in the database. The tool connects directly to the reporting database and can be executed from anywhere if it has access to the MongoDB xDB database.
Solr support package Solr is the popular, open source enterprise search platform. Download this package if you want to use Solr on your instance.
Sitecore xDB Cloud update 8.1 rev.151126 Sitecore xDB Cloud collects online and offline customer interactions to create a comprehensive, unified view of each individual customer. Download this support package to enable the region functionality for the xDB Cloud service.

Client Translations

Resource Description
Danish (da-DK) Danish language client translation file. Read instructions how to import a new language into the Sitecore installation.
German (de-DE) German language client translation file. Read instructions how to import a new language into the Sitecore installation.
Japanese (ja-JP) Japanese language client translation file. Read instructions how to import a new language into the Sitecore installation.
Swedish (sv-SE) Swedish language client translation file. Read instructions how to import a new language into the Sitecore installation.

Usage policies

Resource Description
Sitecore Device Detection Services Usage Policy This policy is applicable if you are using Sitecore Device Detection Service.
Sitecore IP Geolocation Usage Policy This policy is applicable if you are using Sitecore IP Geolocations Service.
Sitecore xDB Cloud Usage Policy This policy is applicable if you are using Sitecore xDB Cloud.