Configuring full text search for a server group
As events occur within AR System that cause data to be indexed, the AR System server sends a message to the FTS indexer, which then adds, deletes, or updates data within the index. Other events could include a request to search the index.
If AR System server is not the indexer in a server group, the AR System server sends the search request to the FTS plug-in which is running under remote FTS plug-in server on the indexer server (where the index exists). The remote FTS plug-in server returns the search results to AR System server and then the AR System server processes the data accordingly.
If AR System server is the indexer, it performs the search requests locally in the index and then returns the search results to the client.
When you configure a server group for FTS, ensure that the following conditions are met:
- The required number of servers are designated as FTS indexing servers in the server group.
- The FTS indexing server is the AR System server that also has the FTS collection and conf directories located on a local disk.
- The FTS indexing server hosts a FTS plug-in server for serving the search requests from the remote AR System servers that are not designated as indexer server.
You can designate a server as the FTS indexing server by ranking it in the AR System Server Group Operation Ranking form. For more information, see Setting-failover-rankings-for-servers-and-operations.
FTS uses only one plug-in server as the reader (searcher). The reader plug-in is installed on the FTS indexing server. Only the designated indexing FTS server has a ranking entry in the AR System Server Group Operation Ranking form. This AR System server acts as FTS indexer and FTS searcher for local search requests. The reader (searcher) FTS plug-in server serves as the searcher for all the other AR System servers in the server group that are not designated as an indexing server, so you must configure all other non-indexing servers to connect to the searcher FTS plug-in server instance running on the FTS indexing server. The searcher instance runs on a separate port on the FTS indexing server.
The events that cause data to be written to the index result in data being put into the AR System database as a queue of items to index. Only the FTS indexing server processes index requests from this queue. However, any instance of AR System server can send a search request to its corresponding FTS plug-in. This ensures index integrity. For more information, see FTS-plug-in-configuration. There is no search fail-over for the AR System server indexer.
Configuring FTS for a server group
If you use FTS in a server group, you can designate more than one server as indexing server in the server group.
Each FTS indexing server has its own virtual queue of data to index. When AR System queues data for indexing in parallel to AR Database changes in data, it queues separately for each FTS Indexing server as designated by the Server Group Ranking form for FTS.
In a server group, the server that owns the full text indexing operation processes all pending indexing tasks regardless of their server of origin. (The other servers have read-only access to the index files.)
FTS is configured after all servers in the group have been installed and configured to run within a server group. The FTS collection and FTS configuration directories should be located on the same computer.
To set up FTS in a server group
Rank the FTS servers in the AR System Server Group Operation Ranking form. For more information, see Setting-failover-rankings-for-servers-and-operations.
You should use the FTS indexing server, which is ranked 1 in the AR System Server Group Operation Ranking form, for searching and the other FTS indexing server, which is ranked 2, as the failover server.
- In a browser, open the AR System Administration Console, and select System > General > FTS Configuration.
Managing, configuring and checking status of FTS-enabled servers
The FTS Management screen on the AR System Management Console enables you to manage, configure, and check the status of all the FTS-enabled servers in a server group.
You can perform the following tasks on this screen:
- Update FTS configuration for all the servers in a server group.
- Initiate re-indexing for the entire server or for a form.
- If the re-indexing operation is in progress, check the status of that operation.
Required permissions
You must have at least one of the following permissions to access the FTS Management screen:
- AR System Administrator
- AR System Configuration Administrator
- Integration Administrator
To configure FTS settings for a server in the server group
The FTS Management screen enables you to perform the following operations:
Action | Description |
|---|---|
View the list of servers in the server group and also view the current status and FTS configuration on a particular server. | The FTS Configuration panel displays the following details:
|
Select a server in the FTS Configuration panel | The Configuration panel displays the following details:
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View the reindex options | You can view the following section of the Configuration panel only if the selected server is an FTS indexer.
This section enables you to perform the following tasks:
|
The following section of the panel is visible only if the selected server is an FTS indexer and the re-index operation is in progress.
This section shows the current status of the re-index process and provides the following details:
| |
Reindex the indexer server | The Reindex option on the FTS Management screen enables you to reindex the indexer server.
|
To use the Advanced Configuration option for the server group
In the Configuration panel, click Advanced.
- The dialog box that shows advanced options for FTS configuration is displayed, as shown in the following image:
Data in all the fields on this form is populated from the first indexer server. You can change these settings.
