Microsoft Index Server

Introduction

This technical note describes how to configure EPiServer CMS 5 to search in files using Microsoft® Index Server.

Table of Contents

• What is Index Server?
• How to Configure Microsoft Index Server with EPiServer CMS 5 
• Disable Indexing of ASP.NET Files

What is Index Server?

Index Server is based on catalogs (Index Server's term for the index and related files) and directories. A catalog in Index Server is like a search root, where you make queries. It can contain one or more directories on separate locations. Every search page in EPiServer CMS 5 has a setting that determines the catalog to perform file searches in. You may have seen that search pages also have a setting for scope in EPiServer CMS 5. You should set this option to a directory within your catalog, if you want to restrict the search to only some directories (optional).

How to Configure Microsoft Index Server with EPiServer CMS 5

Follow the instructions below to configure Microsoft Index Server with EPiServer CMS5 .

1. Open Computer Management from Administrative Tools. Double-click Services to access the Indexing Service.
2. There are by default two catalogs in the indexing service. The default search page in EPiServer CMS 5 has a property that defines the catalog in indexing service that should be used. If this is not defined, the Web catalog will be used.
3. As the Web catalog by default will search all subdirectories in the "[System Root]\inetpub\wwwroot" directory, you should add a new catalog for each Web site on the server. Right-click Indexing Service, click New and then Catalog. Enter a name for the site and a location where information about the catalog should be stored. This location does not have to be the same as the site you want to use the catalog for. A warning that the catalog will not be indexed before you restart the indexing service will appear but ignore this for now.
4. You have two options for adding directories to this catalog depending on your needs. Option 2 is required when your upload directory resides on a network share or on another disk. Otherwise use option 1 as your first choice.
   
   Option 1
   Right-click the new catalog and click New and then Directory. Enter the full path for your upload directory.
   
   Option 2
   Right-click your catalog and select Properties. Go to the Tracking tab and select the Web site you want to add indexing for. Index Server will now automatically index all directories on that site and will let EPiServer CMS 5 know which directories reside on network shares. When you select this option, you normally want to restrict the search page to only search in the upload directory. Edit the search pages in EPiServer CMS 5 and set Scope to "/upload/". Otherwise the users will be able to search all files on the site. If you install EPiServer CMS 5 in a virtual directory, set this value to "/mydir/upload/".
5. You must stop and start the indexing service to enabled indexing. Right-click Indexing Service in the explorer tree and click Stop. All the values in the right window should now disappear, and there should only be information in the Catalog and Location columns. Start the service again. You should see updated values for the new catalog. Indexing the new catalog may take a while, depending on the amount of documents contained in it. Status about the progress can be seen in the information window.
6. Open Edit mode in EPiServer CMS 5 and locate your search page. If you have multiple search pages, this step has to be repeated for each search page. Open the Editor and go to the Advanced information tab. Enter the name of your new catalog in the Catalog for the Index Server field. Publish your changes. If you want to limit search for specific parts of the catalog, you have to set Scope. 
7. You should now be able to search for documents in your upload directory. If you do not get any results, check if the index server has completed indexing the catalog (see step 5). 
   
   Tip You can query the catalog directly in the indexing service administration interface.

Disable Indexing of ASP.NET Files

Index server has a bad habit of indexing ASP.NET temporary files that will result in access-denied problems. Microsoft has a knowledge base article describing both the problem and the solution. See http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;329065&Product=aspnet for more information.