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CONCEPT 01

The Liferay platform map

Follow a request from the virtual instance to the page, service, database, and index.

7 min7.4 foundations

How the platform fits together

Liferay Portal is the open-source platform. Liferay DXP is the commercial distribution and service offering, with its own release identifiers, support terms, and capabilities. Both share core concepts such as sites, roles, pages, and OSGi. A feature documented for a DXP quarterly build still needs an edition, version, and entitlement check before you plan around it.

A virtual instance (often represented by companyId in Java) has its own configuration, users, and sites within one installation. A site (groupId in many APIs) scopes pages, content, and site membership. An organization models people and hierarchy. An account commonly models a business customer and its associated users. A site can serve an organization or account audience, but the identifiers and permission scopes remain distinct.

Follow a request

  1. The host and URL resolve to an instance, a site, and a page or API.
  2. Authentication supplies an identity. Roles, resource permissions, and scope determine which operations are available.
  3. A page composes fragments and widgets, or a headless resource produces JSON. Both may invoke platform services.
  4. The database holds authoritative records. The search index supplies a derived, queryable view, which can lag behind writes. A document store holds binary content.

Worked example

For a Partner Hub, create one site for the partner experience and use accounts for partner companies when the identity model calls for them. Put shared editorial assets in an appropriate CMS space or asset library. Model service requests as records with an explicit scope and partner ownership policy. Test Alice from Partner A against a Partner B request by both direct URL and API, including list queries. A friendly URL or a page menu is navigation. The resource permission check is what enforces access.

Official references